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.
MILPITAS, CA – It was a good year for Lenthor Engineering. The companyreported 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%.
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.
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.
