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TEDDINGTON, UK – National Physical Laboratory scientists are researching what use of Pb-free solder alloys could mean for tin pest and tin whiskers.

NPL has been studying the allotropic phase transformation in tin and its alloys, commonly known as tin pest, to measure the implications of adopting Pb-free solder manufacturing practices.

The firm has received funding from the Department for Business, Enterprise & Regulatory Reform. It seeks industry support for the work on the order of £5,200 per company for the 14-month project.

Also, NPL has developed a measurement system and test method to assess the ability of different conformal coatings to stop or slow down tin whisker growth. The method can help conformal coating suppliers modify coatings to inhibit whisker initiation, growth and penetration for electronics.

GLENVIEW, IL -- Illinois Tool Works today reported operating revenue fell 21% for the three months ended Feb. 28. The drop included a 20% fall in base revenues and a 7% fall in contributions from currency translation, partially offset by a 7% increase from acquisitions in the period.

MALMO, SWEDEN -- An arbitration board has found in favor of top 40 EMS firm PartnerTech Åtvidaberg AB in its case against Swe-Dish Satellite System AB.

The board ruled Swe-Dish is to pay PartnerTech almost SEK 23 million for invoice claims and costs.

The ruling will raise PartnerTech's reported earnings for the first quarter by more than SEK 3 million.

ROGERSTONE, UK -- TT Electronics said full-year profits fell 37% on weaker volumes, especially for its automotive components.

For the year ended Dec. 31, the pretax profit before exceptional items was 21.1 million points ($29.5 million). Revenue rose 7.2% to 584.3 million pounds, boosted by foreign exchange and acquisitions. Organic revenue was down 1.7%.

About 40% of TT's revenue came from automotive sales, and the company is trying to lower its exposure to that market to 25 to 30%.

TT, which has laid off 1,295 workers since 2008, said it would fire more staff than previously announced in January, and has implemented short-time working and temporary shutdowns across a number of sites.

CHICAGO -- Methode Electronics reported third-quarter net sales fell 41.7% to $80.8 million from a year ago. Net income plunged $36.8 million to a loss of $27 million. The company took charges of $32.7 million for goodwill and intangible assets, and restructuring charges of $3.8 million, during the period.

The results were also hampered by timing: there was one less week in the company's fiscal quarter ended Jan. 31 vs. a year ago.

Method, which supplies connectors and bare boards for a variety of products, but is heavily dependent on the flailing automotive sector, said it would cut 850 employees worldwide and move manufacturing operations to Mexico, Malta and China, resulting in a pretax charge of $9 million to $18 million. A plant in Morocco will be put on hold, the company said.

President and chief executive Donald W. Duda said, "We have accelerated our strategy to reduce our exposure to legacy automotive business, particularly with the Detroit automakers. These actions, once completed, are expected to reduce Methode's revenues derived from the automotive industry to less than 40% of our overall revenue base by fiscal year 2011. This is in stark contrast to automotive revenues of 75% in fiscal 2005."

SMYRNA, GA – Solder vendors are denying reports of plans to eliminate a type of flux classified in industry standards as rosin mildly activated (RMA).

On an industry email forum Friday, an engineer at a large defense contractor said he had heard from solder reps of a consensus to discontinue RMA fluxes due to a lack of general use.

WASHINGTON, DC – The National Association of Manufacturers' top commerce official is calling the Obama administration's trade policies "pragmatic" and open.

In a statement released on the trade group's website, NAM vice president for international economic affairs Frank Vargo called President Obama’s trade policy agenda "a pragmatic one aimed at opening markets and improving the U.S. role in the world economy. ... [I]t talks about improving trade agreements rather than reopening them, and it calls for greater emphasis on seeing that small and medium-sized firms can become more effective exporters and competitors in the global economy." Vargo said the latter is "a very important goal" for NAM, whose membership is largely made up of small- and medium-sized businesses.

"We were pleased to see that the agenda calls for correcting the current imbalance in the Doha Round, and seeking a strong and balanced market-opening outcome. The NAM has been pressing hard for such an approach and will work closely with the President’s trade team to achieve that important goal."

He also lauded the Administration for "reaching out to all stakeholders in framing its agenda."

Vargo also noted the agenda's call for a strong and effective stance on IP protection, which NAM sees as "one of the most essential parts of the NAM trade agenda."

PHOENIX -- ON Semiconductor and Samsung Electronics have settled their outstanding patent infringement actions over DRAM products.

While the terms are confidential, the companies said they have agreed to cross-license their respective patent portfolios for a "significant term of years."

The two companies had sued each other over the rights to certain memory technology.

EL SEGUNDO, CA — Global mobile internet device unit shipments expected to expand by nearly a factor of eight from 2007 to 2012, according to iSuppli Corp.

SIOUX FALLS, SD -- Raven Industries reported fourth-quarter sales rose 3% to $59.9 million but net income fell 22% to $4.7 million from a year ago.

SUWANEE, GA – ASYS Solar tripled its annual revenues for the fourth time in a row on “substantial orders” in the second half of 2008, the firm says.

The privately held firm, which develops equipment for backend solar cell production, recently hired additional personnel in R&D, production and service.

Production floor space at the company’s headquarters in Dornstadt, Germany has been doubled to approximately 200,000 sq. ft.

ASYS Solar is a business unit of the ASYS Group.