Clinton, NY -- Indium Corp.’s senior technologist, Dr. Ronald C. Lasky, Ph.D., and Pb-free program manager, Tim Jensen, will present at an SMTA workshop on March 21, in Milpitas, CA. The courses will be “A Protocol for WEEE and RoHS Compliance” and “Best Practices in Implementing PB-Free Assembly: 2006”.
 
Dr. Lasky will also focus on implementing Pb-Free electronics assembly at two additional upcoming conferences:
March 27 at PCB West in Santa Clara, CA
March 29 at SMTA Canada in Toronto
 
At PCB West, Dr. Lasky’s topic will be: “Best Practices in Implementing Lead-Free Assembly, Part 1 and Part 2.” The workshop will focus on how to implement lead-free including PCB finishes, components, alloys and SMT processes. Actual implementation of lead-free processes will be discussed as well as current legislation and practices.
 
At SMTA Canada, the topic will be “Rapid Implementation of Lead-Free and RoHS Compliant Assembly, Declaration and Documentation.” This workshop will provide the information, tools and resources to develop and execute a plan for rapid WEEE and RoHS compliance.

SAN JOSE – North American-based manufacturers of semiconductor equipment posted $1.3 billion in orders in February on a three-month average basis and a book-to-bill ratio of 1.01 according to SEMI.

A book-to-bill of 1.01 means that $101 worth of orders were received for every $100 of product billed for the month.

Bookings were almost 6% higher than revised January levels and almost 27% higher year-over-year.

The three-month average of worldwide billings in February 2006 was $1.29 billion.

Billings grew 2% over revised January levels but fell 3% versus February 2005.

"Increasing booking and billing levels over the past quarter are indicative of healthy growth, as companies are investing more dollars in technology and capacity," said Stanley T. Myers, president and CEO. "The book-to-bill has hit parity for the first time since August 2004, so we are optimistic about growth in the equipment market for 2006."

The SEMI book-to-bill is a ratio of three-month moving averages of worldwide bookings and billings for North American-based semiconductor equipment manufacturers. Billings and bookings figures are in millions of U.S. dollars.

SAN FRANCISCO – Fabrinet, a leading EMS provider, has received TL 9000QMS certification for manufacturing of electronic assemblies and optical devices.

Fabrinet gained certification for its campuses near Bangkok, where Fabrinet has over 500,000 sq. ft. of manufacturing space and over 4500 employees.

“Receiving TL9000 certification represents a culmination of our efforts to make Fabrinet a world-class manufacturing outsourcing destination for companies throughout the telecommunications spectrum, from component vendors to system vendors,” said Tom Mitchell, chairman and CEO of Fabrinet.

“Being TL 9000 certified means that Fabrinet can now meet the quality requirements of the worldwide telecommunications industry.”

TL 9000 defines quality system requirements for design, development, production, delivery, installation, and maintenance of telecom products and services.

MANKATO, MN -- EMS provider Winland Electronics Inc. has signed a new three-year agreement with Select Comfort Corp.

Winland will manufacture about half of the electronics assemblies for Select Comfort's Sleep Number adjustable-firmness bed. Winland will also remain the exclusive supplier of all products it manufactures for Plymouth-based Select Comfort through at least June 30.

The new agreement replaces a previous agreement that was set to expire in August. Winland has revised its prices and will see a lower margin as a result.