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ATLANTA — PBR Seminars today announced the premier broadcast of Smart Selling - The Tune-up Every Sales Department Needs, a two-hour Webinar on improving the selling process.

The webinar takes place June 23 at 1 pm Eastern.

Smart Selling focuses on the entire selling process, with an emphasis on effectively building a sales force capable of identifying, securing and supporting the right business in even the most difficult and challenging market conditions. Presented by electronics industry sales veterans Dale Baird, vice president of sales, Lenthor Engineering, and Dan Beaulieu, co-founder, D.B. Management Group, the webinar provides a framework for identifying and getting the right customer.

In a press release, Barry Matties of PBR Seminars said, "Knowing the critical truths about your business, products, prospects and core competencies are vital components in ‘smart selling.' This Webinar can help the beginning salesperson to the most seasoned professional evaluate their total selling strategy and then choose and implement the right selling tools. In today's market, success is not just about making sales, it's about making the right sales."

Registration for the two-hour event, which will include a Q&A session, is $99 and is available online at pbrseminars.com.

PBR Seminars, a joint venture between UP Media Group and PCB007, produces live and on-demand technical Webinars for the PCB industry.

Menlo Park, CA - OK International has hired Paul Brackell as global product manager for conduction soldering and array package rework. Brackell has already initiated a worldwide program aimed at supporting users of conduction and convection soldering and rework equipment as they make their final transition to lead-free production.

He currently heads an international team, including two market development managers, a product support manager for conduction and convection soldering products and an application engineering specialist.

Brackell explained: "The 2006 deadline for lead-free production has led the market to re-evaluate its production processes and capabilities. From a product perspective, our soldering technology delivers the thermal performance customers need for lead-free, right now, and we are also in the process of launching new products targeting lead-free rework."

BALTIMORE -- North American production of printed circuit boards will be flat this year, a leading analyst predicted.

Speaking Thursday at IPC's semiannual market research meetings, Dr. Hayao Nakahara said that production of circuit boards in North American rose 11% to about $5 billion last year, but that 2005's soft start makes it unlikely that growth will be achieved this year.

Dr. Nakahara, a PCD&M columnist who is widely recognized as the world's top authority on PCB production, said that North American-based PCB makers produced $890 million worth of high technology boards worldwide last year. Dr. Nakahara defined high technology as boards of 18 or more layers. The U.S. remains the top producer worldwide of such boards, with a 54% share, Dr. Nakahara said.

The figures do not include backplanes; the U.S. built $300 million worth of backplanes in 2004; about half the worldwide total, according to Dr. Nakahara.

However, North America's share of the overall PCB market is 14%, down from about 40% in 2000. Most of North America's loss has been China's gain: the nation has surged to 25% share, up more than 15 points during that period.

From 1995 to 2000 North American companies spent $4.8 billion on acquisitions of PCB capacity. Of that sum, just $1 billion worth remains open, Dr. Nakahara said.

PCB Production Forecast, 2005-07
2005 2006 2007

China 34.0 26.0 16.0

N. America 6.0 2.0 1.0

Japan 1.0 1.2 1.4

Europe 1.0 1.0 1.0

S. Korea 22.0 15.0 10.0

Taiwan 15.0 7.0 5.0

Thailand 5.5 4.0 4.0

Source: N.T. Information Ltd., May 2005

PALO ALTO, CA -- Inventory throughout the supply chain decreased in the first quarter of 2005, albeit not as fast as sales/COGS, resulting in a moderate decrease in inventory velocity.

Deutsche Bank analysts believe communications OEMs will likely work inventory levels lower in 2Q and 3Q in the face of only moderate end market demand (negatively impacting near-term EMS demand).

PALO ALTO, CA -- IBM recently held an analyst meeting in New York that provided an update on the company's view of IT spending trends, an overview of its strategic positioning, actions it is implementing to take advantage of market opportunity, a recap of the 1Q miss, and an update on recent business trends.

According to Deutsche Bank analysts, the actions IBM is taking to drive standardization and cost reduction in services will better position the company for profitable share gains. In the near term, recent improvement in bookings trends (in both services and hardware) provides greater visibility on near-term performance.

In addition, DB states that benefits from restructuring, new product cycles in servers and microelectronics, and a potential mainframe cycle could support a solid 2H EPS recovery.

PALO ALTO -- In a report released on Forbes.com, research firm Banc of America Securities said Agilent Technologies' new management may consider spinning off its Automated Test or Semiconductor Products businesses.

Banc of America said: "These businesses have the lowest operating margins and suffer the biggest swings in revenues making them more difficult to manage."

The group cautioned that spinning off low margin businesses may not help the stock price.

"The remaining businesses will deliver a higher blended margin," the research firm said. "But operating margins for the remaining businesses will be at or below comparable companies in those segments."

Agilent's representatives declined to comment, citing a company policy to "not endorse or respond to any third-party research or opinions."