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News

ELK GROVE VILLAGE, IL -- SigmaTron International today reported revenues fell 32% from a year ago to $26.3 million for its fiscal 2010 first quarter.

IRVINE, CA – The US Patent and Trademark Office has allowed a patent covering Henkel Corp.’s Ablestik Self-Filleting die-attach products and controlled flow technique.

The patent broadly discloses the parameters of the process required to achieve a bondline fillet, using die attach paste materials. It covers a method for attaching a semiconductor die to a substrate or to another die in a stacked arrangement.

The method comprises dispensing an adhesive between the die and the substrate, or between two dies, and subjecting the adhesive to conditions suitable to cure the adhesive. With a controlled flow technique, bondlines as thin as 10 µm have been achieved and can be modified based on application-specific requirements.

DOUARNENEZ, FRANCE -- Asteel, the world's 13th largest EMS company, liquidated its plant here last week and laid off 134 workers, according to published reports.

TAMPA, FL – Bulova Technologies Group reported first-half earnings of $4 million on sales and other income of $25.7 million for the period ended June 30.

OLATHE, KS -- Elecsys Corp. reported a fiscal first-quarter loss of $396,000, down from a profit of $109,000 a year ago on a 35% drop in sales.

STOCKHOLM – EMS firm Orbit One AB has acquired an 85% stake in EMS provider Wega Electronics.

No financial terms were disclosed.

The deal, which includes Wega’s factory in Prabuty, Poland, gives Orbit One four manufacturing sites, including two in Sweden and one in Russia.

Wega CEO Grzegorz Kohls holds the remaining 15% stake in the company, which will change its name to Orbit One.

Orbit One had sales of about $23 million last year, according to the CIRCUITS ASSEMBLY Directory of EMS Companies.

SAN JOSE – A recent survey of nearly 300 electronics supply-chain workers found respondents are slightly more optimistic than they were in April.

While most respondents view the current market situation as they did in April, respondents were slightly more optimistic regarding the future, says Venture Outsource, which with IDC conducted the survey.

The survey’s Current Index showed 4.6 out of 10, the same as four months ago, while the Future Index was 5.1 out of 10, 5% higher than in April. This indicates a meaningful increase in optimism about the future, says Venture Outsource; yet there is no sign of irrational exuberance, or even a serious recovery, before the end of 2009, says the firm.

Half the respondents identified themselves as “key decision makers” in their firms, up from 11% in a first-quarter survey. Respondents who “participate in decision making” remained about constant, at 37%. Respondents with a “view into decision making” made up a smaller proportion of respondents, at just 13%, down from 18% in April.

According to the survey results, the downturn is widely felt, with little variation by end-market or company type. Exceptions were component manufacturers and electronics equipment manufacturers, which reported lower scores on average than their supply-chain counterparts.

Respondents were most pessimistic regarding the economic and employment situation, with average scores of 3.9 and 4.3 out of 10, respectively. These scores were slightly worse than April.

“Feelings about the future economic situation are up nearly 9% from our last survey. In the end, though, these results show a belief that business will improve, but we believe that an actual broad-based expansion of business activity is not expected across the electronics supply chain in the next one or two quarters,” said Venture Outsource.

For complete results, visit http://www.ventureoutsource.com/contract-manufacturing/trends-observations/2009/bumping-along-the-bottom-electronics-supply-chain-summer-09-survey-results.

SOUTHFIELD, MI – A project team made up of Chrysler, Ford and General Motors has developed a process to help automotive suppliers remove lead-based solder from electronics components used in vehicles.

NEW YORK -- Electronic manufacturing services revenues in Europe are forecast to decline 13% this year, according to a new report.

LAKE FOREST, CA -- EMS firm Probe Manufacturing is betting its future on its past. The company is returning its cofounder to the chief executive's chair, bringing Kam Mahdi back to the position he held from 1996 to 2005.

TAIPEI – Compal raised its shipments forecast for the current quarter, guiding for a 20% sequential gain.

FREMONT, CA – Juki Automation Systems has opened a Western US headquarters here. At 13,500 sq. ft., the facility facility is four times larger than Juki’s previous location.