Help

JULY 2003 INDUSTRY NEWS

 

AMETEK Achieves Record Quarterly Results

AMETEK Inc. announced second quarter results that established quarterly records for sales, operating income, net income and diluted earnings per share. AMETEK's second quarter 2003 sales of $276.9 million were up 4% from the $267.4 million recorded in the second quarter of 2002.

"AMETEK performed very well in the second quarter, especially given the continuing weak economic conditions in the manufacturing sector," commented Frank S. Hermance, AMETEK Chairman and Chief Executive Officer. "Our Four Growth Strategies continue to provide the foundation for top- and bottom-line growth. Our most recent acquisitions - Airtechnology and Solidstate Controls - drove our sales increase in the quarter, and our strong operational excellence results contributed to our record earnings," he noted. For the first half of 2003, AMETEK sales increased 3% to $544.4 million from $531.0 million in the same period of 2002.

Electronic Instruments Group's second quarter 2003 sales were $137.4 million, up 2% from last year's level of $135.3 million. "EIG had a great quarter in a very difficult economic environment," noted Mr. Hermance. "Revenue for the group was up, driven by the acquisition of Solidstate Controls earlier this year. Our aerospace and power businesses remain weak when compared with a year ago, but their results were in line with our expectations. Profitability was up nicely as our cost reduction activities continue to provide excellent results."

Electromechanical Group's sales of $139.5 million were up 6% from $132.1 million in the second quarter of 2002. "Group revenues were up on the contribution from Airtechnology, acquired in the first quarter of this year. The trends that affected our core businesses in the first quarter continued into the second quarter. Our European floor care motor business was strong, while our domestic floor care business remained weak. Operating margin was negatively impacted by severance costs, higher than anticipated benefit costs, and weakness in the U.S. floor care market," added Mr. Hermance.

"For the balance of 2003, we are not expecting market conditions for our businesses to improve. We continue to aggressively manage our cost structure to the realities of the economic environment and are poised to take advantage of an economic rebound when it does occur. For the full year, we anticipate mid single-digit revenue growth with diluted earnings per share in the range of $2.65 to $2.70 per share," concluded Mr. Hermance.

 

National Instruments Reports Fourth Consecutive Quarter of Revenue Growth

National Instruments announced revenue of $100.2 million for the second quarter of 2003, a seven percent increase from the second quarter of 2002, and the fourth consecutive quarter of year-over-year revenue growth. Fully diluted earnings per share (EPS) for Q2 were 14 cents, including patent litigation expenses of $0.7 million, which amounts to $0.01 per share. NI also reported net income of $7.4 million and a record cash balance of $168 million for Q2 2003, up $10 million from last quarter.
With more than 42 consecutive quarters of profitable operation, a record cash balance and the recent reduction to the dividend tax rate, the NI Board of Directors has declared the company's first-ever quarterly cash dividend of 5 cents per common share, payable Aug. 29, 2003 to shareholders of record Aug. 4, 2003.

"Our investment in R&D continues to pay off. In Q2, we released more new products than in any quarter in the past six years, including LabVIEW 7 Express, the most significant upgrade to our flagship software product in a decade. LabVIEW 7 Express positions us for continued technical leadership well into the next decade," said Dr. James Truchard, NI CEO. "Additionally, with the company's track record of strong profitability, we are pleased to declare our first-ever dividend payment as another way of delivering long-term value to our shareholders."

"With almost $200 million in revenue for the first six months of this year, we are on target to set a new revenue record in 2003," said Alex Davern, NI CFO. "We are especially pleased to see our growth increase in Q2 given that U.S. industrial production decreased at an annual rate of more than three percent in Q2. We believe this growth is a result of our significant new product introductions."

Geographically, the growth of revenue in U.S. dollar terms for Q2 2003 as compared to Q2 2002 was as follows: Asia, up 32 percent; Europe, up seven percent; and flat in the Americas giving overall growth of seven percent, up from five percent last quarter. In local currency terms, revenue was up 40 percent in Asia, down seven percent in Europe, and flat in the Americas.

 

New Time and Frequency Company Opens Doors

Precise Time and Frequency, Inc. (www.ptfinc.com) specializing in premium performance time and frequency products, announces commencement of operations at their Peabody, Massachusetts facility.

The founders of Precise Time and Frequency (ptf) see themselves filling a void in the time and frequency marketplace. The past twelve months has seen a significant contraction in the number of key suppliers and has resulted in the displacement of “institutional memory” as people and products have been “rationalized” leaving customers less product choice and without contacts that have been part of long-term business relationships.

“At a time when the number of companies offering a range of products to the time and frequency market has been steadily reducing through acquisitions and mergers, I believe that it will be seen as a refreshing change to add an additional alternative supplier for this market niche..." said co-founder, David Briggs who also serves as President and CEO of the new company.

With careful attention to cost structure and overhead, ptf has positioned themselves to efficiently deliver tailored products to market at highly competitive pricing while at the same time their policy of continuing product development insures they will continue to stay on the leading edge of technological development, according to Briggs.

Headquartered in Peabody, MA, ptf’s focus is on providing a wide range of time and frequency products tailored to meet the application requirements of customers from simple, low cost time and frequency solutions, to premium products designed to deliver the absolute best in performance for metrology, communications, radio and TV broadcasting, and many other T&F applications.

System Helps Ensure Reliability Of Military Communications

The Army, Navy and Air Force use thousands of miles of optical fibers on ships, planes and land-based installations to transmit voice and data. They needed a simple, effective and highly accurate way to measure the amount of light delivered by these glass “wires” at key points in the transmission system. Power degradation along the network can cause communication failure.

Working with ILX Lightwave Corp. of Bozeman, Mont., the National Institute of Standards and Technology (NIST) came up with a system capable of world-class optical measurements with push-button convenience. The system consists of a NIST-designed optical detector and an optical multimeter—designed by ILX Lightwave—that measures light emitted from a fiber over a wide range of wavelengths. There are two versions of the novel detector—one using silicon-based sensors and the other using germanium-based sensors. The sensors connect directly to an optical fiber without any additional optics and with barely measurable light loss. Measurement uncertainty is half that of previous optical fiber power detectors. The system is described in an upcoming issue of the journal Metrologia.

According to NIST engineer John Lehman, independent measurements of the detector’s performance by NIST and its German counterpart, PTB (Physikalisch-Technische Bundesanstalt), are in “excellent agreement.” Another comparison will be made this summer with NIST’s British counterpart, the National Physical Laboratory.

The new systems are now being shipped to military calibration centers where they will be used to annually check the accuracy of optical fiber power systems utilized in the field.

Danaher Corporation Announces Record Second Quarter Results

Danaher Corporation announced that net earnings for its second quarter ended June 27, 2003 were $125.1 million, 21% above the corresponding 2002 period earnings of $103.7 million. Diluted earnings per share for the 2003 quarter were $0.79, an increase of 20% over the $0.66 reported for the 2002 second quarter. Sales for the 2003 second quarter were $1,299.4 million, 13% higher than the $1,146.3 million for the quarter ended June 28, 2002.

For the six month period ended June 27, 2003, net earnings were $228.3 million, up 22% from the $186.4 million reported in 2002 before the effect of a change in accounting related to goodwill. Diluted earnings per share for the 2003 six month period of $1.44 increased 19% from the $1.21 in 2002 before the effect of the accounting change. Net earnings for the 2002 six month period, after the effect of a first quarter $173.8 million one-time non-cash charge for impairment of goodwill, were $12.7 million, or $0.11 per diluted share. Sales of $2,495.6 million for the 2003 six month period were 16% higher than the $2,150.5 million reported in 2002.

H. Lawrence Culp, Jr., President and Chief Executive Officer, stated, "We are again pleased to report record second quarter results. Despite the continued sluggish economic environment, we were able to achieve a 20% increase in earnings per share for the quarter. Sales for the quarter grew 13% compared to last year's second quarter, driven primarily by revenues from recently completed acquisitions. Operating cash flow was a record $449.2 million for the six month period and 14% higher than in 2002. We are optimistic that our targeted growth opportunities, coupled with a continued drive on cost reduction and acquisition integration, will provide positive results for the balance of the year and position us well for the eventual industrial economic upturn."

Danaher Corporation is a leading manufacturer of Process/Environmental Controls and Tools and Components. (www.danaher.com)

 

FARO Technologies Reports 57% Increase In Sales In Second Quarter 2003

FARO Technologies, Inc. reported sales of approximately $16.2 million for the fiscal second quarter ended June 28, 2003, a 57.3% increase from $10.3 million in the second quarter of 2002. Backlog at the calendar month end of June 30, 2003 was approximately $8.9 million, unchanged from the backlog at March 31, 2003.

The Company expects to issue its full earnings release for the second quarter of 2003 in early August.

 

Warren Merkel Selected New NVLAP Chief

Warren Merkel has been selected as NVLAP’s new chief, succeeding David Alderman who joined the NIST Standards Coordination and Conformity Group last December. Douglas Faison has been serving as Acting Chief of NVLAP in the interim.

Warren comes to NVLAP from the American Association for Laboratory Accreditation (A2LA), where he has served as both operations manager, responsible for day-to-day management of all A2LA accreditation programs, and technical manager, coordinating development of new accreditation programs and serving as technical liaison with laboratory users, industry groups, government agencies, and international peers.

Warren began his career as a chemist at the Defense Personnel Support Center, where he planned, performed, evaluated, and reported results of chemical, mechanical, and dimensional testing, and audited and monitored textile laboratories in the DPSC Quality Laboratory Program. He has actively participated in mutual recognition activities at both the national and international levels.


A2LA June Newsletter

The June 2003 Newsletter of the American Association for Laboratory Accreditation is available at www.a2la2.net/newsletters/June2003/A2LANews_June2003v2.cfm.

You can read the newsletter there or download a PDF version.
The Newsletter contains --

General Updates, Notices and Press Releases:
Meeting Summaries:
Updates On A2LA Operations& Policies:
Accreditation Requirement Interpretations& Explanations


Matheson Tri-Gas, Inc., Forms New Electronic & Specialty Gas Equipment Team

Matheson Tri-Gas, Inc., (Matheson) has announced the formation of its new Electronic & Specialty Gas (ESG) Equipment Team. This team has been formed to address the varied and specialized needs of customers requiring high purity gas delivery systems in the semiconductor, pharmaceutical, petrochemical, aerospace, biotech, power and energy, environmental and university markets.

This new team of highly trained and dedicated equipment sales engineers will be headed up by John Smickenbecker, Director, ESG Equipment Sales. Sales engineers will be located in the East, Midwest and West, and will have the full support of Matheson's state-of-the-art Equipment Technology Center in Montgomeryville, PA. The Matheson Equipment Technology Center is an 85,000 square foot, ISO-9001 certified facility with comprehensive design, engineering and manufacturing capabilities, complete with both Class 1 and Class 10 cleanroom facilities and a fully equipped electronics laboratory. Matheson's West Coast offices in San Jose, California, and Matheson's Industrial Gas Group offices in Texas and Florida will also provide regional support to the new ESG Equipment Team.

According to John Smickenbecker, Director, ESG Equipment Sales for Matheson Tri-Gas, Inc., "Applications for high purity gas delivery systems are becoming more and more specialized, and there is no better company than Matheson to assist customers in designing and engineering the right system for these specialized applications. Matheson has more than 75 years experience and the most extensive gas handling equipment line in the business."

Matheson Tri-Gas, Inc., is a single source provider of specialty gases, bulk gases, gas handling equipment, and high performance purification systems. The Company also provides support services, engineering services, and systems management services to analytical laboratories and semiconductor manufacturers worldwide.



Valenite Opens New Laboratory

Valenite Gaging Systems has opened a new metrology laboratory to provide contract programming, calibration, gages and other related inspection services for parts manufacturers.

“In the last five years, Valenite has greatly expanded its metrology capabilities,” says Kevin Graham, operations manager for Valenite Gaging Systems. “We have decided to expand the availability of our services to other parts and equipment manufacturers in the Detroit metropolitan area—where these kinds of metrology services are needed.”

The new metrology lab, currently equipped with two Zeiss CMMs, is slated for accreditation to ISO/IEC 17025. For more information about Valenite Gaging Systems, visit www.valenite.com.


Matheson Tri-Gas, Inc., Receives "World Class Supplier Achievement Award"

Matheson Tri-Gas, Inc., was selected as one of this year's award winners for the prestigious 2002 "World Class Supplier Achievement Award" by Advanced Micro Devices (AMD). AMD is a global supplier of integrated circuits for the personal and networked computer and communications markets.

AMD hosted the awards ceremony in Austin, TX. Alex Brown, AMD, Vice President of Corporate Supply Management, presented the Supplier Achievement Award to Rick Kowey, Senior Vice President Sales, Matheson Tri-Gas, Inc. "We were delighted to learn of the award and to be present for the dinner. AMD deserves a lot of credit for putting in place a supplier rating system that correlates very well with actual supplier performance," said Rick Kowey. "It's always good when partners decide to work hard for each other, and when that hard work gets publicly recognized, it only reinforces the collaborative effort."

The AMD World Class Supplier Achievement Awards are based on multiple criteria including technology, quality, cost, flexibility, and service. The World Class Supplier Team evaluates and recognizes the top suppliers and consists of members in Quality Assurance, Quality Control, Supply Management and Process Engineering at both Fab 25 and SDC locations. AMD named Matheson Tri-Gas, Inc., for the award due to their exceptional performance, overall support and commitment at AMD's Fab 25 in Austin, TX and SDC (Sub-Micron Development Center) in Sunnyvale, CA. Matheson Tri-Gas, Inc., also had the highest overall (TSR) Total Supplier Rating average out of eight other gas suppliers.

Matheson Tri-Gas, Inc., is a single source provider of specialty gases, bulk gases, gas handling equipment, and high performance purification systems. The Company also provides support services, engineering services, and systems management services to analytical laboratories and semiconductor manufacturers worldwide. As a member of the Nippon Sanso Corporation group, Matheson Tri-Gas, Inc., is part of a worldwide industrial gas organization focusing on being the single source provider for global customer requirements.

Standards Australia Acquires Excel Partnership

Standards Australia International has acquired Excel Partnership Inc. by way of its wholly owned subsidiary, SAI Global. The acquisition of the Connecticut-based quality management, training and consulting company includes a boost in revenues of $16 million. “This acquisition forms a crucial part of our expansion plans in North America, which we will continue to grow in the coming months,” notes Ross Wraight, group chief executive of the SAI Group.

Excel Partnership provides a number of training courses of interest to the calibration professional such as: Measurement Uncertainty Analysis, Calibration and Control of Measuring Systems, and Analysis of Measurement Systems.

SAI has recently acquired KPMG’s management systems registration businesses in Mexico, Australia and New Zealand and established of a subsidiary, SAI Global Inc., in New Jersey.

 

IET Labs Current A2LA Accreditation Status

IET Labs, Inc. continually strives to meet the needs and requirements of its customers by maintaining and expanding its accreditation status. Our calibration quality system is currently compliant with the requirements of ISO/IEC 17025 and ANSI/NCSL Z540-1-1994.

Final A2LA Accreditation of IET Labs is pending an on-site assessment. Please visit IET Labs newly designed web site and review IET Lab’s status as of March 3, 2003 at www.ietlabs.com/a2la.html.

TEGAM, Inc. Approved For A2LA Accreditation

TEGAM, Inc. is pleased to announce that the American Association for Laboratory Accreditation (A2LA) has approved TEGAM, Inc. in the Calibration field for the calibrations identified in our Scope of Accreditation as specified on our Certificate Number 2018.01.

TEGAM, Inc. meets the requirements of ISO/IEC 17025 – 1999 “General Requirements for the Competence of Testing and Calibration Laboratories”. Calibration laboratories that comply with this International Standard also operate in accordance with ISO 9001 or ISO 9002 (1994). TEGAM, Inc. also meets the requirements of ANSI/NCSL Z540 – 1 – 1994 and any additional program requirements in the field of calibrations.

Feel free to download a readable copy of our A2LA certificate by visiting our website at
www.tegam.com/html/certs.htm.

Tektronix Reports Results For The 4th Quarter And Full Year Of Fiscal 2003

Tektronix, Inc. reported net sales of $202.3 million and net earnings from continuing operations of $4.3 million or $0.05 per share, for the fourth quarter ended May 31, 2003. This compares with net sales of $202.2 million and net earnings from continuing operations of $6.7 million or $0.07 per share, for the same period a year ago. Excluding business realignment and one-time items, net earnings from continuing operations were $10.0 million or $0.12 per share for the fourth quarter, as compared with $12.7 million or $0.14 per share for the same period last year.

"We delivered solid results in the quarter," said Rick Wills, Tektronix Chairman and CEO. "There was strong demand across our product portfolio - particularly internationally. We believe that the economic environment and our end markets have started to stabilize."

For fiscal year 2003, the company reported net sales of $791.0 million, compared with sales of $810.3 million in fiscal year 2002. Net earnings from continuing operations were $35.1 million, or $0.40 per share for fiscal year 2003. This compares with net earnings from continuing operations of $33.6 million, or $0.36 per share for fiscal year 2002. Excluding business realignment and one-time items, net earnings from continuing operations for fiscal year 2003 were $48.5 million, or $0.56 per share, as compared with $49.2 million, or $0.53 per share for fiscal year 2002.

"We delivered strong results this year, remaining profitable, growing orders and accomplishing critical strategic objectives in an environment that continued to be challenging - these results differentiate Tektronix," said Wills. "One of these objectives, the acquisition and integration of our joint venture in Japan, exceeded our expectations. By quickly reducing costs, improving sales force effectiveness and leveraging products and technologies for broader market application, we were able to exceed our sales and profitability projections for Japan."

"In addition to increasing our presence in Japan, China was another strategic focus. We opened a new manufacturing facility in Shanghai and began manufacturing our newest value oscilloscopes for worldwide distribution - increasing our sales penetration of these products in China," continued Wills. "Other accomplishments included strengthening our management team - with an emphasis on the sales and marketing area - and strategic divestures of under performing product lines. As we see the environment begin to stabilize, the progress in these areas positions us well as we move into the next fiscal year."

For the first quarter of fiscal 2004, the company expects sales to be approximately flat with the same period a year ago. Earnings per share are expected to be between $0.10 and $0.12, excluding anticipated business realignment and one-time charges of $3.0 - $4.0 million.

"With markets seeming to stabilize in the last several months, we are well positioned to grow our leadership position in our four core product areas and to expand our two emerging product lines. We continue to manage operations to improve profitability and our product and technology engine to drive innovation, which will enable us to see good operating leverage as we see growth," concluded Wills.

Key highlights for the fourth quarter of fiscal 2003 include the following:
· A high-volume purchase by the China Ministry of Education to place Tektronix oscilloscopes in university labs throughout China, expanding Tektronix' large installed base in universities and bringing the latest digital tools to more students.
· Several significant orders for mobile protocol test equipment including a major sale of protocol, monitoring and maintenance tools to Advanced Info Service (AIS) PLC, Thailand's leading wireless operator, and a large, multi-unit sale of protocol testers to Taiwan Cellular Corporation (TCC), Taiwan's largest network operator.
· The opening of the company's newest operation in China, Tektronix (China) Co. Ltd. The new manufacturing facility in Shanghai, currently manufacturing the company's TDS1000/2000 value oscilloscope products, will be used for expansion in China, a growing segment of the test and measurement market.
· The sale of a high-performance oscilloscope and an array of accessories to National Instruments, including a TDS6604 digital storage oscilloscope, the P7260, the world's fastest single-ended active probe, the P7350 5 GHz differential probe, Jitter Analysis Software, USB 2.0 Compliance Test Package, and other applications. The oscilloscope will be used in the development of Pentium IV-based motherboards and other projects involving advanced technologies.
· The world's first fully-automated component analog video signal analyzer for high-definition and PC format signals simplifying and standardizing testing and new capabilities for its current digital video test including two new interfaces for the MTX1000 MPEG Recorder and Player, and an HD-SDI Stress Test module for the Tektronix TG2000 Multi-format Video Signal Generator Platform.
· The sale of the company's optical parametric test product line to Thorlabs, a New Jersey-based maker of photonics products.

 

NIST's SRM Capabilities

NIST supports accurate and compatible measurements by certifying and providing over 1300 Standard Reference Materials with well-characterized composition or properties, or both. These materials are used to perform instrument calibrations in situ as part of overall quality assurance programs, to verify the accuracy of specific measurements and to support the development of new measurement methods.

Industry, academia, and government use NIST SRMs to facilitate commerce and trade and to advance research and development. Presently NIST SRMs are currently available for use in areas such as industrial materials production and analysis, environmental analysis, health measurements and basic measurements in science and metrology. NIST SRMs are also one mechanism for supporting measurement traceability in the United States.

Each NIST Standard Reference Material is supplied with a Certificate of Analysis and a Materials Safety Data Sheet, when applicable. In addition, NIST has published many articles and practice guides that describe the development, analysis and use of SRMs.
NIST has a number of definitions in connection with the production, certification, and use of its SRMs and RMs. Certain definitions, adopted for SRM use, are derived from international guides and standards on reference materials and measurements while others have been developed by SRM to describe those activities unique to NIST operations.

An NTRM (NIST Traceable Reference Material) is a commercially produced reference material with a well-defined traceability linkage to existing NIST standards. This traceability linkage is established via criteria and protocols defined by NIST. Commercial reference materials producers may affix the NTRM trademark to materials produced according to these criteria and protocols.

Visit the home page at http://ts.nist.gov/ts/htdocs/230/232/232.htm.

Also read their June 2003 SRM Spotlight Publication that covers new SRMs, renewal SRM information and revision information.
http://ts.nist.gov/ts/htdocs/230/232/quarterly/Summer%202003.pdf


Quametec Proficiency Testing Services Receives A2LA Accreditation

Quametec Proficiency Testing Services has received accreditation as a proficiency test provider by the American Association for Laboratory Accreditation (A2LA). Accreditation was achieved as a result of many hours of preparation of the QPTS quality system and technical procedures for proficiency tests. QPTS is proud to be formally recognized by A2LA as being a competent provider of proficiency testing services in support of the calibration industry.

We now are providing proficiency test services in resistance, capacitance, inductance, temperature to support calibration laboratories in validating their technical competency and meeting accreditation requirements of ISO/IEC 17025.

In any proficiency test the conclusions are only as good as the selected reference laboratory. QPTS uses ONLY accredited laboratories with a proven record of reliable capability with uncertainties considerably smaller than the targeted participants in order to establish the reference value of the artifact, which ensures reliable validation of our participants best measurement capability.
ARCHIVED NEWS

2008
2007
2006
2005
2004
2003
2002
2001
2000

 


eCalibration.com
PO Box 830 ~ State College, PA 16804
P: 800-982-2388 ~ P: 814-234-2417 ~ F: 814-234-7077
editor@ecalibration.com
News ~ Events ~ Directories ~ Careers ~ Resources ~ Global ~ Life Sciences ~ Home
Terms of Use ~ Privacy Statement
© Blue Mountain Quality Resources
eCalibration and The Premier Calibration Resource are Trademarks of Blue Mountain Quality Resources