42 The PCB Design Magazine • February 2015
PCB007
News Highlights
solid profitability during the December quarter.
Strong demand, including continued contribu-
tion from our group of eight newer customers,
supported an anticipated 21 percent sequential
increase in net sales."
TTM Receives Foreign Approvals
to Acquire Viasystems
TTM Technologies Inc. has received the approv-
als of the Ministry of Commerce of the People's
Republic of China, the Federal Cartel Office of
Germany, and the Estonian Competition Author-
ity to proceed with the acquisition of Viasystems
Group, Inc.
Saturn Electronics Opens Doors
for PCB Tours
Saturn Electronics is opening its doors to custom-
ers this January as part of its "Open House" initia-
tive, where PCB experts from the company will be
on hand to answer any questions regarding the
fabrication process of the PCB and Saturn Electron-
ics' capabilities at its Romulus, Michigan facility.
IPC: N.A. PCB Order Growth Bolsters
Book-to-Bill Ratio
"Although PCB sales in North American contin-
ued below last year's level in November, orders
again came in above last year," said Sharon Starr,
IPC's director of market research. "Strong orders
in the fourth quarter have driven the book-to-bill
ratio into positive territory, which offers hope that
year-on-year PCB sales growth will turn positive
in 2015."
IPC Establishes Local Presence in Korea
The Standards Committee of IPC Korea will help
members to develop and revise global stan-
dards, educate and train workers, provide tech-
nology consultation, hold technology develop-
ment forums, standardize electronics terminolo-
gies in Korean, and hold networking events. This
will help establish a collaborative relationship
among the government, electronics industry,
and academia.
Advanced Boards Drive Demand
for AOI Equipment
Currently, AOI is chiefly applied to PCB and TFT-
LCD industries. However, for China, the penetra-
tion of AOI in the two industries is still rather low,
with only 20 to 30% of production lines in the PCB
industry equipped with AOI.
Cicor Improves Financial Flexibility
with New Financing
The arranged credit facility with a consortium of
banks, led by Commerzbank Aktiengesellschaft,
has a duration of three years, with two extension
options of one additional year each, therefore run-
ning for a maximum term of five years.
HKPCA & IPC Show Sets New
Attendance Records
This year's show again broke all previous records
for participation, making it not just the largest ever
in the 13-year history of the event, but the larg-
est trade show in the entire world for the PCB and
electronic assembly industry.
Omni Circuit Boards Signs R&D
Agreement with D-Wave
Omni Circuit Boards Ltd. announced today the
signing of a research and development agreement
with D-Wave Systems Inc., the first commercial
quantum computing company, in support of the
further advancement of aluminum trace printed
circuit boards (Al-PCB) for quantum computing
applications.
AT&S Offers Embedded Power Electronics
Due to constant technology development and
strong partnerships, AT&S has achieved outstand-
ing results in the field of power electronics. This
solution provides a significant increase in efficiency
and performance for industrial and automotive ap-
plications.
MFLEX Concludes Solid Q4 Financial Results
Reza Meshgin, Chief Executive Officer of MFLEX,
commented, "We generated another quarter of
42 The PCB Design Magazine • February 2015
