Printed Circuit Design & Fab Online Magazine - Fab News

Fab News

Details: Written by Staff; Category: Fab News; Published: 03 April 2009

PORTLAND, OR and MIDDLEFIELD, CT – Zygo Corp. and Electro Scientific Industries Inc. (ESI) have ended merger plans as a result of the economy’s downturn.

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Details: Written by Staff; Category: Fab News; Published: 31 March 2009

MILPITAS, CA – It was a good year for Lenthor Engineering. The company reported shipments climbed 13%, and bookings rose 12.2% year-over-year in 2008.

For the year, gross profit increased 17.1%, while net income swelled 62.7%.
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Details: Written by Staff; Category: Fab News; Published: 27 March 2009

WINSFORD, ENGLAND – CC Electronics Europe (CCEE) has named Russell Hinchcliffe manufacturing manager. He will oversee front-end operations and development of blind and buried circuit board capabilities.

He has 20 years of experience in the industry. Prior to joining CCEE, he worked for companies such as Merlin Circuit Technologies and Invotec.

Hinchcliffe plans to build on the company’s reputation for product delivery and customer satisfaction. “I believe that blind and buried circuit board technology will become more and more mainstream in the next few years, and it is my aim to get ahead of the competition and develop this side of the business as well,” he said.

Details: Written by Staff; Category: Fab News; Published: 27 March 2009

MILWAUKEE – Rockwell Collins has named Pho-Tronics the Printed Wiring Board Commodity Supplier of the Year.

The award recognizes suppliers’ significant contributions made during the year. Criteria include: quality, delivery, total cost of ownership, lead-time and customer service.

Pho-Tronics had been manufacturing PCBs for over 40 years.

BANNOCKBURN, IL – February PCB shipments and bookings continued to slide, according to the IPC’s most recent update of the North American PCB Statistical Program.

Rigid PCB shipments were down 23.2%, and bookings were down 35.5% year-over-year. Rigid PCB shipments, year-to-date, are down 21.1%, and bookings are down 33.2%.

February shipments slipped an additional 3.2% over January, and bookings declined 3.5%. The book-to-bill ratio remained below parity at 0.89.

Flexible circuit shipments were up 3.6 %, but bookings were down 6.1%, compared to last year. Flexible circuit shipments are up 9.4%, and bookings are down 4.2% for the year. The book-to-bill ratio climbed just above parity to 1.02.

Year-to-date, the combined industry shipments are down 19.2%, and bookings are down 31.6%.

“The book-to-bill ratio for PCBs overall has stayed in negative territory for 10 months now, and orders are still declining compared to last year,” said IPC President Denny McGuirk. “This suggests we will continue to see weak sales for the next few months at least. The flexible circuit segment of the industry is faring better than rigid PCBs right now,” he added.

The book-to-bill ratios are calculated by dividing the value of orders booked over the past three months by the value of sales billed during the same period from companies in IPC’s survey sample. A ratio of 1.0 suggests parity. Book-to-bill ratios and growth rates for rigid PCBs and flexible circuits combined are heavily affected by the rigid PCB segment. Rigid PCBs represent an estimated 90% of the current PCB industry in North America, according to IPC’s World PCB Production and Laminate Market Report.

In February, 89% of the total PCB shipments reported were domestically produced, and flexible circuit manufacturers indicated that bare circuits accounted for approximately 78% of the shipment value reported for the month. Assembly and other services make up a large and growing segment of flexible circuit producers’ businesses.

BANNOCKBURN, IL – IPC has named Yury Kovalevsky the official representative to Russia and Russian-speaking countries.

He will have numerous responsibilities including: helping to translate IPC standards into Russian; supporting standards development activities in the region; serving as the liaison to member companies; organizing seminars and events; and supporting training and certification activities in the region.

Prior to his appointment, Kovalevsky held management and engineering positions with MNPP Saturn Ltd. and Tyco Electronics AMP GmbH. Currently, he oversees the Center of Technological Information for Producers of Electronics.

“We’re thrilled to have Yury on board, and excited about the promise of engaging Russian companies in our standards development activities,” said David Bergman, IPC vice president of international relations. “Their participation will strengthen the standards because of the different demands in this market. We hope to get them involved in translation, contributing to new revisions and eventually originating standards as well.”