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CHICAGO – A special half-day seminar on being competitive in the global market will be held next week during the SMTAI Conference in suburban Chicago.

The symposium will cover ways for companies to improve their competitive position in the global marketplace, with an emphasis on North American issues related to cost, productivity, automation, finance and quality.

BENSALEM, PA -- It's nearly as certain as gravity. A high-flying stock takes a tumble, and shareholder lawsuits come quickly thereafter.

A class action lawsuit filed in U.S. District Court in Florida claims Jabil Circuit misrepresented its financial performance between Sept. 19, 2001 and June 21, 2006, thus artificially inflating its stock price.

CLINTON, NY – Indium Corporation Corp. recently donated its business jet for the Special Olympics Airlift, which provides transportation to more than 1,500 athletes from all over the country to the 2006 U.S. National Games in Ames, IA. Indium’s plane was among 235 that were volunteered to transport the athletes to Iowa for the start of the games, then back home again after the closing ceremonies.

SCOTTSDALE, AZ - Although the computer market remains the leading consumer of ICs and is forecast to make up 47% of the 2006 market, it is cell phones that are driving IC growth this year.

SAN FRANCISCO – It’s becoming a mantra: Inventory levels at EMS providers are rising. Deutsche Bank yesterday became the latest to make that assessment, issuing a research note that claimed roughly $3 billion of excess inventory in stock at contract manufacturers.

However, the supply chain will rid itself of most of the overages over the next six to 12 months, DB said. Further, it’s the component manufacturers and distributors whom are most at risk to suffer, DB said.

HERNDON, VA — The International Electronics Manufacturing Initiative (iNEMI) is launching a new project to develop testing and use condition guidelines for electronic components used in medical applications. The Medical Components Reliability Specifications Project is the first organized under the consortium’s new Medical TIG (Technology Integration Group).

The project will develop test and extrapolation methodologies to predict reliability of components in actual use. The project team plans to create a minimum set of requirements for electronic components used in implanted or life-critical devices. The project will also suggest when testing should be done, what kind of testing is required and how to apply test results.