SIOUX FALLS, SD -- Raven Industries
reported sales rose 11% to a
record $54.1 million over the year-ago period and net income rose 32%
to a record $6.9 million for its third quarter ended OCt. 31.
The company took a $820,000 after-tax writeoff of
an acquisition in the prior year; excluding that, the net income grew 14%.
For the
quarter, electronic systems sales were down 2% percent to $13.7
million. The division posted operating income of $1.9 million, up 18%
from a year ago. Customers requested early delivery of product in the
second quarter,
which reduced third quarter shipments.
For the first nine months of the
year, sales totaled $42.3 million, up 21% from the last year while operating income more than doubled, to $6.9
million.
NEW YORK -- End-market inventories of semiconductors remained low and stable in the September quarter, but
distributors' inventories increased 8%, or $127 million, and 3 days from June.
SG Cowen said that inventories at buyers of semiconductors
appear low and stable. Inventories at 49 major semiconductor customers
fell in both dollar terms
and days on a seqential basis, the firm said.
Portsmouth, RI –International Manufacturing Services (IMS) has appointed W. Howard Associates to represent its products in Colorado, Utah, Montana, Wyoming and Idaho.
W. Howard Assoc., founded in 1983, is a manufacturers representative focused on RF/microwave, interconnect devices and sensor products.
IMS manufactures quality thick film chip resistors, both standard and custom, for applications ranging from automotive sensors to high frequency microwave and medical equipment.
Binghamton, NY -- DEK has published its latest
findings on screen printing with Pb-free pastes, focusing on the
implications for stencil design rules. The results underline the
importance of using an enclosed head and nickel stencils to maximize
quality and yield.
The
report reveals how aperture dimensions must increase to ensure adequate
wetting forces and prevent tombstoning as paste-to-pad and
component-to-pad offsets occur. Such offsets are unavoidable, implying
that manufacturers must re-optimize stencils for Pb-free printing to
ensure yield rates comparable to Pb-rich processes. According to the
report, this issue is more prevalent with smaller components (0402s and
below).
By testing 67 new
aperture characteristics, including varying dimensions, aspect ratio,
shape and stencil thickness, DEK identified the necessary changes in
aperture characteristics. According to the team leader and author of
the report, Clive Ashmore, the main concern is to ensure a higher
volume of paste to compensate for the lower wetting forces exerted by
Pb-free pastes. When placing small chip devices such as passive
components, these wetting forces help retain the component during
reflow. Slight misalignment between the component, solder deposit and
paste leads to imbalance in wetting forces, which increases the risk of
tombstoning.
Ashmore, Global
Applied Process Engineering Group Manager at DEK Printing Machines,
said, “A perfectly centred screen printing process will perform well
whether Pb-rich or Pb-free paste is used. But such processes can only
be sustained under laboratory conditions, which obviously cannot be
provided in a production context. Assemblers must, therefore, take
steps to ensure their stencils are optimised for Pb-free printing. Our
findings show that continuing to use legacy stencils that meet the
Pb-rich design rules will result in significantly higher numbers of
defects.”
Understanding Stencil Requirements for a Lead-Free Mass Imaging Process is available at dek.com.
SAN JOSE -- North American-based
manufacturers of semiconductor equipment posted $1.1 billion in orders
in October on a three-month average basis. The book-to-bill ratio was 0.95, according to SEMI.
A book-to-bill of 0.95 means that $95 worth of orders were
received for every $100 of product billed for the month.
The three-month worldwide bookings average was up 12% over revised September
levels and 20% below October 2004.
The three-month average of worldwide billings in October 2005 was $1.16
billion, up 6% from revised September
figures but down 19% from last year.
The numbers also include revised August bookings.
"Bookings and billings for North American based semiconductor equipment
providers have been stable for the past six months," said Stanley T.
Myers, president and CEO of SEMI. "It is encouraging to see the recent
improvement in bookings as the industry continues to ramp 300 mm
production and is beginning to invest in 65 nanometer technology."
WEST CHICAGO -- Price erosion of surface mount connectors during the past five years has been significant and painful, says Bishop and Associates.
The research firm cites as the main reason the migration
of manufacturing to China. "There is no doubt that connector prices have been
significantly influenced by the lower costs [of China]. The lower prices are a function of the lower manufacturing costs."
Once the manufacturing migration to China has “run its course” and China prices are fully implemented, connector prices will stabilize, Bishop said. "In effect, the China influence on lower prices is a one-time occurrence. That is, once China pricing is in the marketplace, connector prices stabilize and stop declining. Once the lower costs are passed along, it’s over. There is no more to give the OEMs."
Prices have begun to level, Bishop wrote. "We have already started to achieve connector price stability. Feedback
from the industry suggests that the 7-10% price erosion of the past few
years has slowed to the historical norm of 3-4% price erosion."