Printed Circuit Design & Fab Online Magazine - Fab News

Fab News

Details: Written by Staff; Category: Fab News; Published: 17 July 2007

PLYMOUTH, MN – Innovex Inc., designer and manufacturer of flex circuitry, reported revenue of $18.2 million for the third quarter, including restructuring charges of $1.4 million.

In the second quarter, the company’s revenue was $21.9 million. The company's net loss was $8.2 million.

Third-quarter results were impacted by weak customer demand, especially from the Hard Disk Drive sector, Innovex says. Demand was impacted by inventory adjustments by customers.

Flex suspension assembly products constituted 49% of the company's net sales; actuator flex circuit revenue was 31%; flat panel display product revenue was 14%, and integrated circuit packaging application, network system and other application revenue was 6%.

The restructuring charges are related to the company's plan to transfer all its manufacturing operations to Thailand.

Details: Written by Staff; Category: Fab News; Published: 17 July 2007

BEAVERTON, OR – PCB manufacturer Merix Corp. reported a loss from continuing operations of $80.6 million on revenue of $93.6 million for the fourth quarter.

Details: Written by Staff; Category: Fab News; Published: 13 July 2007

PETACH-TIKVA, ISRAEL – Printed wiring board fabricator Eltek Ltd. expects lower second quarter revenues as a result of decreased sales to its largest customer, which is terminating PCB production for its principal product.

Revenues from the customer decreased to 17% of Eltek's total revenues in the first quarter, as compared with 31% and 25% in 2005 and 2006, respectively.

The impact of the program’s end on total quarterly revenues is expected to be hardest felt in the second and third quarters.

Eltek has received an initial purchase order for the next generation of this product. This order is valued at $240,000 and expected to be delivered in the third quarter.

Details: Written by Staff; Category: Fab News; Published: 12 July 2007

ANAHEIM, CA – Flexible circuit maker Multi-Fineline Electronix today said third-quarter net sales unexpectedly declined sequentially due to an ongoing decline in sales to its largest customer.

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FOSTER CITY, CA – PLM software provider Arena Solutions has issued a white paper on manufacturing outsourcing, the company said today.

Manufacturing Outsourcing: Seven Common Pitfalls to Avoid details selecting the wrong contract manufacturer; the quote-and-go approach; negotiating a weak contract, or no contract at all; poor NPI project management; inadequate change management processes and infrastructure; broken environmental compliance management, and ignoring the hidden costs of going offshore.

Written by Bijan Dastmalchi, cofounder and president of Symphony Consulting Inc., specializing in manufacturing outsourcing and supply chain management, and Richard Vermeij, senior director of product marketing at Arena Solutions, the paper is directed primarily at small-to-mid-sized OEMs. It discusses the challenges associated with outsourcing and the importance of putting in place the right strategy, processes, people and tools.

The free white paper is available for download at www.arenaplm.com/forms/media_outsourcingpitfalls_07q3.

YAVNE, ISRAEL –ORBOTECH LTD. announced that its Newprint Legend series UV curable inkjet printers now utilize ink that has been approved as compliant with military and aerospace standards for use in the production of bare printed circuit boards (PCB). PCB manufacturers producing bare printed circuit boards for the military and aerospace markets, particularly in North America, must use only MIL approved materials and processes.

Mr. Guy Alon, Inkjet Marketing Manager at Orbotech Ltd., explained, "Achieving this MIL standard compliance for the ink used in our systems is an important milestone. It opens the door for manufacturers of these applications to now be able to utilize our advanced UV inkjet technology in their operations for greater performance and cost savings compared to their existing solutions."

Orbotech’s Newprint Legend ink is certified for the following industry standards: MIL-PRF-55110G, MIL-PRF-31032, IPC-650 , ASTM E 595 outgas, RoHS compliant.