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Speaking of this Week — May 16, 2003
December 31, 1969 |Estimated reading time: 3 minutes
By Christine F. Della Monaca
Speaking of this Week reflects on events in the electronics assembly industry every Friday.
It's so heartening to see all the progress news this week — everywhere you turn, there's more good news. There's also financial news, which also is generally looking up, as well as tradeshow events, partnerships, personnel and a prediction. Let's get going:
- As mentioned, tons of happy progress news. First, Melville, N.Y.-based Arrow Electronics Inc. was named "Distributor of the Year" by Harrisburg, Pa.-based Tyco Electronics for the company's help in growing Tyco's product sales from 2001 to 2002. In other award news, Santa Clara, Calif.-based Applied Materials Inc. dielectric systems and modules won the Supplier Excellence Award from Texas Instruments, while Syracuse, N.Y.-based The Eraser Co. was awarded certification to ISO 9001:2000. For printed circuit assembly (PCA) manufacturers looking to see the financial impact of their post-reflow PCA test strategies, Herndon, Va.-based NEMI's Test Strategy Project has released a manufacturing test strategy cost model. In other association news, Northbrook, Ill.-based IPC — Association Connecting Electronics Industries revised two of its solderability standards. Binghamton, N.Y.-based Universal Instruments Corp. added a new Product Support Status Tool to its Web site, while Ashburn, Va.-based ZESTRON tested stencils from 10 leading manufacturers to ensure compatibility with VIGON and ZESTRON cleaning agents. In some progress news that's bad news wrapped in a good blanket, Helsinki, Finland-based Elcoteq Network Corp. announced that it will only cut 86 jobs, as opposed to the 160 it previously announced, at its Lohja plants. Finally, Grand Rapids, Mich.-based EMS provider Borisch Manufacturing Corp. posted sales figures of $21.2 million for 2002, beating its sales goal of $19 million.
- Some mixed quarterly financial results: Yavne, Israel-based Orbotech Ltd. saw revenues for the first quarter of 2003, which ended March 31, of $54.2 million, compared to $51.1 million a year previous. Net income was $1 million, translating into 3 cents a share diluted, compared with a net loss of $2.7 million (9 cents a share diluted) in the comparable year-ago period. At Methuen, Mass.-based Parlex Corp., things weren't so sunny. The company reported revenues of $19.4 million in the third quarter ended March 30, versus $21.3 million for the same period in the previous fiscal year, a 9 percent decrease. Finally, back to good news: Myrtle Beach, S.C.-based AVX Corp. declared a dividend of 3.75 cents per common share for the quarter ended March 30.
- Some upcoming tradeshow news: The Minneapolis-based SMTA announced several special events to occur during SMTA International in September, including a Lead-free Soldering Symposium and free programs touching on such subjects as China, future SMT practices, EMS and the NEMI roadmap. Meanwhile, IPC announced that nearly 300 companies have already signed up for the co-located IPC Printed Circuits Expo and IPC SMEMA Council's APEX, taking place next February in Anaheim, Calif.
- Some partnership news: Merrimack, N.H.-based Xanoptix and Tyco Electronics formed a manufacturing services agreement for Xanoptix's XTM Series of optical transceiver products, while Richardson, Texas-based Texas Prototypes Inc. (TXP) and Nashville-based 3SAE Technologies Inc. (3SAE) have come together to supply advanced optical manufacturing equipment for TXP's new photonics lab.
- Two personnel announcements: San Jose, Calif.-based Cadence Design Systems Inc. appointed Leslie J. Rechan as senior vice president and general manager of Worldwide Field Operations in North America, while Weymouth, UK-based DEK has a new branch manager of its Memphis design and manufacturing facility in Daniel Tan.
- Finally, a prediction: Norwalk, Conn.-based BCC Research sees the global market for industrial gases climbing from its current value of $36 billion to nearly $52 billion by 2008, representing an average annual growth rate (AAGR) of 7.5 percent through the forecast period.
This just in: According to this week's Quick Vote, the type of used equipment most purchased is pick-and-place, followed by stencil printing and soldering. Used rework and repair, dispensing and cleaning equipment were purchased the least often, said the survey.
Have some insight on the industry? See something you don't agree with? Think I'm right on? Send it all to me at mailto:christinef@pennwell.com.