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Inovar Expands Business Through Customer Partnerships
December 31, 1969 |Estimated reading time: 3 minutes
Inovar Inc., an inthinc company and mid-volume contract electronics assembly provider located in North Logan, Utah, held an open house to announce its expansion to 65,000 sq.ft. Inovar’s success as an EMS provider is based on its ability to provide a full range of services, included materials procurement, thru-hole and SMT PCB assembly, test, and system builds. The company has experienced 1000% growth in the past five years – 2007 revenue was $37 million; 2008’s may reach $50 million. In 2007, it merged with an OEM customer to form inthinc, and there also is a 50-employee OEM unit that resides in a separate facility in Salt Lake City. Partnering works well for Inovar.
Inovar’s customer L3 Communications presented the EMS provider with a poster honoring their partnership.
The Logan facility includes one prototype and three production SMT lines, and Inovar plans to add another line. There are separate leaded and lead-free lines; selective soldering; ICT, flying probe, and X-ray inspection systems; automated UV conformal coating and potting; software control systems from Valor, and Manex ERP; and a dedicated new product introduction (NPI) business unit.
“Customers want flexibility, and we actually like change,” says Jed Jones, VP of EMS sales. Medical, military, and high-reliability-type products are the most difficult boards to build, but these types of boards clearly represent markets that Inovar’s management finds of primary interest.
At the open house, Inovar’s customers talked about their successful partnerships. Dave Martinez’s company, Edge Products Inc., makes electronics to improve the performance of diesel trucks and automobiles. From a small company, Edge has grown quickly, and as they grew, Inovar provided guidance at business meetings, board design assistance, a customer team dedicated to Edge – even leverage with a major processor to get supplies quickly. Bill Percival of L3 Communications presented a large poster to thank the employees at Inovar who built L3 boards for the Rover 4 high-tech radio receiver. “By helping to provide soldiers in the field with real-time information, you have saved American soldiers’ lives by your efforts,” he said. “We build partnerships with our customers and suppliers, and these relationships make us more flexible than most Tier III EMS suppliers,” says Blake Kirby, president and COO, Inovar. “We offer a Tier I menu selection with a Tier III flexibility,” he summarized at the open house.
Report: Manufacturing the Future
The Interagency Working Group (IWG) on Manufacturing R&D, a forum within the National Science and Technology Council (NSTC) Committee on Technology (CT), released a 100-page report on federal priorities of manufacturing, “Manufacturing the Future,” focusing on three priority areas. These interest areas include manufacturing for the hydrogen economy; nano-manufacturing; and intelligent and integrated manufacturing. “Intelligent and integrated manufacturing” is defined as all manufacturing-application-specific information technology that leads to more efficient and transparent production. Electronics assemblers focus on products and techniques that reduce defects and increase traceability as intelligent and integrated technologies.
The report describes critical manufacturing technology issues that need to be addressed in each area, and outlines federal activities targeting these sectors. It is designed to provide an overview of cross-cutting issues that affect R&D for all three areas. For example,“intelligent, flexible manufacturing tools will be required to design, manufacture, and integrate nanoscale components into affordable products and systems for real-world applications. And for the U.S. manufacturing sector as a whole, the capability to integrate new designs, processes, and materials in a flexible fashion will translate into competitive advantages ranging from shorter product development cycles to new value-added products and services.” To read the report, visit www.manufacturing.gov.
March Book-to-Bill up
The combined rigid and flex PCB industry book-to-bill for North America improved again in March, reaching 1.00, according to IPC. Shipments and bookings are up roughly 10% from March of last year.
- Shipments for rigid PCBs are up 9.5% and bookings climbed 16.2% from March 2007. Year to date, rigid PCB shipments are up 4.9%; bookings rose by 15.3%. Compared to February, PCB shipments leapt up by 20.6% and rigid bookings increased 11.9%. The rigid circuits book-to-bill hit parity at 1.00.
- Flexible circuits shipments climbed 9.7%, but bookings declined 29.5% compared to March 2007. Year to date, flexible circuit shipments are down 0.2%; bookings are down 17.2%. Compared to the previous month, flexible circuit shipments are up 26.0% and flex bookings rose 30.0%. The book-to-bill improved to 0.99.
- Combined, flex and rigid PCB market shipments increased 9.5% from March 2007, and orders booked increased 11.2%. Year to date, combined industry shipments are up 4.6% and bookings improved by 12.5%. Compared to February, combined industry shipments for February 2008 are up 21.0% and bookings are up 13.0%. The combined book-to-bill ratio bettered to 1.00.