The U.S. economic outlook continues to brighten (modestly). Stock prices, consumer and business confidence, the ISM “Purchasing Managers” index, and even auto sales were up as we wrote this column in early June. Although we are clearly still in a recession, a more optimistic tone is emerging. The Wall Street Journal’s panel of “Blue Chip” economists recently modified its U.S. GDP growth forecast - with Q209 still projected to decline (but at a lesser amount than forecasted earlier) and then growth resuming in the third quarter (Chart 1).

Enlarge this picture Chart 2

Globally, we appear to have passed the bottom of this current electronics business cycle (Chart 2). Although actual Q/Q growth won’t resume until the 3/12 growth rates exceed 1.0, we are clearly seeing an improved outlook.

For PCBs, SE Asia, of course, dominates world production. Per Chart 3, Europe and N America continue to experience eroding sales. Japan took “a large hit” beginning in late 2008 (but recently resumed growth). In total, world PCB production is again expanding based upon SE Asia’s huge monthly revenues.

Enlarge this picture Chart 3

From a regional PCB growth perspective (Chart 4) SE Asia, and more recently Japan, now have 3/12 growth rates heading “north” toward their “breakeven” values of 1.0. Unfortunately, N America and Europe have yet to reach the low points of this current cycle.

Looking forward, we still see about a 25 percent global decline in PCB shipments this year vs. 2008. Per Chart 5, we entered 2009 in a deep trough and it will take time to “dig ourselves out.” The forecasted “recovery path” (red line in Chart 5) that we published in December 2008 seems to be holding true as we log each month of 2009’s actual data.

Enlarge this picture Chart 4

Chart 6 is our colleague Ed Henderson’s most recent forecast for global electronic equipment production growth by region. 2009 still looks like the “bottom,” with recovery in all major geographic areas likely in 2010 and 2011. See www.hendersonventures.com for more details.

PCB fabrication

Enlarge this picture Chart 5

ALR Services began PCB prototype service.

AT&S launched a new Online Ordering System at www.ats.net.

Bare Board Group received Supplier of the Year award from National Instruments.

Career Technology and Merry settled an FPCB shipment lawsuit.

Cicor Technologies appointed Roland Küpfer CEO.

Coretec CFO Andre Kern left the company; CEO Paul Langston assumed interim (added) responsibilities of CFO.

Enlarge this picture Chart 6

Dynamic acquired 59.93 percent of touch panel maker Abon Touch.

Elprinta implemented Polar Instruments’ “Speedstack” software.

Eltek received a USD1.2 million order from a U.S. medical equipment manufacturer.

Endicott Interconnect Technologies eliminated 240 jobs.

Eurocircuits added a second European production plant in Aachen, Germany.

Fundação CERTI (Florianopolis, Brazil) purchased and implemented Valor’s Trilogy DFM, vPlan, vManage, and solutions.

Hapro added a Teknek SMT-Cleaner for its PCB ID-marking line.

Harbor Electronics (Santa Clara, Calif.) added a Bacher OptiFlex Post-Etch Punch for its innerlayer registration process.

Hi-Tech installed Höllmüller and Schmid horizontal copper plating lines in Skopje, Macedonia.

K&F Electronics acquired Ultima Circuits (Sacramento, Calif.).

Kyoden postponed opening its automobile multilayer circuit board plant in Thailand.

Lenthor Engineering installed an ESI Flex5530 UV Laser Drilling system.

Merix:

• extended its Bank of America credit availability to USD8 million.
• strengthened its defense and aerospace capabilities.

Murrieta Circuits integrated “SolidWorks” 3D mechanical CAD (MCAD) software.

PNC added a new quickturn prototyping division.

Printca separated from GPV and become an independent company called Printca ApS.

Richter Elektronik installed a Strip-Etch-Strip line and a soldermask developer from HMS Höllmüller.

Saturn Electronics added two Mania T8T AOI machines.

Schweizer Electronic suspended “short work” in June.

Somacis pcb industries and Graphic appointed Jukka Risto to enhance sales in Scandinavia.

Teknoflex received AS9100 certification.

Ulf Andersson Electronics began marketing PCBs with up to 500 micron copper layers from Zot.

Materials and process equipment

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Alpha - Cookson Electronics Assembly Materials opened a new SMT Print Technology center in Woking, Surrey.

Atotech & SEMATECH partnered on process solutions for 3D ICs.

Balver Zinn Group:

• appointed Tim Lawrence, Ph.D., to Product Development Manager.
• named EMS Partners as its representative for Minnesota and North and South Dakota and Luff Tool and IMK as North American representatives.

Bliss Industries reduced prices by 30 percent (the first price reduction in company history).

BTU International appointed Jan-Paul van Maaren, Ph.D., to VP Marketing.

Cadence Design Systems introduced a “scalable FPGA-PCB co-design solution.”

Camtek acquired Printar Ltd.

China-Kinwa High Tech is building a RMB 3 billion electronic material base in Qinghai Province, Northwest China.

Columbus Chemical Company had a chemical plant fire in Elba, Wisc.

CyberOptics:

• opened a new sales, service, and training center in Shanghai.
• promoted Dennis Rutherford to VP of Global Sales & Marketing.

Danutek appointed Istvan Nagy Sales Manager.

Data I/O named:

• West Tech as its sales representative in Colorado, Utah, and Wyoming.
• Process Automation & Tool, LLC, its sales representative in Georgia, Alabama, Tennessee, and Mississippi electronics assembly market.

DEK launched its Verification & Traceability Software Suite.

DfR Solutions was selected by the Korea Testing Laboratory to develop PCB plating QC standards.

DMRPCB.COM released a new additive printed electronics technology, Silver Bullet, for Green PCB manufacturing.

ESI purchased all intellectual property rights and certain hardware and software components from XSiL (Dublin, Ireland).

Essemtec and Promass Assembly Systems began jointly developing board handling systems for SMT, AOl, marking, coating, reflow, wave solder, and final assembly lines.

Essemtec Benelux began supplying stencils and accessories produced by Christian Koenen.

Goepel and iSystem formed a test and measurement partnership.

Helmut Fischer Institute developed a new X-Ray technique for coating thickness analysis. Henkel:

• appointed Jim Wise to lead global sales for Electronics Assembly Business.
• was recognized as one of “World’s Most Ethical Companies” by the Ethisphere Institute and Forbes Magazine.
• is investing more than USD23.7 million to expand its Salisbury, NC, operations over the next three years.

Honeywell opened a USD50 million R&D centre in Bangalore.

Indium appointed Ostec Enterprises as its sales channel partner in Russia, Belarus, and the Ukraine.

Indium VP of Technology Dr. Ning-Cheng Lee:

• selected by SMTA International Technical Committee as a Distinguished Author and Distinguished Lecturer.
• IEEE’s Components, Packaging, and Manufacturing Technology Society approved Dr. Lee to be a CPMT Distinguished Lecturer.

Indium Applications Development Program Manager Dave Sbiroli received IPC’s Distinguished Committee Service award.

Insulectro launched its new information web site at www.insulectro.com.

Isola:

• European president Augusto Meozzi resigned.
• granted a “square weave” patent license to Sanmina-SCI.
Koh Young Technology opened its Alzenau, Germany, facility.

Lincoln International was named “International M&A Advisory Firm of the Year” by ACQ Finance Magazine.

Micronic Laser Systems AB acquired MYDATA automation AB.

MIRTEC Europe formed distribution partnership with pb tec for Austria, Germany, and Switzerland.

Multiline International Europa and mie GmbH’s General Manager Dr. Konrad Wundt retired.

Neways received a cable loom systems order from VDL Groep.

Oxford Advanced Surfaces Group developed a 1nm thick, environmentally friendly Onto coating to protect silver against tarnishing.

Photo Stencil celebrated its 30th anniversary.

Rehm Thermal Systems:

• hired and appointed Robert Mihalyi Sales Manager for Central Eastern Europe (CEE).
• signed a soldering product distribution agreement with Altus Group in UK and Ireland.

Rogers acquired MTI Global’s silicones business assets.

Savcor Group acquired a majority shareholding in Cencorp.

Siemens Electronics Assembly Systems introduced a placement machine with rail-mounted gantries that can be moved into use in only minutes.

Teradyne and OptimalTest agreed to jointly market-test operations optimization solutions.

ThreeBond began marketing its 3373E screen-printed anisotropic conductive adhesive with low halogen content for film substrate bonding.

Tridak launched a new information web site for dispensing and filling equipment.

Valor appointed Hitech Eletronica its exclusive representative in Brazil.

Ventec Electronics (Suzhou):

• and TMT formed a strategic partnership agreement for Germany, Austria, and Switzerland markets.
• appointed Pietro Cucciati its representative for the Italian market.

Vi Technology appointed iNETest Technologies its distributor in India.

EMS and assembly

Eastern Europe had EMS revenues of USD10.0 billion in 2008 and is expected to reach USD21.1 billion in 2013. - Frost & Sullivan

EMS sector’s M&A activities declined in 1Q09 to six transactions. – Lincoln International

Hungary is largest electronics manufacturing market in CEE with 60 percent market share.

Russian electronics manufacturing market will grow from $1.85 billion in 2008 to $4.91 billion in 2015. - Frost & Sullivan

Applied Kilovolts added a MYDATA MY15 pick-and-place machine in Worthing, West Sussex.

Asteel laid-off 44 employees in Douarnenez, France.

AU Optronics added a TV assembly line in China.

AVerMedia Technologies began construction of a NT 1.1 billion (USD33 million) TV tuner card factory in northern Taiwan.

Benchmark Electronics named CEO Cary Fu Chairman of the Board.

Celestica’s former Outsourcing Director Rajeev Thakur was ordered to pay more than $1 million in restitution for insider trading.

Chemigraphic installed a second Juki SMT line.

China Great Wall Computer and Algerian broadband network operator EEPAD are jointly investing USD 4 million to set up a manufacturing joint venture in Algeria.

CIL installed a DEK Horizon 02i screen printer.

Cirtronics:

• celebrated its 30 year anniversary.
• is expanding its Milford, NH, manufacturing facility by 75,000 sq. ft.

Corvalent opened its new 24,000 sq. ft. headquarters in Cedar Park, Texas.

CTS was awarded four production programs for electronic throttle control accelerator pedal modules and a production contract for a precision oven-controlled crystal oscillator.

Delta Group Electronics achieved ISO 13485 medical product assembly certification.

Deutsche Mechatronics received a 5-year manufacturing contract from Proton Motor for fuel cell hybrid systems.

EC moved its Romanian operations to a new 12,000 sq. ft. manufacturing plant in Petrasani, UK.

Elcoteq:

• Beijing obtained satellite television reception equipment manufacturing license from Ministry of Commerce of China.
• renewed its membership in the Kempen/SNS Smaller SRI (Socially Responsible Investment) Europe Index.

Enics:

• became a preferred supplier for Danfoss.
• terminated 101 workers in Finland.
• plans to close its Vaasa operations in 2009.

Exception EMS laid-off 50 employees in Calne, UK.

Flextronics:

• partnered with Freescale Semiconductor on a reference design for the Enterprise WLAN access point market.
• installed RedPrairie’s warehouse management and transportation management systems across its global network of facilities.
• received a manufacturing contract from Oerlikon for thin-film PV equipment.
• became a global manufacturing partner for Enphase Energy for solar microinverter systems.

Foxconn/Hon Hai:

• increased staff in 1Q by 5 percent (25,000 workers).
• plans to transform itself into an IDM (Integrated Device Manufacturer) in 5-10 years.
• Chairman Terry Guo is investing 30 billion Yuan (USD4.4 billion) to build an optoelectronics business industrial park in Xiamen, China.
• is spending NT 1.9 billion (USD58 million) to build a R&D center in the Kaohsiung Software Park (Taiwan).
• delayed its final $45 million investment in its new Juarez, Mexico, facility.
• affiliate Advanced Optoelectronic Technology (AOT) withdrew an application to list on the local emerging stock market after profit failed to reach listing requirements.
• Quellan entered a low power active interconnect strategic alliance for consumer, desktop, and data center markets.

Globetronics plans to invest RM30 million in CAPEX and hire 400 people in 2009.

Incap completed construction of its new building in Tumkur, India.

Jabil will establish a 16 million production center for solar panels in Kwidzyn, Poland.

Kimball Electronics:

• Jasper, Indiana, facility received a 3-year manufacturing contract for automotive Bluetooth hands-free radio devices.
• received lead free automotive order from Eldor.

Kitron cut 120 workers in Norway.

LG Electronics closed its mobile handset manufacturing facility in Mexico and transferred production to Brazil.

LST électronique entered liquidation.

Microdis Poland added a fully-automated Schleuniger CrimpCentre 63 at its harness production facility in Suchy Dwór.

Mikroelektronika installed a PillarHouse Orissa 600 fully automated selective soldering line.

NexLogic Technologies installed a MyData MY15, Fuji XPF, and a Speedline MPM125 stencil printer.

PartnerTech received a manufacturing contract for Hydra ink supply system from Xaar.

PKC laid-off 87 workers in Kempele, Finland, and expects to cut an additional 41 by October.

Plexus:

• received a contract from QIAGEN to develop a next generation automated screening system for the pre-processing of human papillomavirus DNA samples.
• pushed back occupancy for its global headquarters in Neenah, Wisconsin, to summer 2010.

Quanta and Pou Chen Group jv, Techview International, relocated its LCD factory in Huangjiang, China, to Changshu.

S and Y Industries purchased 12,000 sq. ft. of additional space to expand engineering and manufacturing activities.

Samsung moved its flat screen TV manufacturing from Slovakia to Hungary.

Sanmina-SCI:

• cut 155 workers in Haukipudas, Finland.
• Newark, California, facility received AS9100 aerospace certification.

Scanfil EMS cut 31 workers and transferred part of electronics production in Sievi to Parnu, Estonia.

Seidel Electronics laid-off 48 workers in Deutschlandsberg, Austria.

Sibex Electronics began construction of its 52,500 sq. ft. contract manufacturing facility in Homosassa, Florida.

SiMS added a JUKI FX-3 high-speed chip shooter.

Soyo filed Chapter 7 bankruptcy protection.

Sparton:

• appointed Drew Richmond deputy general director of Spartronics Vietnam.
• closed its Jackson, Mich., plant and transferred work to Vietnam and Brooksville, Fla.

Stadium Electronics appointed Tony Inskip Sales Director for its EMS business.

Sumitomo Electric Wiring Systems Polska plans to close its wire harness facility in Rawicz in October 2009 and transfer all production to Romania.

Teac increased floor space at Dongguan Teac Electronics by 60 percent in anticipation of beginning PC, Info equipment production in autumn 2009.

TT electronics received a £2.5 million/year PCB manufacturing agreement with Crowcon Detection Instruments.

Universal Electronics added SMT equipment from Universal and Automated Optical Inspection machines from YesTech.

Vierling Production added a DEK Horizon 03i soldering paste printer and a DD500 dispenser in Ebermannstadt, Germany.