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Speaking of this Week -- November 15, 2002
December 31, 1969 |Estimated reading time: 4 minutes
By Christine F. Della Monaca
Speaking of this Week reflects on the electronics assembly industry every Friday.
The industry is engaging in a lot of self-congratulation, what with the slew of awards this week. Companies continue to come together, and there's tradeshow, personnel and financial news as well. Finally, a prediction about the MEMS market, which is positioned to grow in the next few years. Read on:
- Northbrook, Ill.-based IPC -- Association Connecting Electronics Industries' IPC Annual Meeting earlier this month was a hotbed of awards activity. The association honored 66 members for their contributions to IPC and the electronics interconnection industry, as well as handed the Best Technical Paper Award to Steven Dunford of Nokia and Anthony Primavera, Ph.D. and Michael Meilunas of Universal Instruments Corp. for "Microstructural Evolution and Damage Mechanisms in Pb-Free Solder Joints During Extended -40 Degrees C to 125 Degrees C Thermal Cycles." IPC also awarded Ron Underwood with its 2002 IPC Raymond E. Pritchard Hall of Fame Award, which is based on exceptional lifetime achievement. Another trade organization, the Electrostatic Discharge Association (ESD Association) presented its Best Paper, Best Student Paper and Best Presentation awards from the 2001 EOS/ESD Symposium last month during the annual awards presentation at the 2002 Symposium in Charlotte, N.C. In other award news, Myrtle Beach, S.C.-based AVX Corp. gave Minneapolis-based Comstrand Inc. its first Representative Star of the Year Award for the fiscal year ended March 2002. Comstrand earned the award by exceeding both sales growth and attainment of the annual sales plan by almost 20 percent. Finally, Cleveland-based Keithley Instruments Inc. announced that the Institute of Electrical and Electronic Engineers (IEEE) opened nominations for the IEEE Joseph F. Keithley Award in Instrumentation and Measurement, given in memory of the company's founder. Nominations will be accepted until January 31. In other progress news, Londonderry, N.H.-based Polyclad Laminates Inc., a Cookson Electronics PWB Materials & Chemistry business, will invest more than $6 million to expand and advanced laminate and prepeg manufacturing at the company's Elk Grove, Calif. facility. Elkhart, Ind.-based CTS Corp.'s CTS Automotive Products was selected by a major international vehicle manufacturer to supply additional seat belt tension sensors for passenger vehicles. San Jose, Calif.-based Adept Technology Inc. expanded and renamed its original MVP co-marketing program for robot, vision and motion control peripherals and accessories. Finally, UK-based PAL -- Process Automation International established a new subsidiary, Process Automation (Europe) Ltd. -- PAL Europe for sales and marketing in Europe.
- Some agreements, mergers and acquisitions this week: Camarillo, Calif.-based Semtech Corp. expanded its distribution agreement with LaFox, Ill.-based Richardson Electronics Ltd. to give Richardson expanded distribution rights in Europe, Israel, Latin America and Australia. In a similar vein, South Bend, Ind.-based MicroScreen LLC appointed Bellevue, Wash.-based Havtech Inc. as its exclusive agent for Washington state, Oregon, Idaho, and the province of British Columbia in Canada, while Bensenville, Ill.-based Prostat Corp. and Haifa, Israel-based Carmel Olefins formed a joint relationship to blend technology, R&D, and manufacturing. Finally, Nashua, N.H.-based Tecnomatix Technologies Ltd. formed a reseller agreement with Belgium-based CARDS Engineering to have CARDS distribute eMPower MPM software in Belgium, Luxembourg and the Netherlands.
- Some tradeshow news from two major trade organizations: IPC announced two workshops for its IPC Printed Circuits Expo and IPC SMEMA Council's APEX exhibitors on trade show marketing and operations, taking place December 3 and December 5. Meanwhile, the Minneapolis-based SMTA has launched two certification programs, one for SMT processes and one for SMT systems, which will be offered throughout 2003.
- Two bits of personnel news: Industy, Calif.-based Henkel Loctite Corp. named Chris Marinelli director of applications engineering for the company's electronics business unit, while Redwood Shores, Calif.-based Oracle Corp. added San Jose, Calif.-based Cadence Design Systems Inc. President and Chief Executive Officer H. Raymond Bingham to its Board of Directors.
- Quarterly results: Yavne, Israel-based Orbotech Ltd. reported third quarter 2002 financial results that represented a dip year-over-year. Revenues were $54.2 million, compared to $61.7 million in the year-ago period, and net loss was $2 million, representing 6 cents per diluted share, compared to net income excluding a restructuring charge of $400,000, or 1 cent per diluted share. However, it's all in how you look at it: With the restructuring charge, the reported net loss in the third quarter of 2001 was $3.6 million, or 11 cents per diluted share.
- Finally, a prediction from Scottsdale, Ariz.-based In-Stat/MDR: The organization forecasts revenues for MEMS (micro electromechanical systems) devices for consumer electronics products will rise to $613.5 million in 2006, at a compound annual growth rate of 21.5 percent, up from $124.3 million in 2001, despite average selling proices that will decline steeply throughout the forecast period.
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.