News
December sales topped $55 million, up 70% year-on-year, and also beating the EMS provider's previous monthly high set in June 2004.
For the year, sales topped $530 million, up 30% over 2003 sales.
The company attributed the growth to FPC subassemblies, CMOS sensor modules for mobile phones and LCD modules.
Joseph Li, chief executive said in a press release, "We are extremely pleased with the sales, which exceeded our original upper guidance. High oil prices and a strong yen has resulted in greater outsourcing, especially by Japanese manufacturers during the period, which resulted in additional orders from our customers.
The company has factories expected to come online after March.
The company also stated that chief financial officer Charles Wong and his assistant, Joseph Silva, have resigned for personal reasons. Both were in their probationary periods. Li will assume the CFO position on an interim basis.
LANCASTER, PA, Jan. 7 -- Bulova Technologies, a contract electronics manufacturer, today announced it has raised $6 million in mezzanine capital for future expansion.
The financing, provided by NewSpring Ventures and TRF Urban Growth Partners, will fund a planned expansion in December."This financing will provide the resources to continue to grow the company and to take advantage of both organic opportunities and potential acquisitions," said Stephen L. Gurba, president and chief executive.
.Privately held Bulova was founded in 1942 as a subsidiary of the Bulova Watch Co.
SAN JOSE, Costa Rica, Jan. 5 -- A pair of suppliers of electronics materials and equipment will team to deliver a one-day seminar on lead-free manufacturing here later this month.
On Jan. 19, DEK, a provider of screen printers, and Kester, a supplier of solder materials, will cover new lead-free alloys, wave soldering, reliability and the global impact of compliance.
Technical papers including "Effects of cooling Speed on Microstructure and Tensile Properties of SnAgCu Alloys" and "Chip Scale Package Rework Considerations: Using Solder vs. Gel Flux" will also be presented, and the impact of lead-free on screen printing will be addressed.
While many courses leave out any discussion of Pb-free's impact on mass imaging, recent research conducted by DEK has shown that paste application method (squeegee vs. enclosed head), stencil material, stencil manufacturing method and machine accuracy all have a tremendous impact on the successful implementation of lead-free manufacturing, the companies said.
The seminar will take place at the Melia Callari Hotel. For more information or to register contact Craig Brown, DEK Americas general manager, at 908-782-4140, x 226.
TEMPE, AZ, Jan. 7 -- Three-Five Systems Inc., a provider of electronics manufacturing services, sold its headquarters here in a deal worth more than $11 million.
TFS sold the building, located at 1600 N. Desert Dr., as well as its lease-hold interest in the ground sublease to Papago Paragon Partners, an unaffiliated company.
TFS received $9.35 million in cash plus a $2 million promissory note. The deal closed Dec. 30.
PHOENIX, Jan. 5 -- EMS provider Suntron Corp. has signed a five-year lease to expand its footprint in Mexico as more business migrates to lower-cost regions.
The company said it will expand its plant in Tijuana to 110,000 sq. ft. The plant is currently 35,000 sq. ft.
"This expansion is critical to being able to continue to provide world class service in a low cost region as we continue to migrate more and more of our customers' high labor content products to our Tijuana facility," said Jim Bass, president and CEO, in a statement.
ANGLETON, TX, Jan. 6 -- Benchmark Electronics Inc. today reaffirmed fourth quarter revenue targets of $505 million to $530 million, with corresponding diluted earnings per share of $0.41 to $0.45. The guidance is in line with analysts' consensus of revenues of $521.6 million and earnings per share of $0.44, and at the upper end of guidance provided Oct. 21.
Benchmark will announce fourth-quarter results on Feb. 8.
SAN JOSE, Jan. 6 -- Three-Five Systems has deployed product lifecycle management software from Agile Softwareacross its worldwide electronics manufacturing sites, Agile said today.
In a press release, TFS said the software cut engineering change order cycle times by 90% and improved communication at its design centers.
Agile is currently deployed in seven TFS locations.
Henkel will make a cash donation of $677,000 (500,000 euros) plus clothing and hygiene products valued at $677,000 (500,000 euros).
"Henkel has endeavored to respond to this catastrophe by providing aid and assistance to the victims in as rapid and as unbureaucratic a manner as possible," said Knut Weinke, executive vice president, human resources.
Henkel is a provider of consumer and industrial brands like Loctite adhesives, Dial soap, Duck duct tape.
The 53,000 sq. ft. facility will house R&D and applications engineering for the company's die attach, semiconductor underfill, encapsulant and semiconductor mold compound products.
The company's electronics assembly materials headquarters will also move to the site.
"Combining the research and development operation with applications engineering has many benefits," says Dr. Larry Crane, global director of semiconductor research, development and engineering, in a press statement. "This shared expertise gives us the ability to enhance the coordination of customer projects, streamline product introductions, build and test parts for customers and bring advanced materials to market more quickly."
The facility houses a cutting-edge R&D lab, including an analytical and failure analysis lab. It boasts a 5,000 sq. ft. Class 10,000 cleanroom, for semiconductor applications, and a 2,000 sq. ft. surface mount production line.
Henkel said it plans several new facilities worldwide.
"Doing business with reference customers such as NASA Ames Research Center and the University of Minnesota Supercomputing Institute, we value highly that Solectron does such an excellent job at producing our PCBAs and performs NPI activities in its facility in Milpitas," said Dick Harkness, vice president of manufacturing operations, SGI. "Having an EMS partner with a robust, near-market manufacturing capability enables us to quickly react to customer needs and offers an added level of supply chain security for mission-critical government accounts."
In all, SGI presented five Outstanding Supplier Awards in fiscal 2004.
US Patent 6,819,004 covers an epoxy-fluxing technology that enables no-flow underfill. The methods and materials covered within the patent permit attachment of flip chips to electronics assemblies sans underfill adhesive processes.
Kester is offering licenses for the patented technology.
In a press release, Kester said the novel technology halves the number of process steps by eliminating a steps for flux residue cleaning, capillary underfill lengthy dispensing and capillary underfill post-curing.
Central to the technology is the use of epoxy that acts as a flux during the initial soldering and then acts as an adhesive during encapsulation. The soldering or fluxing operation and encapsulation have been combined into a single stage. The patent for this technology not only covers the material but also the application such that the flip chips could be attached to the substrate simultaneously with the remainder of the surface mounted devices, Kester said.
"This patent reflects Kester's dedication to continuous innovation, which is our competitive anchor. We are very pleased that Kester's invention has been recognized by the United States Patent and Trademark Office," said Brian Deram, vice president of research and development.
Kester is actively marketing several formulas that are covered by this newly issued patent under its trademarked "SE-CURE" line. Users, the company said, are indemnified from the method of use claims covered by this patent. Licensing opportunities are available, Kester said.
ORLANDO, Jan. 4 -- A subsidiary of Dover Corp. has purchased Datamax Corp., a supplier of bar code and RFID printers. Financial terms were not disclosed.
Dover is a $5 billion OEM of industrial equipment. Among its holdings is Universal Instruments.
Dover previously announced plans to expand its subsidiary structure from four to six market segments and realign its 49 operating businesses into 13 business groups.
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