Interplex opens in Hungary
Interplex Industries (Flushing, NY), provider of metal-stamped, plated, and plastic-molded components and assemblies, announced the opening of a new facility in Kunszentmarton, Hungary, 150 km southeast of Budapest. The new facility, known as Interplex Hungary, will produce tooling and offer precision metal-stamping services. Initially, the company anticipates having stamping presses ranging from 60 to 200 tons. Christian Millet, general manager of Interplex Hungary, says the manufacturing industry in Hungary, especially the automotive market, is growing dramatically. Interplex currently provides services to the communications, electronics, medical, and automotive markets, with facilities in the U.S., Mexico, China, Singapore, India, Scotland, France, and Germany.
www.interplex.com
Arrow, take a bow
Molex (Lisle, IL), has recently selected Arrow Electronics, a global provider of products, services, and solutions to industrial and commercial users of electronic components and computer products, as its 2005 Distributor of the Year for North America. Arrow received this recognition for its efforts in selling Molex products, as well as continuing to strengthen the relationship between the Arrow and Molex field sales organizations. The award represents Molex’s 2005 fiscal year, which ended on June 30, and this is the third consecutive year Arrow has been the recipient. Eric Sussman, director of distribution, Molex, presented the Distributor of the Year Award to the Arrow team in September at Molex’s corporate headquarters in Lisle. Dave Root, president, Americas Region, Molex, and members of the Molex sales team also attended the award ceremony.
www.molex.com
Tool for online design
W.L. Gore and Associates (Elkton, MD), has introduced an online interactive design guide that provides step-by-step instructions for configuring GORE high-flex flat cable or GORE trackless cable from standard components with five day lead times. The configurator, available at www.gore.com/designacable, simplifies the cable design process and generates a 3-D downloadable CAD model. Users can take an interactive tour to learn more about the GORE high-flex flat cable and trackless Cable Configurator, and then proceed to design a cable and submit an RFQ using the configuration tool.
www.wlgore.com
Mouser distributes Helicomm
Mouser Electronics (Mansfield, TX), an electronics distributor, announced a distribution agreement with Helicomm (Carlsbad, CA), a wireless networking solutions provider. Under the terms of the agreement, Mouser Electronics will operate as Helicomm’s North American distributor. Customers can purchase Helicomm’s standards-based wireless modules and development kits online, through Mouser’s e-commerce website at www.mouser.com/Helicomm. Mouser will initially distribute Helicomm’s EZ-Net DevKit and IP-Link embedded modules. Helicomm’s EZ-Net DevKit (EZDK 1220PA) provides an integrated rapid prototyping platform that provides customers the fast track to wireless connectivity based on industrial standard. The EZDK 1220PA includes 6 IP-Link 1220PA modules with USB interface and PC-based networking and management software for module provisioning and wireless network management.
www.mouser.com
Positronic rehires grandma
After hurricane Katrina, Positronic Industries (Springfield, MO) made national news for firing a Missouri employee who missed five days of work for babysitting her granddaughter while the parents were stuck in New Orleans. The woman, who had used all of her allotted vacation and leave of absence time, admitted that she expected she would be terminated in concordance with Human Resources policy at the company (Positronic has 470 employees in Missouri in four plants and over 1000 worldwide). The president of Positronic, John Gentry, rehired the woman Sept. 15, and offered her compensation for the time missed due to the termination. Positronic is creating new personnel policies to deal with emergencies, natural disaster, or substantial, extraordinary, or extenuating circumstances. “If there’s something to be learned from this, it’s that a disaster policy can be useful in HR,” said Gentry.
www.positronic.com
IPC and JEDEC conference
IPC - Association Connecting Electronics Industries (Bannockburn, IL), and JEDEC, the Solid State Technology Association, will host the 11th International Conference on Lead Free Electronic Components and Assemblies on Dec. 6-8, 2005 in Boston. With the deadline looming for compliance with the E.U.’s Restriction of Hazardous Substances (RoHS) initiative, the conference is an effort to bring industry up to speed on critical lead-free issues, as well as RoHS legislation. The conference is expected to help the industry prepare for such issues as new alloys and materials evaluations, inspection changes, tin whiskers, reliability, and increased assembly costs. IPC and JEDEC have assembled top experts from around the world to deliver an educational program and technical conference.
www.ipc.org
