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Details: Written by Staff; Category: Fab News; Published: 08 October 2008

BEAVERTON, OR– Merix Corporation has announced its consolidated financial results for the first quarter of fiscal 2009. A net loss of $2.1 million ($0.10 per diluted share on revenue of $90.6) was reported. 2008 figures showed a $3.6 million net loss (or $0.17 per diluted share on revenue of $99.4 million).

There was a 9% decline in first-quarter revenue, but the company sites the March 2008 closure of its Wood Village factory as the reason. The overall gross margin averaged 11.3% of revenue, an improvement over last year’s figures.

The company is happy with the first-quarter improvement and feels the financial results are “within guidance range for the quarter.” Over the last 15 months, Merix has been examining how to improve and restructure in order to deliver value proposition to its global clients.

In addition, the completion of two substantial capital projects did not alter the positive cash flow. Expansion and upgrades at the Huiyang, China, factory have been completed, and the implementation of a global ERP system has been finished.

Details: Written by Staff; Category: Fab News; Published: 07 October 2008

TAIWAN– Elite Material Company will invest $800,000 in Allstar Tech, a flexible CCL maker in southern China. The investment will increase EMC’s stake in the company from 5% to 11%, according to EMC filings with the Taiwan Stock Exchange.

Details: Written by Staff; Category: Fab News; Published: 06 October 2008

PELHAM, NH– PhotoMachining, Inc. has hired Dr. Francis Burns as its applications scientist. Working with customers, he will help to develop laser-based manufacturing processes. Prior to joining PhotoMachining, Burns worked for such companies as IBM, Hewlett-Packard and ESI. He has dedicated many years to the development of laser-based manufacturing technology for high volume applications, and he holds numerous patents.

Details: Written by Staff; Category: Fab News; Published: 03 October 2008

YAVNE, ISRAEL– Orbotech Ltd. announced that it has finalized its acquisition of Photon Dynamics Inc. for nearly $290 million. As part of the agreement, Orbotech will pay $15.60 per share for all issued and outstanding shares of Photon’s common stock. A combination of external-source financing and internally generated funds financed the acquisition, and Orbotech is expecting additional flat panel display (FPD) revenues of $45 to $50 million for the remainder of the year. Operational synergies are predicted at $15 to $20 million for 2009. Existing Photon business will comprise part of the company’s FPD Division, and Orbotech plans to expand the range of AOL, test and repair solutions for FPD manufacturers.

ENDICOTT, NY– Endicott Interconnect Technologies, Inc. (EI) has promoted Jennifer de Souza to vice president of supply chain management. Her responsibilities will include developing and executing direct and indirect materials procurement strategies using lean principles such as JIT and Consignment. She will also lead the way in streamlining the company’s supply chain by implementing the SAP toolset. de Souza has 10 years of experience in global materials management and strategic sources. Prior to joining EI in 2007, she was the global materials manager for Welch Allyn.

JAPAN and TAIWAN– Capacity increases by Union Tool of Japan and Topoint of Taiwan have lead market watchers to predict continued competition of shares in the PCB drill bit market for 2009. Union Tool plans to increase its monthly output to 35 million units by the end of 2008. This will be an increase of 4 million against 2007 figures. Topoint expects monthly figures over 17 million by the end of the year, up 30% from 2007. The company also predicts its global market share to reach 17% to 18% by the end of 2008.