Flextronics (Singapore) is divesting two regional manufacturing operations in Sweden. Enics (Turgi, Switzerland), an EMS provider focused on industrial electronics, will acquire Flextronics’ EMS activities in
Malm? and V?ster?s, Sweden. This will be Enics’ third transaction in recent months (Feb., p. 6-7).

“It brings highly qualified resources to us and enables Enics to expand its established based in Sweden, where we see solid and exciting opportunities for our company to grow. Furthermore, it comes with a rich portfolio of globally recognized OEMs, each one of which is perfectly matching our focus, and complements Enics’ strong position to provide full life cycle services to customers in the whole Scandinavian region,” stated Reijo Itkonen, president and CEO of Enics.

The Malm? and V?ster?s operations handle low to medium volumes and high mix. With a built-up area of 53,800 ft2 and about 160 employees, the Malm? activity has manufactured industrial, medical and mobile communications products. It also contains a design center offering services such as software design and hardware development.The V?ster?s operation has a total manufacturing area of 204,100 ft2, and its portfolio covers automotive, datacom and telecom, and industrial products. Both sites include Flextronics Network Services operations, which are not part of the sale.

TFS Considers Its Options

Publicly-held Three-Five Systems (Tempe, AZ), which has evolved from a display company to an EMS provider, is working with SG Cowen & Co. to review alternatives for maximizing shareholder value. TFS is exploring a range of possible options, such as acquisitions, strategic alliances, business combinations, and the sale of a portion or all of the company.

The company has signed a definitive agreement to sell the assets of its small-form-factor display business to International Display Works. Under review are TFS’s large display, EMS and RF module manufacturing businesses. The company is currently in discussions with multiple potential buyers of the RF business and has received an initial offer from a potential buyer of the EMS business. TFS stated there is no assurance that any other transactions will result.

Deal done…Ambitech International (Chatsworth, CA) has sold Hunter Technology (Santa Clara, CA), a provider of PCB fabrication and EMS, to an investor group led by Hunter Technology management. Hunter specializes in high-mix, highcomplexity products for the medical, aerospace, communications and capital equipment markets.

New programs…Netherlands-based Oce, a provider of document management technology and services, has entered into a manufacturing and supply agreement with Flextronics....Novadaq (Mississauga, Ontario, Canada) has selected Suntron (Phoenix, AZ) to manufacture Novadaq’s fluorescent imaging system for coronary artery bypass surgery. Also, Suntron will build HDTVs and light engines for Brillian (Tempe, AZ) under a multiyear agreement designed to ramp Brillian’s manufacturing capacity. The two companies had worked together for a year….US-traded Nam Tai Electronics (Tortola, British Virgin Islands) has won orders from a new customer, Taiwan’s Inventec Multimedia & Telecom, for production of LCD modules used in its Internet Protocol phones….Northstar Network (St. John’s, Newfoundland, Canada), a subsidiary of Northstar Electronics (Vancouver, BC, Canada), has landed a contract from Cathexis Innovations (St. John’s, NL, Canada) to manufacture its handheld RFID reader….Aegis Assessments (Scottsdale, AZ) has chosen CirTran (Salt Lake City, UT) to redesign and manufacture the SafetyNet RadioBridge, which interconnects incompatible radios at emergency sites.

New ODM product…Sanmina-SCI (San Jose, CA) has designed an entrylevel network attached storage box to simplify storage management for small businesses, homes and media centers. The NAS box will be available
through Bell Microproducts.

Jabil Promotes from Within

Jabil Circuit (St. Petersburg, FL) has announced a number of promotions. John Lovato has moved from his senior VP position to regional president – Europe. Lovato, who joined Jabil in 1990, has held positions of increasing responsibility, including senior VP, business development.Michel Charriau, who had been European COO, will assume the role of senior adviser and will work closely with Lovato. The company has made Kevin Mazula VP, sales – Europe. Mazula joined Jabil in 2003 with responsibility for European sales. Maurice Dunlop goes from senior director of business management for Western Europe facilities to VP, business development – Europe.

The company has advanced three people to the position of VP, global business unit. One of them is Carey Paulus, who most recently served as senior business unit director for accounts including Cisco and Philips. Another person earning this title is James Luginbill, who was responsible for taking the HP account to Jabil facilities worldwide. The third individual named to this position is Anthony Allan, who will head Jabil’s efforts in the medical marketplace. Allan has served as senior business unit director and worked to assimilate Jabil acquisitions in Europe.

Finally, Jabil has appointed Thomas O’Connor as VP, human resources, a newly created position. He most recently served as senior director, human resources – Americas.

More people on the move… Publicly held Sypris Solutions (Louisville, KY) has named Robert Sanders president of its Sypris Electronics subsidiary (Tampa, FL). He is replacing James Cocke, who previously served in that role. Sanders recently joined Sypris Solutions as group VP for its Electronics Group. He had served as a GM and site executive for the Defense & Space Electronics Systems division of Honeywell. ...Solectron (Milpitas, CA) has appointed Tony Princiotta as VP, enclosures systems business, and Hossein Saadat as VP of operations, enclosures….CTS (Elkhart, IN) has made Don Schroeder president of CTS Electronics Manufacturing Solutions (Moorpark, CA), a business unit of CTS and an MMI Top 50? EMS provider. The CTS unit combines CTS’s interconnect business with the recently acquired SMTEK International. Schroeder will retain his position as corporate executive VP. ...Reptron Electronics (Tampa, FL) has hired Charles Pope as CFO. He most recently served as CFO of SRI/ Surgical Express….I. Technical Services (Norcross, GA) has appointed Chuck Tillett as president and COO. An industry veteran of over 20 years, Tillett has held senior management positions with several EMS companies. Most recently, he served as VP for US and Mexico operations at MC ASSEMBLY.…Eric Olsen, Ph.D., former worldwide manufacturing educator for HP, has joined Venture Outsource Group (San Jose, CA) as a senior consultant. Dr. Olsen will work with the consulting firm’s clients to develop custom, lean manufacturing solutions....Plexus (Neenah, WI) has appointed Peter Kelly to its board of directors. Kelly is executive VP of the Global Operations Group of semiconductor supplier Agere Systems. He has experience as a COO and CFO for multinational corporations.

CEO pay listed…A recent special report by the New York Times (April 3, 2005) listed the 2004 pay granted to CEOs of 179 large companies. Three of these CEOs run tier-one EMS companies. Jure Sola, CEO of Sanmina- SCI, received total compensation of $15.0 million last year, up from $1.2 million in 2003, according to the newspaper. In 2004, the total pay of Michael Cannon, CEO of Solectron, decreased 68% to $6.2 million. Timothy Main, CEO of Jabil Circuit, saw his total compensation increase 128% to $4.3 million last year. To find total compensation, the New York Times added up base salary, bonus, restricted stock and long-term incentives, and option grant value.

Making changes in operations… Solectron will lay off 691 employees in Timisoara, Romania, over the next six months. The Romania operation will shift its emphasis from high-volume manufacturing to lower volume, higher mix, higher complexity and quality engineering services….Celestica (Toronto, Canada), which is undergoing another round of restructuring, will close two more plants, bringing to five the number of operations recently slated for closure (Mar., p. 7). News sources reported that the company will shutter its Fort Collins, CO, facility, and, according to Reuters, Celestica has also decided to close its plant in Barcelona, Spain….During Q1, Benchmark Electronics (Angleton, TX) closed its Manassas, VA, facility. Top 50 correction: The sales used to rank Teradyne Connection Systems in the MMI

Top 50 published last month were from 2003 instead of 2004. Based on the Teradyne unit’s 2004 sales of $244.0 million, the unit should have been ranked 34th, not 31st as was published. A revised electronic copy of the Top 50 is available for subscribers. To obtain a copy, email jbt@mfgmkt.com.