Amphenol Announces Succession Plan
June 2008—Amphenol Corporation announced that effective January 1, 2009, R. Adam Norwitt, Amphenol’s current president and chief operating officer, will become chief executive officer of the company and a member of the board of directors. Martin H. Loeffler, current chairman and chief executive officer, will be appointed to the newly created position of executive chairman, with specific emphasis on strategic direction and the continued development of the Amphenol leadership team.

Norwitt has held a variety of management, business development, and operating positions at Amphenol operations in Asia and the United States since joining Amphenol in 1998. Prior to his appointment as president and chief operating officer on January 1, 2007, he served as a senior vice president and as group general manager of Amphenol’s worldwide RF and microwave products operation. Norwitt is a graduate of Georgetown University, has a law degree from the University of Michigan, and an MBA from INSEAD.

For more information, visit www.amphenol.com.

Avnet Electronics Marketing Receives Amphenol Awards
50-Year Alliance Continues to Deliver Top Results for Avnet and Amphenol in 2007
June 2008—Avnet Electronics Marketing, an operating group of Avnet Inc., has received three awards from Amphenol Corporation, based upon Avnet Electronic Marketing’s overall performance during calendar 2007. The recognition includes the Award for Outstanding Performance in North America, the Award for Outstanding Performance in Asia, and the Global Partnership Award.

Avnet earned the awards for Outstanding Performance in North America and Asia by achieving the highest percent of incremental sales growth year-on-year in the two regions—and won the Global Partnership Award for its global collaborative efforts with Amphenol.

Ed Smith, senior vice president of sales for Avnet Electronics Marketing Americas, accepted the awards on behalf of Avnet. “We are proud to have worked with Amphenol for over 50 years to provide design technology, demand creation, and fulfillment value for customers around the globe,” said Smith. “I am honored to accept this award on behalf of the entire team. We look forward to another great year in 2008.”

“Avnet and Amphenol last year celebrated 50 years of engagement as Avnet’s first franchise line. It is very exciting that our two companies have grown as industry leaders, while remaining strongly engaged through the years,” said Amphenol Chairman Martin Loeffler. “Congratulations to Avnet for your global team’s outstanding performance in 2007.”

For more information about Avnet and Amphenol,
visit www.em.avnet.com/amphenol.

Celestica Honors Samtec at Supplier Awards Program
June 2008—Samtec Inc. announced it has been recognized as an honoree in the 2007 Total Cost of Ownership (TCOO^TM) Supplier Award program by Celestica, a global leader in the delivery of end-to-end product lifecycle solutions, in the Ring Score Award category. Celestica’s awards program recognizes suppliers that support Celestica’s overall supply chain goal—to reduce the total cost of ownership for its customers and to give them the flexibility they need to overcome any challenge.

This marks the second year of Celestica’s TCOO Supplier Awards program. The program aligns with Celestica's Ring strategy, which focuses on shortening lead times through enhanced supplier proximity, as well as its TCOO supply chain strategy, which enables customers to deliver high quality products to market quickly and at the lowest total cost. Celestica’s TCOO system is designed to calculate the true cost to produce, deliver, and support products and services beyond the supplier invoice price. As such, it considers the following supplier attributes: quality, delivery, technology, service, pricing, and flexibility.

"Congratulations to Samtec for being recognized as an honoree in Celestica’s 2007 TCOO Supplier Awards program,” said John Boucher, executive vice president, Supply Chain Management Solutions and Chief Procurement Officer, Celestica. Samtec made a meaningful contribution in 2007 to our supply chain strategy and I thank them for their support and commitment to helping us enable our customers’ success.”

For more information, visit www.samtec.com.

Power & Signal Group President Announces Retirement
Anthony Jachnycky will retire March 2009
June 2008—Anthony Jachnycky, president of Power & Signal Group, announced that he will retire in March 2009.

“Power & Signal Group has completed a series of global, market, and supplier expansions,” says Jachnycky. “As the business embarks on its next level of opportunities, this is an excellent time to make the transition to new leadership.”

Under Jachnycky’s leadership for the past nine years, Power & Signal Group has broadened its reach to become a global player within the transportation market, and a strategic global business operation for Arrow Electronics Inc. It was under Jachnycky’s leadership that the company’s European offices opened in Germany in 2000 and in China in 2003.

“His strong leadership and strategy skills have helped to advance Power & Signal Group forward,” says Brian McNally, president of Global Alliance for Arrow Electronics. “In addition, through multiple appointments to performance leadership teams throughout his tenure, Tony has served to advance Arrow’s business model.”

Jachnycky joined Arrow Electronics in 2003 as president of Power & Signal Group through the acquisition of Pioneer Standard. He joined Pioneer Standard in 1999 as vice president and general manager. Prior to joining Pioneer Standard, Jachnycky spent four years as vice president and general manager for Weatherproofing Technologies. He also spent 21 years at Tremco Inc. in a number of sales and marketing leadership roles.

In preparation for Jachnycky’s departure, Don Akery, vice president of Power & Signal Group, will step-in as the acting leader of the group, effective immediately. Akery has more than 20 years experience in the electronics distribution industry, including several years managing Power & Signal Group’s European operations.

For more information, visit www.powerandsignal.com.

3M Electronic Solutions and Arrow Sign Global Distribution Agreement
June 2008—3M Electronic Solutions Division recently announced it has extended its distribution agreement with Arrow Electronics to include the Americas, Europe, and Asia Pacific.

The extension of the global distribution agreement is focused on the 3M ESD electronic components segment, which includes connectors, cable, cable assembly solutions, and related electronic components. These products meet the needs of the electronics industry across a wide range of applications in the computer and peripheral, communication equipment, military and aerospace, industrial machinery, medical, and instrumentation markets.

“By extending our global distribution agreement with Arrow Electronics, 3M is extending the global reach of a recognized and trusted brand,” said Frank Little, vice president and general manager, 3M Electronic Solutions Division. “With Arrow Electronics' expertise in local markets, we can extend our global reach with a local handshake, offering superior logistical capabilities and innovative services to even more customers.”

"Arrow is proud to have offered 3M products to our customers in North America and Europe, and we are delighted now to be expanding our relationship to include all of Asia,” said Mike Calabria, vice president of PEMCO (passive, electromechanical, and connector) marketing and product management in Arrow's North American Components business. “With the addition of 3M in Asia, Arrow can provide its customers globally with what we believe is an unmatched product portfolio of interconnect solutions and global distribution services.”

For more information, visit http://www.3M.com.

Allied Electronics Named Distributor of the Year by Abbatron
June 2008—Allied Electronics was recently named Distributor of the Year by Abbatron. Abbatron presented the award to Allied at the Electronic Distribution Show (EDS) in Las Vegas in May.

“Allied is honored to be recognized by Abbatron as Distributor of the Year for the second year in a row,” said Lee Davidson, president of Allied. “Allied’s growth and success can be attributed to our focused approach of putting the customer first and working closely with our supplier partners.”

The award recognized Allied’s efforts in sales growth, volume, and outstanding customer support with Abbatron. In addition, Abbatron recognized Allied for achieving over 25 percent growth per year over the last five years.

“Abbatron is pleased to recognize Allied as our Distributor of the Year,” says Chuck Erikson, national sales manager at Abbatron. “Our partnership with Allied has been mutually beneficial to our customers and we look forward to many more years of success with them.”

Allied stocks a full range of Abbatron connectors, hardware, and test equipment. For more information, visit www.alliedelec.com.

HARTING Electric Management Change in Espelkamp
June 2008—Effective July 1, 2008, Sven Holtgrewe and Hartmut Schwettmann, both staff members of the HARTING Technology Group, will join the management of HARTING Electric GmbH & Co. KG in the heavy-duty connector division. The two have been members of the management team of HARTING Electric for years and are responsible for the company’s marketing.

Holtgrewe joined the HARTING technology company in 1991 and has held various positions in the heavy-duty connector division. Since 1996, Holtgrewe has been chiefly responsible for developing strategic markets and maintaining relations with joint-venture partners and the international subsidiaries. Holtgrewe will become the general manager of marketing/distribution within HARTING Electric GmbH & Co. KG.

Schwettmann started his career as a trainee with the HARTING Technology Group in 1984, and after graduating successfully from the trainee program, he held a number of positions in the product management and product marketing division. His main focus has been the further development and marketing of the heavy-duty connector product range. Schwettmann has been appointed general manager of development and product marketing.

For more information, visit www.harting.com.

Newark Announces Judges for the 2008 Live EDGE Competition
JUNE 2008—Premier Farnell plc announced the selection of the judging panel for the international design competition, Live EDGE—Electronic Design for the Global Environment.

This year's 2008 Live EDGE competition panel of judges to date comprises:

• Sir Peter Gershon, chairman of Premier Farnell, plc

• John Noble, director of Torus Technologies and 2007 Live EDGE winner

• Steve Sanghi, chairman of the board of directors, Microchip Technology

• Indro Mukerjee, chief executive officer, C-MAC MicroTechnology

• Robert Rodin, chairman and CEO of RDN Group

• Paul Goodman, senior materials consultant, Reliability and Failure Analysis Group, ERA Technology Ltd.

• Steven J. DeKrey, senior associate dean and director of masters programs at the Hong Kong University of Science and Technology

• Gottfried Ecker, Dipl.-Ing, senior lecturer in microelectronic and automation technologies in the School of Engineering, Wiener Neustadt, Lower Austria

The Live EDGE judges will base their decision on the usefulness of the application, originality and innovation, technical merit, its effect on the global environment, feasibility of the design, efficient use of energy, end-of-life consideration, innovative use of components, cost optimization, completeness of design dossier, and clarity of supporting documentation.

"We are immensely proud to have such a distinguished, diverse, and world-renowned group of industry and educational professionals on our judging panel," said Harriet Green, chief executive officer of Premier Farnell plc. "Live EDGE is the first global competition of its kind and this year we have opened the competition even further by inviting entries from students, hobbyists, and industry professionals. We are committed to supporting design engineers and the environment. Through Live EDGE, we are bringing these two things together to make a difference to the future of our planet."

More information about Live EDGE is available at www.Live-EDGE.com.

Brush Wellman Appoints Mark Comerford President of Alloy Products
June 2008—Brush Wellman Inc. announced that Mark M. Comerford has been appointed president, Alloy Products. Alloy Products is the largest business unit within Brush Wellman Inc.

Comerford now has senior management responsibility for Alloy Products’ manufacturing, technology, supply chain, and commercial activities. With domestic manufacturing operations in Elmore and Lorain, Ohio, and Reading, Pennsylvania, Alloy Products manufactures and distributes high performance copper-based, nickel-based, and aluminum-based alloys, primarily for use in the electronics, energy, aerospace, tooling, heavy equipment, and telecommunications markets. It also operates distribution centers in Detroit and Chicago.

Comerford joined Brush Wellman as managing director of Brush Wellman (Singapore) Pte Ltd. in 1998, with responsibility for expanding the company’s role in Southeast Asia. He transferred to Cleveland in 2001 to assume the role of vice president, sales of Strip Products, within the Alloy Products group. Since March 2006, Comerford has served as president of Brush International Inc.

Visit www.brushwellman.com for more information.

Sager Electronics Expands its Distribution Network
June 2008—Sager Electronics announced the expansion of its distribution network with a new warehouse in Florida. The Orlando, Florida, location is the newest facility to join Sager's system of distribution centers across the country.

"Speed of response and the ability to meet the demands of our customers drive many of our service investments," said Shannon Freise, vice president of operations for Sager Electronics. "Through our proximity warehousing program, we've been able to place critical and cross-docked inventory closer to our customers. By placing certain product within the Orlando facility, we've provided our customers in the Southeast a means to get their product faster and more cost-effectively."

Sager Electronics' logistics network now includes distribution centers in California, Florida, Massachusetts, Wisconsin, and two locations in Texas. "The completion of our national network of distribution centers provides us the ability to reach almost all of our U.S. customers in two days or less with ground freight," said Faris Aruri, Sager's vice president of corporate marketing. "In this time of rapidly escalating freight costs, this network gives us the ability to help our customers better manage this expense."

Additional Sager News...

Rich Arieta has joined Sager Electronics in the role of director of application engineering. With extensive experience in field application engineering and sales, Arieta is chartered with developing a team of application engineers to drive additional growth and dimension to the company's technical sales. 

"We continue to invest in technical resources that differentiate Sager as a value-creating partner for our customers and suppliers," said Bruce Kellar, Sager's vice president of sales. "Sager's application engineering program will provide customers with the critical technical expertise they need. With his engineering background, industry relationships, and sales know-how, Rich is well positioned to drive the growth of our application engineering program."

To learn more about Sager, visit www.sager.com.

IPC Brussels Meeting on RoHS Revisions Identifies Concerns with Öko-Institut Study
June 2008—Industry leaders, representing key segments of the electronics supply chain, came together at an IPC workshop in Brussels on June 18, 2008 to address industry concerns with the Öko-Institut report on the proposed expansion of RoHS substance restrictions.

Öko-Institut was contracted by the European Union Commission to study the inclusion of additional hazardous substances in electrical and electronic equipment under the RoHS Directive. In their draft report to the commission, the Öko-Institut recommended the restriction of Tetrabromobisphenol A (TBBPA), the flame retardant used to protect more than 80 percent of printed circuit boards, and which was found to be safe by a comprehensive European Union risk assessment. In addition to TBBPA, exabromocylcododecanes (HBCDDs), several phthalate plasticizers, and all organic compounds containing chlorine and bromine, are included in the report as suggested bans.

“IPC is concerned that Öko-Institut’s recommendations are arbitrary and lack a sound scientific basis. Implemented, these recommendations will have a significant negative impact on our members,” explained Fern Abrams, IPC’s director of government relations and environmental policy. She noted that IPC held the meeting in Brussels to make sure that all technical issues were considered by the commission when they drafted the RoHS revisions.

Attendees at the meeting included members of the European Commission and the RoHS Technical Advisory Committee from Brussels and the United Kingdom, and representatives from the European Space Agency, EU Commission consultant ERA Technology Ltd., Rockwell Collins, AT&S Austria Technologie & Systemtechnik AG, Philips Healthcare, Henkel Ltd., BAE Systems Platform Solutions, Lockheed Martin, Aerospace Industries Association of America, American Embassy Brussels, Avantec, Isola GmbH, and EADS.

“I’m delighted IPC held this meeting. IPC is providing a knowledge base and a voice for companies of our size and other industry members who might not be aware of the restrictions or might feel their concerns are not being addressed,” said Lamar Young, technical manager, Specialty Coating Systems Inc.

Working with the meeting attendees, IPC is developing a “supply chain” white paper in response to the proposed restrictions. According to a commission member, a technical response across a large section of the supply chain would be an effective method in communicating industry issues.

A copy of the agenda and the workshop presentations are available at www.ipc.org/ipcbrussels.