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MANILA – EMS provider Ionics EMS will be delisted from the Singapore stock exchange June 23, a voluntary move in order to cut compliance costs.

The company, a subsidiary of Ionics Inc., will have its last trading day June 8. On May 31, Ionics bought 2.616 million EMS Ionics shares worth S$39,240, bringing its current total to 1.4 billion shares, or 90% of the subsidiary’s total equity. A cash offer has been made for the remaining 10%.

MIGDAL HAEMEK, ISRAEL -- Rudolph Technologies has filed a claim in US District Court alleging two Camtek AOI machines infringe a recently issued patent.

BRUSSELS – Some substances, including halogenated flame retardants and PVC, should undergo further assessments for safe use in electrical and electronic equipment, said the European Parliament Environment Committee in a vote today.

SAN JOSE – The 90-day moving average worldwide semiconductor sales in April were $23.6 billion, up 2.2% from March and 50.4% year-over-year.

TAIPEI -- Foxconn will raise wages of its China-based workers by 30%, effective immediately, according to reports.

FREMONT, CA -- Alta Manufacturing has acquired fellow electronics contract manufacturer NRC Manufacturing for an undisclosed sum.

TEMPE, AZ — Economic activity in the manufacturing sector expanded in May for the 10th consecutive month, says the Institute for Supply Management. The PMI for May was 59.7%, a drop of 70 basis points.

A reading above 50% indicates the manufacturing economy is generally expanding.

New orders were flat at 65.7%, and production was down 30 basis points to 66.6%. Inventories dropped 3.8 percentage points to 45.6%, while customer inventories dropped 1 percentage point to 32%. Backlogs were up 2 percentage points to 59.5%.

“The manufacturing sector grew for the 10th consecutive month during May. The rate of growth as indicated by the PMI is driven by continued strength in new orders and production. Employment continues to grow, as manufacturers have added to payrolls for six consecutive months. The recovery continues to broaden, as 16 of 18 industries report growth. There are a number of reports, particularly in the tech sector, of shortages of components; this is the result of excessive inventory de-stocking during the downturn,” said ISM spokesperson Norbert J. Ore.

The overall economy grew for the 13th consecutive month.

BUCKINGHAMSHIRE, UK – The Smart Group will hold a two-day technical conference Oct. 6 and 7 at the Oxfordshire GC Business Centre.

The event addresses the supply chain, informs about the latest research projects, and explores whether manufacturing standards improve the industry.

Other topics include production control, chemistry, what’s happening with RoHS and REACH, cleaning, tin whiskers and component tinning practices.

The full program and a list of exhibitors will be announced soon.

The conference is timed with the organization’s 26th anniversary.

KYOTO, JAPAN – Europe will play host next week to its first public Jisso European Council Seminar.

The event will provide the latest news from the JISSO meeting in Kyoto in May, as well as details about the new IEC standard development work for PCB with embedded components.

Jisso is a Japanese term for cooperation and refers to a loosely knit organization in Japan 12 years ago for electronics designers and packaging experts.

Aimed at electronics designers and process engineers, the session will offer details on chip design, packaging, PWB and PCB assembly and end-product, to aid understanding of design and manufacturing options.

Details are available at www.eipc.org.

WEYMOUTH, UK – The Alternative Energy Manufacturing Technologies seminar will take place June 15 at DEK here.

The event is a response to recent government funding initiatives, says organizer Smart Group.

Seminar topics include Introduction - Grabbing the Green Pound; Screen Printing Processes for Alternative Energy Technologies; Why Surface Mount Technologies Are Important in Commercializing Fuel-Cell and Micro-CHP Applications; Photovoltaic Technologies - An Overview; Performance Based Monitoring - A Strategic Imperative, and Screens for Alternative Energy Sectors - the Challenges.

The event will include a tour of DEK’s facilities with an onsite demonstration of printing solar photovoltaic cell wafers.

LOS ALTOS, CA – US medical electronics production slowed to 4.8% growth in 2009, down from 7% the year before, a leading analyst said.

ENDICOTT, NY -- EMS firm Catalyst Manufacturing Services has completed upgrades to its manufacturing facility here, including new flooring and layout.