BOSTON, Nov. 4 -- Airlift capacity throughout the Asia Pacific has been relatively static but rising fuel prices and delays in major ports are trouble spots, a major freight forwarder said this week.
In its monthly report on airlift conditions, Trans Global Logistics says escalating fuel surcharges, strong demand for space fueled by delays at Long Beach and higher export volume from Asia
Peak season conditions exist in most markets with the greatest demand in China, Hong Kong, Taiwan and Korea, Trans Global says. Charter space is limited and the cost of a charter is more than $400,000, the firm says.
In Shanghai, new capacity is helping to handle the significant growth of export volume. But Hong Kong is struggling to meet demand as lift capacity is down about one-third.
"As you make plans to move your shipments during
the next few weeks, anticipate longer transit times and higher costs
for space and fuel. If you have large-sized or "hot" shipments, try to
book them as early as possible," Trans Global says.
While the main drivers remain mobile phones, display interconnects, digital cameras and PDAs, new applications are emerging in the medical, aerospace and military markets, BPA predicts that these markets will remain relatively small.
The demand for hard disk drives and optical media drives is also increasing for portable consumer goods, A/V and computers . However, says BPA, the net effect for volumes will be negligible as the smaller size of flex boards used will offset higher demand. Furthermore, the costs of flex-rigid PCBs outweigh the benefits in most portable consumer applications.
Discrete flexible circuits and connectors will continue to be used in most mobile phones for the next thrree to five years. Many Asian producers are developing and sampling innovative lower-cost technologies that show promise, BPA says.
Asia (excluding Japan) produces the largest volumes of FPC, having overtaken Japan last year. The fastest-growing country in Asia is China, who has increased its share of Asian production from 8% in 2000 to 17% in 2003. China is expected to account for 29% in 2008.
Sher has 20 years of sales and marketing management at companies like Applied Materials, where he was senior director of marketing, and Synexis, where he was as well as a chief marketing officer. He has an MBA from Adelphi University and a bachelor's of science from New York State University.
He will report to Ken Bliss, president and CEO.
Bliss makes carts for SMT manufacturing.
San Diego, Nov. 5 -- FocalSpot Inc., a provider of BGA/SMT inspection and rework, named Jeff Herberg global customer support manager and Glenn Olaes x-ray product line manger.
Herberg has 20 years of experience in : field service, applications engineering, technical training and sales support with GenRad/Nicolet Imaging Systems and Teradyne.
Olaes has eight years experience in : applications, customer support and regional sales management with Nicolet Imaging Systems/SRT, GenRad, Teradyne and VJ Electronix.
SIA expects that 2004 year-on-year growth rate will be 28.5%. More than 50% of the semiconductors sold in 2004 will go into products purchased by consumers, a ratio that will grow as consumers embrace portable digital media, SIA said.
Lower demand for memory devices and passives in 2005 will offset modest improvements in microprocessors, logic and DSPs.
The event, one of the world's largest for electronics manufacturing and components, will be held Nov. 9-12, in Munich.
Eazix Inc., the design service and original design manufacturing arm of IMI, will be represented by its distributor, MEV Elektronik Services Gmbh.
In a press statement, IMI president and chief executive Arthur R. Tan said, "Electronica offers a great opportunity to showcase our complete, cost competitive, and high value electronics manufacturing solutions and introduce ourselves as a reliable partner of European OEMs."
IMI, an ISO 9001, ISO 14001, and QS 9000 company, has over 1 million sq. ft. of manufacturing space and 12,000 employees. For a Circuits Assembly interview with Tan, click here: http://circuitsassembly.com/cms/images/stories/pdf/0410/0410finepitch.pdf.
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