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Speaking of this Week -- February 28, 2003
December 31, 1969 |Estimated reading time: 3 minutes
By Christine F. Della Monaca
Speaking of this Week reflects on events in the electronics assembly industry every Friday.
Spring is coming, and so are the news releases! We've got many diverse types of news this week, including more partnerships and mergers, progress and trade show news, legislative updates, financial news, a new hire, and even news of a product price increase. Whew! Let's get going:
- Partnerships come back this week: Milpitas, Calif.-based Solectron Corp. and Sunnyvale, Calif.-based Intuitive Surgical Inc. have signed a manufacturing agreement that will see Solectron provide NPI and PCB assembly services for Intuitive's da Vinci surgical system. Meanwhile, Phoenix-based Duraswitch executed a royalty-bearing license agreement with Munich, Germany-based Siemens AG to allow Siemens to manufacture switches and switch panels using Duraswitch technology, while Parsippany, N.J.-based Matheson Tri-Gas Inc. teamed up with ATMI Inc. to bring SAGE gas sources to market. Finally, in acquisition news, Minneapolis-based August Technology Corp. entered into a settlement and purchase agreement with Singapore-based ASTI Holdings Ltd. to buy Plano, Texas-based Semiconductor Technologies and Instruments Inc. (STI), while NetVendor Inc. and Teradyne completed the sale of Teradyne's Manufacturing Software Group (MSG). The MSG and NetVendor have merged to become Visiprise Inc.
- Progress, progress, progress: ZESTRON Corp. moved its headquarters, including its European and Southeast Asian operations, to Ashburn, Va. Meanwhile, Ooosterhout, The Netherlands-based Vitronics Soltec delivered its 1,000th Delta Series wave soldering system, while Atlanta-based NACOM Corp. completed a trial implementation of a next-generation information exchange framework for electronics manufacturing. Over at Northbrook, Ill.-based IPC -- Association Connecting Electronics Industries, two EMS companies, Concord, Mass.-based Manufacturers' Services Ltd. and Fargo, N.D.-based Phoenix International, have endorsed IPC's EMS Program Manager Certification Program. Finally, San Jose, Calif.-based Photon Dynamics Inc. completed its first shipment of the ArrayChecker 3500 LCD array test system, while Santa Ana, Calif.-based Express Manufacturing Inc. (EMI) founded a new initiative that strengthens its offerings in key markets such as military, aerospace and medical.
- Trade show news: Alameda, Calif.-based Technology Forecasters Inc. will present the results of its study, "Supply-and-Demand Chain Software: Systems Required Through the Product Lifecycle," at its Quarterly Forum for Electronics Manufacturing Outsourcing and Supply Chain on March 6. Later in the month, the electronicChina Forum, taking place March 12 through 14 in Shanghai, will focus on mobile telecom, as well as make some predictions on the development of the market and look at some technologies. Finally, at the end of the month, the International Reliability Physics Symposium (IRPS), taking place March 30 through April 4 in Dallas, will expand its offerings this year to include the Reliability Year in Review Seminar.
- Some legislative news: The Washington, D.C.-based AeA voted at its recent board meeting to endorse President Bush's initiative to spur the U.S. economy through a jobs and economic growth plan. Meanwhile, IPC announced that the EPA signed a final rule on Metal Products and Machinery (MP&M) effluent limit guidelines. More than 30 IPC members and staff have testified at EPA public hearings against the original MP&M rule proposed in January 2001, which included a total annualized cost estimated at $147.1 million for the PCB industry, or slightly more than $250,000 per facility. The new legislation is significantly different.
- Financial news: Waterloo, Canada-based Agile Systems Inc. announced that the introduction of the Max 3000 Series of compact distributed motion controllers and multiple axis amplifiers meant an 80 percent increase in 2002 product shipments year-over-year. Meanwhile, Palo Alto, Calif.-based Agilent Technologies Inc. reported orders of $1.36 billion and revenue of $1.41 billion for the fiscal first quarter ended January 31. Orders were down 22 percent year-over-year in the Americas, flat in Europe and up 7 percent in Asia.
- A bit of personnel news: Quebec-based Cogiscan Inc. appointed Jean Lamontagne as operations manager for the company's line of material tracking and control systems.
- Finally, news of a price increase: Jersey City, N.J.-based Cookson Electronics Assembly Materials will increase prices on its products an average of 3 percent effective March 3. This is the first price increase in two years.
This just in: According to this week's Quick Vote, 42 percent of you feel MEMS will be very important to your company in the next 10 years, while 24 percent of you think they will be somewhat important and 18 percent forecast they will be not at all important. Fifteen percent of you don't know.
Have some insight on the industry? See something you don't agree with? Think I'm right on? Send it all to me at christinef@pennwell.com.