The pace of manufacturing growth in the U.S. cooled somewhat in April, even though the segment continues to expand. New orders and factory employment decelerated from March levels while the nation’s leading production index, the Institute for Supply Management’s PMI, declined by 2.4 percent to 54.8. Any number above 50 indicates growth, and most of the…
Portions of the electronics industry are applauding a policy shift toward the so-called “conflict minerals” rule that requires publicly traded U.S. companies to disclose the use of tin, tantalum, tungsten and gold (3TG) sourced from war-torn regions of Africa. Acting Securities and Exchange Commission (SEC) Chair Michael Piwowar has directed agency staff to reconsider how companies…
The EU this week voted to adopt regulations pertaining to the sourcing of tin, tungsten, tantalum and gold (3TG) from conflicted regions of the world. The regulations, which require supply chain due diligence self-certification of tin, tantalum and tungsten, their ores, and gold originating in conflict-affected and high-risk areas, are mandatory for smelters and importers of raw materials and…
IPC — Association Connecting Electronics Industries® announced today the December 2016 findings from its monthly North American Printed Circuit Board (PCB) Statistical Program. Sales growth in December was solid while the PCB book-to-bill ratio slipped to 0.98. Total North American PCB shipments in December 2016 were up 5.9 percent compared to the same month last year.…
Bannockburn, Ill. — IPC — Association Connecting Electronics Industries® announced today the October 2016 findings from its monthly North American Printed Circuit Board (PCB) Statistical Program. The PCB book-to-bill ratio continued to strengthen, climbing to 1.08, while sales and orders were both down in October. Total North American PCB shipments in October 2016 were 8.3 percent below…
Bannockburn, Ill. — The world market for printed circuit boards (PCBs) reached an estimated $58.6 billion in value in 2015 according to IPC’s World PCB Production Report for the Year 2015. This represents a nominal decrease of 2.7 percent from 2014, but factoring out the effects of exchange rate fluctuations, the growth of PCB output was actually…
IPC — Association Connecting Electronics Industries® announced today the August 2016 findings from its monthly North American Printed Circuit Board (PCB) Statistical Program. Due to the month’s positive order growth and negative sales growth, the book-to-bill ratio returned to positive territory and stands at 1.02. Total North American PCB shipments in August 2016 were 4.1 percent…
Bannockburn, Ill. — IPC’s Study of Quality Benchmarks for Electronics Assembly 2016 is now available. The annual study provides valuable benchmarking data to electronics assembly companies interested in comparing quality measurements to industry averages. The quality control measurements covered by the study include first-pass yields for various test methods in use as well as the percent of…
Bannockburn, Ill. — IPC — Association Connecting Electronics Industries® announced today the July 2016 findings from its monthly North American Printed Circuit Board (PCB) Statistical Program. Compared to the same month last year, PCB sales growth continued in July, while order growth was negative, causing the book-to-bill ratio to slip to 0.94. Total North American PCB shipments…
Bannockburn, Ill. — IPC — Association Connecting Electronics Industries® has announced plans to start the development of a new standard intended to cover the qualifications and acceptance requirements for press-fit pin technology that includes the reliability needs for automotive and other industries, such as aerospace. This new standard is highly anticipated, as there is currently not a…