GUADALAJARA - Electronics manufacturing in Mexico is not dead after all. While expansion in China continues to make the most waves, Mexico has been quietly reshaping its manufacturing infrastructure to accommodate higher-end and faster-turn products.  

Companies are adding capacity south of the border. According to published reports, Tier 1 EMS provider Sanmina-SCI is opening a 200,000 sq. ft. manufacturing facility in Guadalajara and will "aggressively" relocate production from the U.S.; Jabil may expand in Chihuahua and Reynosa; and Hon Hai has designs on Juarez. On the supplier side, Kester announced last fall plans to ramp production in Nogales.

Product mixes taken on a new look as suppliers supplement their traditional volume business with greater value-add offerings such as box-build, systems assembly, logistics and after-market service. Jabil's new product introduction activity in Mexico is said to be up four times over last year. And Solectron's product mix has reportedly evolved from 80% high volume/low mix products in 2002 to just 45% today, with the rest being medium-volume/medium mix ((31%), low-volume/high mix (19%) and systems assembly (5%).

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BANNOCKBURN, IL - (NOTE: DATA REVISED MARCH 8) - The January 90-day moving average shipments of all types of circuit boards rose 9.2% year-on-year, according to the latest poll of U.S. PCB fabricators. Aided by a boost in demand for rigid circuits, bookings were strong, up 20.2%. This was on the heels of a climb of 30% in December.

However, a large percentage of the "production" includes boards built offshore and distributed by North American vendors. According to IPC, which takes the poll, 35% of the shipments reported were produced offshore.

The domestic book-to-bill ratio was up 0.04 points to 1.08. It was the second month in a row the key indicator was above 1.0.

The ratio is based on data collected by IPC from rigid and flex producers and is calculated by dividing three months worth of orders by sales. A ratio over 1.0 is considered an indicator of rising demand.

Separately, the ratios were 1.0 for rigid PCBs and 1.36 for flexible circuits.

Rigid board shipments, estimated by IPC to make up 75% of all domestic PCBs, were up 12.4% in January vs. a year ago. Bookings were up 9% for the month. Flex sales grew 46.9%, and bookings more than doubled, up 160%.

Sequentially, flex bookings dropped 37% and shipments fell 2%. Rigid shipments were up 5% and bookings climbed 10% sequentially.

Domestic production accounted for 75% of rigid and 31% of flex circuit shipments in January, IPC said.

Flex sales include some value-added services in addition to the bare flex circuits.

In a statement, IPC cautioned that month-to-month comparisons should be made with caution as they may reflect cyclical effects.

PARIS -  Seica SpA has signed a licensing agreement to add a third level optional testing capability to the EADS Test & Services line of second level systems, ATEC Series 6 and derived products. Users will have the ability, after LRU testing, to confirm the SRU to be diagnosed faulty and be sent back for repair on the same test equipment and with a comprehensive test process.
 
Seica's offering is based on the VALID Module Test Unit (MTU), a self-contained board level subsystem hosted and controlled by the Series 6.
 
EADS provides commercial avionics testing. According to a press release, the company is the leader for French weapon systems testing, supplying the French MoD with multi-purpose, high performance testers.

Boston - Teradyne today dispelled a report that it plans to close its backplane manufacturing operations.

In a statement to Circuits Assembly, Tom Pursch, vice president of Teradyne Connection Systems and manager of its printed circuit board business, said: "Teradyne is committed to our printed circuit board business. Credit Suisse First Boston's reporting of a 'hint of a possibility' that we may exit this business is just plain wrong. Our strategy to lower our costs, reduce idle capacity and focus on the high-end domestic market is working."

On Thursday, Forbes reported a leading investment bank suggested the maker of semiconductor and assembly test gear and PCBs might be looking to exit the PCB business.

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