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Speaking of this Week -- January 31, 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.
What a week! Everywhere you look, there's huge news. The bellwether IPC IMS/PCB Book-to-Bill Ratio and Business Report came out this week, and some big appointments and promotions also came down. We've also got year-end financial results, progress news, tradeshow news, acquisitions and a prediction. Hold on to your hats:
- First, the results of the recently renamed Interconnect Manufacturing Services (IMS)/Printed Circuit Board (PCB) Statistical Program for December 2002 from Northbrook, Ill.-based IPC -- Association Connecting Electronics Industries. The Book-to-Bill Ratio for December stood at 0.96, and the Business Report reflected an IMS/PCB shipment index of 122.8 and an IMS/PCB booking index of 122.2. Let's look at the year as a whole. The Book-to-Bill Ratio hit its zenith last December, when it shot to 1.01. It then fell to 1.00, hovered around 0.95 through June, jumped to 0.99 in July, then began a freefall to 0.91 in October, the lowest point of the year. In November, it rose slightly to 0.92, and finished the year strongly. As for the shipment index, it increased 0.2 percent, and the booking index increased 3.4 percent over November figures. As the Magic 8 Ball used to say, all signs point to yes.
- As mentioned, big personnel news this week. The biggest has to be Barry Cohen's appointment to president of Billerica, Mass.-based Orbotech Ltd. after nine years of service to the company. In addition, Jim Bernhard is the new vice president of sales for Bethlehem, Pa.-based Ovation Products, and Portland, Ore.-based Electro Scientific Industries Inc. (ESI) has named Clive McGovern European regional manager. Finally, Edward J. Kelley is the new OEM marketing manager of Londonderry, N.H.-based Polyclad Laminates Inc.
- Some financial news, and a major announcement: San Jose, Calif.-based Photon Dynamics Inc. reported financial results for the first quarter of fiscal 2003, ending December 31. Revenue was $21.7 million, an increase of 53 percent year-over-year. Photon also announced it will be leaving the PCBA inspection market to concentrate on flat panel displays. Meanwhile, Grenville, S.C.-based KEMET Corp. saw net sales of $103.7 million for the December 2002 quarter, decreasing 12 percent year-over-year. The news wasn't great at Helsinki, Finland-based Elcoteq Network Corp. -- the company's net sales in 2002 totaled MEU 1,840, down slightly from MEUR 1,862 in 2001. And Myrtle Beach, S.C.-based AVX Corp. saw net sales $282.6 million in the third quarter ended December 31, representing a net loss of $700,000. Not bad. Finally, Quebec City, Canada-based EXFO Electro-Optical Engineering Inc. will hold several investor relations events next month, featuring EXFO Chairman, President and CEO Germain Lamonde and Vice President of Finance and Chief Financial Officer Pierre Plamonden.
- Some progress news: Carlsbad, Calif.-based Machine Vision Products Inc. has been granted a U.S. Patent for its computer integrated manufacturing control and information system (CIMCIS), while DEK added stencil design and manufacturing capability to its logistics hub in Memphis.
- Trade show news: IPC announced the three keynote speakers for APEX 2003, taking place March 31 through April 2 in Anaheim, Calif., and announced that next year's event will be co-located with IPC Printed Circuits Expo in February in Anaheim. In other IPC news, the association has released the program schedules for its Interactive Hands-On Workshops and Off-Site Applied Training segments of its 2003 IPC Designers Council Summit.
- Companies come together: Midland, Mich.-based Dow Corning Corp. will acquire the Raychem Power Materials Business Unit of Tyco Electronics. Speaking of Tyco, its Power Systems group signed a Memorandum of Understanding for Strategic Cooperation in Wuhan, China with China Putian Corp. Finally, Phoenix-based Duraswitch Industries Inc. and Plant City, Fla.-based UTEK Corp. signed a strategic alliance agreement.
- Finally, a prediction: Scottsdale, Ariz.-based In-Stat/MDR forecasts that MEMS will play a considerable role in several automotive applications, such as electronic stability control and rollover systems, as well as occupant detection, over the next five years.
This just in: According to this week's Quick Vote, 50 percent of you find information on component miniaturization very important to your work, while 43 percent of you say it's somewhat important, and 7 percent say "not at all."
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.