CircuiTree - September 2008 - (Page 49)

[ Market Outlook ] • Is investing an additional USD 200 million in China to increase output of connectors, PC chassis and pressing parts, handset components, and calculators; • Is shifting major production from Shenzhen, China, region to other low-cost regions such as Taiyuan and Langfang; • Received manufacturing contracts from Sony and DELL for lowcost notebooks; and • Received handset orders from LGE. Fujitsu Telecommunications Europe transferred its PCBA operations to Fujitsu Network Communications in the U.S. Fujitsu staff in Solihull, Ireland, went on strike because 140 PCBA jobs will be transferred to the U.S. HANZA acquired new machinery and expanded cooperation with ABB Cewe-Control. IEC Electronics received a USD 3.7 million contract from an unnamed military and defense customer. HMS opened its ﬁfth production facility in Poland. ICP Electronics installed ﬁve SMT lines at its subsidiary, Armorlink SH, Shanghai, China. IDEA Electronics GmbH began insolvency proceedings. Incap sold Ultraprint Oy to subsidiary’s management. Jabil Circuit: • Was offered a USD 34.4 million incentive package to remain in St. Petersburg, Fla., from the city with the provision that Jabil will build a new USD 49 million campus and hire 858 new workers; and • Subsidiary Sypro Optics entered a licensing agreement with Young Optics. Key Tronic appointed Doug Burkhardt vice president of worldwide operations and Larry Bostwick vice president of engineering and quality. Kimball is building a new EMS plant in Tarnowo Podgórne, Poland, to be operational by July 2009. Kitron purchased a factory in Lithuania for EUR 3.4 million. LaBarge received an additional USD 2.7 million contract for Ethernet switches for BAE Systems’ Bradley ﬁghting vehicle program. Lacroix Electronique acquired PrehTronics GmbH (Willich, Germany), the EMS division of the Preh Group. Orsus Xelent acquired a majority interest in an EMS facility in Zhuhai, China. Plexus’ Steve Williams released his book on lean titled Survival Is Not Mandatory: 10 Things Every CEO Should Know About Lean. A free eBook download is available at www.survivalisnotmandatory.com. Probe Manufacturing acquired Solar Masters and announced a new strategic direction including design, manufacturing, and marketing of alternative energy products. Propartner (Notodden, Norway) was sold to GBS Group. Quanta received a contract for half of Toshiba’s laptop PC production. Saline Lectronics was awarded certiﬁcation for classiﬁed military projects. Sanmina-SCI: • Completed the transition of its personal computing BTO/CTO operations and associated logistics services in Australia, Hungary, Mexico, and the U.S. to Foxteq; and • Signed a three-year lease for 72,501 ft2 in Foothill Ranch, Calif. Saturn Electronics began expansion at its Ottawa plant. Scanﬁl did not ﬁnd a buyer for its Oulu, Finland, facility. SIC invested GBP 1 million in machinery, IT, and training in Swansea, U.K. Spur Group is building a computer plant in Nigeria. Stadium Asia received ISO 13485:2003 medical manufacturing approval for its Guangdong Province facility. SwRI (Southwest Research Institute) opened a new 3,000 ft2 conﬁgurable lab facility in San Antonio, Tex., to support technology transfers and production services, including PCB population and electronics assembly. TT Electronics closed its Cardiff, U.K., AB Automotive Electronics subsidiary. Videoton subsidiary VT Metal Kft (Szekesfehervar, Hungary) received a four-year automotive parts contract from Tyco Electronics. ■ Walt Custer and Jonathan Custer-Topai’s column is sponsored by Rohm and Haas Electronic Materials. Custer Consulting Group provides market research, business analysis, and forecasts for PCB fabrication and assembly, passive components, semiconductors, and the electronic equipment end markets. You can reach Walt by phone at 707-785-1777, email at walt@ custerconsulting.com, or visit his Web site: www.custerconsulting.com. Education on Demand Click… Play… Learn! Webinars Have some down time or looking to pick up information on your lunch break? Log on to our archived webinar series where you can view a full webinar presentation without leaving your desk. h http://webinar.circuitree.com Improve your industry knowledge without having to leave your desk with CircuiTree podcasts, videos, and webinars. All of our content is free and available to you when YOU have the time. Videos Watch videos of presentations CircuiTree captured during our live conference series. Each video also comes with the PowerPoint slides of the presentation, making it easy for you to follow along. w www.circuitree.com/video Podcasts See why our Technology Tip podcast series is gaining so much popularity with our site visitors. Each podcast contains a brief interview with an industry expert on specific subjects impacting the industry as a whole or the floor of your shop. w www.circuitree.com/podcast CircuiTree — The World’s Best Source of Information for the Printed Circuit Board Industry CT Education-Full.indd 1 circuitree.com • September 2008 4/24/08 9:42:51 AM 49 CT Education-Quarter.indd 1 4/24/08 10:03:03 AM http://www.custerconsulting.com http://webinar.circuitree.com http://www.survivalisnotmandatory.com http://www.circuitree.com/video http://www.circuitree.com/podcast http://circuitree.com

Table of Contents Feed for the Digital Edition of CircuiTree - September 2008

CircuiTree - September 2008 Contents My Line Industry Review Tech Talk Flexible Thinking New Halogen-Free Materials: Their Time Has Finally Arrived Asian Section IPC Issues PCB and Package Convergence Ask the Flexperts Market Outlook IPCA Showcase Technical Product Spotlights Classified Ads Upcoming Events Ad Index

CircuiTree - September 2008

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