News
SMT Resource Group LLC (SMTR, Wake Forest, NC), a reseller and integrator of new and refurbished electronics assembly equipment, is celebrating its fifth year of operations.
SMTR has delivered approximately 500 machines to customers worldwide during its first five years. The majority has been sold internationally, especially to Asia, where China is the biggest market, followed closely by Korea. The mix of customers includes local customers and North American companies manufacturing in Asia.
SMTR has increased profits every year, converting them into inventory and leveraging them into financial relationships with banks.
SMTR's Eastern
Technical Center with 6,000 sq. ft. is located in Wake Forest, NC, and
includes the company's administrative offices. The Central Technical
Center in Temple, TX, has 50,000 sq. ft.; the Western Technical Center
has 12,000 sq. ft. and is located in Concord, CA. SMTR has over 100
major pieces of equipment in inventory. Additionally, the company has
sold 200 machines during the past year.
Eric Berg founded Encore Trading East LLC in December 1998, after a career with GE Capital, Universal Instruments and Texas Instruments. Chris Thornton founded Encore Trading West LLC in early 1999 with the intention of working with Encore Trading East. This resulted in the joint formation of Encore Trading International on April 15, 1999.
Malcolm Montanjees owner of Equipment Services LLC worked with Berg and Thornton at GE Capital and assisted Encore Trading Intl., which lead to formation of SMTR on Jan 1, 2002.
SMTR wants to recognize Dave Heller, who began with Encore Trading on April 15, 1999. Heller has worked in the used equipment business, beginning with Universal Instruments close to 20 years ago after being employed at IBM. He is now the Tech Center Manager for SMTR's Eastern facility.
Copyright 2004, UP Media Group. All rights reserved.
The second phase of the Kester University Program is commencing May 21 at Kester's DesPlaines, IL, facility. Kester is offering a two-day, hands on training seminar at its headquarters.
Kester recognizes the
many changes required to effectively implement lead-free assembly
reliably without reduction in production output and has created a
program to assist customers wishing to go lead free. Courses are
offered to train personnel in lead-free surface-mount technology, wave
soldering and rework. The courses bring practical knowledge and
experience to the user, enabling the fulfillment of a company's
training requirements and the rapid implementation of lead-free
assembly.
Kester University also offers consulting services to
companies wishing to troubleshoot specific soldering assembly issues
with lead-free or traditional tin-lead soldering. These services
include solderability analysis, x-ray analysis, micro-sectioning, line
audits, soldering process implementation and optimization.
Before beginning any project, Kester's engineers assess a company's specific issues and recommend a detailed action plan. At the project's completion, the company is supplied with a complete engineering report.
Copyright 2004, UP Media Group. All rights reserved.
According to IPC (Northbrook, IL), the North American Interconnect Manufacturing Services (IMS)/ Printed Circuit Board (PCB) Industry book-to-bill ratio for March rose to 1.12, up slightly from February.
The ratio is calculated by averaging the index numbers for orders booked over the past three months and dividing by the average index numbers for sales billed during the same period. A ratio of more than 1.00 suggests that current demand is ahead of supply, which indicates probable near-term growth.
Shipments in March 2004 increased 41.1% year-on year, while orders booked increased 47.2%. Compared to 2003, shipments of PCBs are up 32.6% year-to-date, with bookings up 42.8 %.
The shipment index was up 15.3% sequentially to 151.5. However, the booking index decreased 2% from 164.1 in February. A shipment index of 117.0, for example, indicates that shipments are 17% higher than average shipments for the same time period in 1992.
According to IPC, participating companies report that their shipments increased 32.9% year-on-year and that their orders booked increased 37.1%.
Year-to-date, current survey participants report shipments up 30.2% and bookings up 41.1% over the same period in 2003.
The monthly statistics are based on data provided by PCB manufacturers that participate in IPC's monthly program. These companies reportedly represent approximately 60% of the U.S. IMS industry.
Copyright 2004, UP Media Group. All rights reserved.
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