Speedline's strong Q1 results confirm leadership in process expertise

Speedline Technologies Inc., reported that sales during the first quarter of 2004 were up more than 42% over the same period last year. Bookings levels have also increased dramatically with a growth of 55% over the first quarter of 2003.

"We're seeing an upturn in worldwide electronics manufacturing that is driving higher capital equipment purchasing," said Pierre de Villemejane, president, Speedline Technologies. "Europe and the Americas are recovering and Asia continues to grow."

De Villemejane said most traditional sectors of the electronics industry are participating in the recovery, including mobile phones, consumer electronics, and computers. "Manufacturers are replacing obsolete equipment as well as expanding their facilities," he said.  "However, Speedline is also witnessing a significant surge in special niche applications and new processes."

Speedline experienced rebounding sales across its entire portfolio, including CAMALOT dispensers, ELECTROVERT reflow, wave, and cleaning products, and MPM printers. "These sales increases are coming from our customer base, market share gains, and new market penetration," said de Villemejane. "In particular, the trend toward lead-free printed circuit board processing is boosting sales of our wave soldering and reflow oven products."

The recent sales growth also is directly attributable to Speedline's success in defining and developing new challenging applications and processes with a number of key customers. These achievements include new advances in underfill and medical dispensing, fine-feature printing with traditional and lead-free pastes, and the most efficient manufacturing configurations for lead-free wave soldering and reflow, fuel cell manufacturing, and glue printing.

The company expects 2004 will be a year of recovery and strong business performance. "Weíre managing our business and capacity to leverage the upturn," he said. "We continue to invest in our leading process capabilities by expanding the expertise and knowledge base throughout the organization, from Advanced Development and R&D to Applications Engineering and Field Service."