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DEK has signed an exclusive OEM partner agreement with Stork Veco, a European manufacturer of electroform stencils. The companies will develop electroformed stencils for the SMT industry and semiconductor market, including a soon-to-be released VectorGuard electroformed stencil with interchangeable foils.

Electroformed stencils are effective in applications with high numbers of apertures, and demand better printing characteristics than can be achieved using laser-cut or chemically etched stencils.

Under the agreement, DEK will take full ownership for front-end orders, enquiries and on-site reports. Stork will then manufacture the stencil, before delivering it to DEK for final assembly and delivery to the end customer. Stork will no longer sell directly to end customers.

MUNICH, Dec. 1 -- Siemens Logistics and Assembly Systems, which has reportedly installed more placement machines than any other company, today disclosed its latest machine platform to a group of editors, including Circuits Assembly.

The Siplace X-series comes in two, three and four gantry versions and features an innovative head with 20 nozzles. Further, it reaches placement speeds of up to 20,000 components per hour, Siemens says. Designed for modularity and flexibility, it marks the equipment giant's first new platform in years.

The new machine is currently in beta testing at BMK Electronics, a contract assembler in Augsburg, and at Fujitsu Siemens. Siemens will officially roll out Siplace X in February, at Apex.

The new platform also comes with next-generation feeder modules and a new vision system.

At 2.4 by 2.5 meters, the platform footprint is the same as Siemens' previous models.

During the conference, Tilo Brandis, head of Siemens Electronic Assembly Systems, said the division grew 40% during its recently completed fiscal year 2003 -- twice the industry average. The company is on pace to ship 1286 placement machines in 2004, up more than 300 from 2003.

NEW YORK -- China's Lenovo Group will buy IBM's PC business for $1.75 billion in cash and stock, according to several news reports and company sources.

With the acquisition, Lenovo would become the third-largest PC company in the world, with sales of $12 billion, said Lenovo chairman Liu Chuanzhihe.

IBM is currently the third largest maker of PCs, behind Dell (16.4%) and HP(13.9%). The merged company will have an 8% share of the global PC market.

Leveno will acquire a 81.1% stake with IBM holding 18.9%.

Stephen M. Ward, Jr., currently IBM senior vice president and general manager of IBM's Personal Systems Group, will serve as the chief executive of Lenovo when the deal closes. Yuanqing Yang, currently vice chairman, president and chief executive of Lenovo, will become chairman of Lenovo.

Lenovo, China's biggest computer maker, claiming a 27% share, is traded publicly on the Hong Kong exchange.

In a Dec. 8 research note, Deutsche Bank analyst Chris Whitmore said anticipated supplier consolidation by Lenovo could hurt Sanmina-SCI. DB estimates Sanmina-SCI generates about 20% of its revenue from building PC boards for IBM.

"We believe IBM-Lenovo will look to consolidate its supply base following the completion of the acquisition, creating downward pressure on margins [and] pricing across the PC supply chain," Whitmore wrote. He speculated that Sanmina-SCI would either see less volume and lower margins.

Sanmina-SCI could lose $50 million in annual operating profits if Lenovo were to end IBM's existing PC board supply deal.

Lenovo was founded in 1984 and was formerly known as Legend. It has a 2% share of the PC market, according to Gartner.

MINNEAPOLIS, Dec. 8 -- The SMTA today announced Abby Tsoi as recipient of its Excellence in Leadership Award, for his work in forming the organization's Hong Kong chapter.

The award honors SMTA members who stand out as leaders within the association.

In a press release, SMTA said Tsoi's devoted hours of time, personal financial support and leadership so that colleagues could benefit from SMTA membership via a local chapter. He was the first student from China to earn SMTA Certification and joined other chapter officers in Minneapolis for a Leadership Forum last March.

MINNEAPOLIS, Dec. 8 -- Dr. Udo E. Frank took home the the Best Paper Award for the International Wafer-Level Packaging Congress held October in San Jose.

Frank, of FeinFocus GmbH, received the award for his paper "Detecting and Analyzing Wafer Bump Voids with X-ray Inspection," in which he disclosed an x-ray imaging technology said to detect and measure voids within solder bumps on chips. The paper also revealed software that determines component viability based on preset threshold values.

The event was sponsored by SMTA. Papers detailed leading-edge IC packaging and test technologies with special emphasis on 3D stacked packaging.

The x-ray inspection system detailed in Frank's paper converts 3D voids to measurable 2D images, enabling the system to calculate the ratio of the size of the void within a solder bump to the total mass of the ball. The system can also determine the largest linear distance between two points in the void and compare the result with the diameter of the ball.

The paper will soon be online in at smta.org.

SINGAPORE, Dec. 8 -- Autron Pte. Ltd., a subsidiary of Autron Corp., will supply assembly equipment to a leading Chinese cellular phone maker, a deal worth $20 million, the company said.

Hangzhou Eastcom Cellular Phone Co. will purchase $20 million worth of SMT equipment and maintenance over the next three years, Autron Pte. said. Autron will also help manage Hangzhou's spare parts inventories.