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VANCOUVER -- EMS firm Silicon Forest Electronics has added 20,000 sq. ft. of manufacturing space and reconfigured two manufacturing lines to increase speed and flexibility for quickturn, low-volume production.

The company also added high-speed equipment, more than doubling its overall machine capacity to over 7 million placements per month across a total of four lines. Additional capacity improvements are planned for late 2008, which will add another 2 to 4 million placements per month.

The company, which also has capacity in Zhuhai, China, and a partnering arrangement with ACW, provides “one-stop” contract manufacturing.

LOS ALTOS, CA – China’s electronic equipment production market is finally slowing down, and taking the rest of the world with it.

Citing the recent economic environment and spate of earthquakes, research firm Henderson Ventures said China’s short-term equipment production output will drop eight points to 13.5% this year, before rebounding slightly in 2009 and 2010.

COOPERSVILLE, MI – Saturn Electronics & Engineering has been awarded a $500,000 federal grant to help fund new machinery and equipment at its plant here.

The company, which makes automotive electronics and components, will use the grant toward planned capital investments of some $11 million. Saturn will hire 26 additional workers as well.

The grant is being made available by the Michigan Economic Development Corp.

SINGAPORE – Singapore's electronics industry rose in June, reversing a one-month fall into recession. The sector rose 2.3 points to 51.7, according to purchasing executives in more than 150 industrial companies.

May was the first time in nearly two years the electronics sector failed to grow.

The national purchasing managers' index rose 1.6 points sequentially to 50.6 in June, on new orders and higher levels of production output. A reading above 50.0 is a sign of an expanding market.

Electronics makes up one-third of Singapore's manufacturing output.

BANNOCKBURN, IL – North American PCB shipments rose 5.1% year-over-year in May, but orders fell 4.2%.

Through May, shipments are up 6.2%, while bookings are 7.5% higher. Compared to April, shipments were down 0.7% and bookings were down 5.2%. The book-to-bill ratio fell to 0.96.

COPENHAGEN -- Lego Group is taking its toys and going home. Europe's largest toy maker will end its outsourcing deal with Flextronics next year and bring manufacturing back in-house, the company said today.

"During the past year it has become increasingly obvious to the two parties that it would be more optimal for the Lego Group to manage its global manufacturing set up," Lego said in a statement.

SAN DIEGO – Pulse, an electronics component and subassembly designer and manufacturer, announced its Sonion Division will operate under the Pulse name, effective today. Sonion will undergo a name and legal entity change over the coming months.

The Technitrol Co. subsidiary’s activities related to hearing instrument components, pro-audio and medical device components will continue as a new group called MedTech. The mobile terminal components and MEMS microphone activities will become part of Pulse’s existing Wireless group.

Technitrol acquired Sonion on Feb. 28 and became part of the firm’s Electronic Components Segment.

Sonion is based in Roskilde, Denmark and has facilities in Poland, China, Vietnam, the US, and the Netherlands.