PCB manufacturers enjoy growth in November 2017

Order intake increased with eleven percent YoY and with 22 percent compared to October 2017. YTD, order intake increased with 15.6 percent when compared with figures reported for the same period in 2016. In addition to an upturn in demand - especially in the areas of safety and home appliances as well as industrial electronics - growth was increasingly driven by a relocation from Asia back to Europe. However, we cannot speak of a general relocation trend. Rather, there are increased technical requirements that are not met by some Asian suppliers. Companies that have reduced warehouse space suffered from bottlenecks in the supply with active and passive components. By the same token, companies that maintain a warehouse were favoured (due to the ability to deliver products). The book-to-bill ratio (in the course of 2017) had four peaks of 1.10 or higher, November 2017 being one of them (1.10). The number of employees also increased with almost eight percent YoY, mainly due to larger manufacturers hiring new staff.