Eltek Secures Grant from Israel Investment Authority

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Eltek Ltd., a global manufacturer and supplier of technologically advanced solutions in the field of printed circuit boards, provided an update regarding its award of a grant from the Israeli Investment Authority that will fund 15% of Eltek's expected $1.5 million investment in Advanced Manufacturing Equipment fit to Industry 4.0 standards, which focuses on interconnectivity, automation, machine learning, and real-time data.

The grant also provides for potential future grants covering additional 5% of these capital investments, as soon as Eltek demonstrates improvements in certain of its operational indicators. Major portions of Eltek's investment programs are expected to be completed and become operational by mid-2021.

Eli Yaffe Eltek's CEO commented, "The investment will strengthen Eltek's manufacturing capabilities and increase our competitiveness by implementing improved production processes and adoption of Industry 4.0 technologies."

In addition, Eltek received final approval from the Israel Innovation Authority ("IIA") for a 50%, royalty bearing participation in an approximately $250,000 one-year development program, which is set to start in March 2021. The total R&D program may be extended for a second year, subject to IIA approval. This R&D program is meant to enable Eltek to achieve a significantly faster production rate in certain stages of its manufacturing process, which will also drastically reduce scrap.  There can be no assurance that the R&D program will succeed in achieving its goals or that all pre-defined benefits will be attained. The development program and process is designed to ensure air cleanness in order to meet ISO-14644-1 Standard class ISO 5 for cleanroom measurement.   

We believe that if successfully completed, this R&D program will yield significant growth in manufacturing capacity with relatively minor investment in equipment, enhancing Eltek's ability to offer highly reliable printed circuit boards in a shorter production time and at reduced prices.

These two programs are in addition to ongoing development projects that Eltek had held with a governmental authority, announced in July 2017 and January 2020.

Eli Yaffe Eltek's CEO added, "The two prior programs that were approved in 2017 and 2020 together with the newly approved programs are part of a technology road map that Eltek launched as part of its strategic plan to become an innovative industry leader for low quantity production of high performance printed circuit boards"