Fremont, CA -- Manufacturing Resource Corp. will expand its operations into Grand Prairie, TX, between the cities of Dallas and Fort Worth. Operations are set to begin by the end of the month.
 
The new location will initially be set up for laser-cut stencil fabrication and later expand into tape and reel services.  The facility will serve customers in Texas and neighboring states.
 
MRC has been doing business since 1994 in the Fremont location. 

FOREST GROVE, OR - Merix Corp. has agreed to buy Eastern Pacific Circuits Ltd. for $120 million cash. Merix said the acquisition of the Hong Kong-based PCB supplier includes earn-out consideration of up to $8M based on 2005 adjusted earnings before interest, taxes, depreciation and amortization (EBITDA).

Merix plans to finance the transaction, expected to close in June, with a combination of available cash and debt. Eastern Pacific has four manufacturing plants in southern China and one in Hong Kong. In 2004, Eastern Pacific's preliminary unaudited sales were $143M, with adjusted EBITDA of $14.1M.

 

NY, April 14 -- U.S. IT spending will increase to $417 billion in 2005 and reach $497 billion by 2008, a report from IDC reveals. According to the study, government, manufacturing, and banking continue to drive IT spending in process management and content management.

According to Anne Songtao Lu, program manager for IDC's Worldwide Vertical Markets, the consumer/home vertical has become increasingly important for IT vendors.

Read more ...

SAN JOSE, CA -- Sanmina-SCI Corp. has demonstrated interoperability of its scalable ATCA (Advanced Telecom Computing Architecture) compatible backplane across a spectrum of existing and proposed backplane interconnect standards.
 
"We have completed testing and collected electrical and performance data that demonstrates how Sanmina-SCI's suite of design and manufacturing techniques enhances system-level interoperability," said George Dudnikov, Sr. VP and CTO for the PCB division. "The high-performance market is starting to see some forward momentum, and OEMs are beginning to recognize the performance benefits of using low-distortion interconnects in their systems, which are compatible with drivers and receivers from all major silicon manufacturers. As a result, system designers enjoy a variety of options."
 
The ATCA-compatible backplanes equalize the performance variations seen across major connector technologies (press-fit, SMT, BGA); dielectrics (low-cost and enhanced materials); existing and proposed industry-wide, high-performance interconnect protocols (Ethernet, XAUI, Infiniband, Fibre Channel, Compact PCT, ATCA, VXI, UXPi); modulation schemes (NRZ, PAM, multi-level signaling); and signal-conditioning schemes (passive and active driver pre-emphasis and receiver equalization). 
 

Cost reduction has been replaced by order lead time as the top issue facing mid-size manufacturers, according to a new report. As customers eliminate inventory by asking manufacturers to be more reactive and reliable to their demands, customer service is no longer simply improving complete and on-time order performance. Mid-size manufacturers are scrambling as they recognize that their order-to-delivery processes are not capable of delivering in less time with the accuracy and cost profiles required to please customers and the CFO.
 
"Mid-size manufacturers now understand that their current order-to-delivery processes are nothing but a set of loosely coupled functions and not as integrated and streamlined as needed," said Chris Jones, Aberdeen Inc.'s senior VP of value chain research. "Best-in-class mid-size manufacturers have adopted end-to-end integrated order-to-delivery process and are using real-time information to accelerate the velocity of their business."
 
The report finds manufacturers that move from a loosely coupled set of department or functions to a tightly synchronized order-to-delivery process are 2.5 times more likely to have the shortest lead times. Far too many mid-size manufacturers mistakenly believe that an end-to-end integrated process does a better job at passing information between the functional operations. Only 20% of respondents had end-to-end processes in place and only 14% had integrated, real-time IT solutions.
 
To optimize order-to-delivery performance, Jones recommends:
 
-- Understand the difference between an integrated process and connected pieces.
 
-- Get started by picking the top three functions to integrate.
 
-- Automate and use workflow to drive velocity.
 
-- Extend order-to-delivery to the supply base.
 
-- Drive order-to-delivery performance with real-time information
 
Download a copy here: www.aberdeen.com/summary/report/benchmark/RA_MidSizeMfg_CJ.asp

 

Santa Clara, CA -- Dimensions Consulting Inc. (DCI) has doubled the size of its headquarters in Santa Clara, CA, to include an in-house manufacturing division for test sockets. At full utilization, the facility will triple the company's production volume of sockets.   
 
"The demand for our sockets has increased to the level where we'd now like to have complete control over manufacturing," said Zaid Ayoub, president. "We have customers that need custom sockets as well as quick turn sockets, and having control over the capacity, materials and quality will give us the ability to respond immediately with reliable sockets."  
 
The facility will accommodate extreme fine pitch for next generation packages.
 
The company has hired Donald Hayes as manufacturing manager of the new division. 

Binghamton, NY -- A Texas court has entered final judgement in favor of Universal Instruments Corp., a subsidiary of Dover Corp., following a three-week jury trial in Houston.  All 17 claims of the asserted software patent were found invalid and not infringed. 

According to Universal, the suit, filed in 2002, is one of an increasing number of patent cases brought by companies whose primary business model is licensing and litigation of patent assets—typically, with the assistance of contingency fee lawyers. In this case, the plaintiffs alleged that the GSM Platform for surface mount placement of components on PCBs infringed U.S. Patent 5,283,943. The plaintiffs waived their right to appeal in return for Universal's agreement not to seek costs or attorney fees.

Read more ...

Nuremberg, Germany --Siemens Logistics and Assembly Systems has opened a training facility on the campus of Senai University in Manaus, Brazil. Siemens will conduct SMT technology training for students and customers in the region. 

Close cooperation between the university and company will enable research results to directly benefit the development of new Siplace machines. Siemens also equipped the center with a new SMT placement machine.
           
Siemens also has a training facility on the Senai Campus in Campenas, Brazil, and the same course curriculum will be offered at both locations.

Framingham, MA -- Global ODMs reached a combined $4.37 billion in revenues last year, up 37.9% from 2003, according to a recent report from International Data Corp. (IDC). The top-three ODMs are all Taiwan-based players: Quanta Computer, Compal Electronics and Lite-On Technology.

Quanta led with a 24% share of the market, with Compal garnering a 15% share and Lite-On capturing 12%, said IDC.

Notebooks contributed 48% of ODM revenues, followed by the monitor and display segment with 15%.

For Taiwan-based notebook PC ODMs, 14 to 14.9" notebooks accounted for the largest proportion of shipments last year, according to IDC.

Framingham, MA -- Electronics manufacturing services provider Foxconn Electronics (the registered trade name of Hon Hai Precision Industry) overtook US-based Sanmina-SCI to become the second-largest EMS vendor worldwide, according to a recent report by International Data Corporation (IDC).

Solectron also moved down a notch from third largest in 2003 to fourth in 2004. Singapore-based Flextronics is still the largest.

Read more ...

VANCOUVER, British Columbia -- Nam Tai Electronics Inc. has merged two of its subsidiaries, Nam Tai Electronic & Electrical Products Ltd. and Namtek Software Development Co. Ltd.

NTEEP has entered into a sale and purchase agreement with Nam Tai and Asano Co. for the acquisition of 80% and 20% interests in Namtek, respectively. The total cost of the acquisition is approx. $26.7 million, and will be satisfied by issuance of new shares of NTEEP to Nam Tai and Asano. The merger should be complete by the end of May 2005.

" We believe the merger of NTEEP and Namtek will enable the company to simplify its corporate structure, strengthen its management team, which will in turn support its continuous growth," said Joseph Li, CEO of Nam Tai. "Integration of NTEEP's manufacturing capability with Namtek's software development capability will result in significant competitive advantages. By sharing resources, the two operations will also be able to achieve higher operational efficiency, capabilities, profitablities and scalabilities."

Namtek offers a range of services on software development, data processing and compression and electronic hardware design and development, specializing in digital dictionaries and car navigation systems. It will become a wholly owned subsidiary of NTEEP after the acquisition is completed.

GLASSBORO, NJ -- Essemtec (essemtec.com), an SMT production equipment manufacturer, will be one of the exhibitors at the 9^th Annual SMTA Atlanta Expo, scheduled for April 21 at the Gwinnett Center in Duluth, GA.

The company, represented in the Circuit Technology Inc. booth, will showcase its pick-and-place machine with dispenser.
 
In 1997, the Surfact Mount Technology Association (smta.org) offered its first tabletop Vendor Day at several chapter locations and has continued to hold new and annual Vendor Days. The one-day events are popular among industry suppliers. The Atlanta Expo will take place from 10 a.m. until 4 p.m., and will offer six free technical sessions on lead-free and other topics.