Capacity cuts continue: Multek, The Burean Shutter N.A. PCB operations. (Around The World / Manufacturing).

MINNEAPOLIS -- As first reported by pcdandm.com in June, The Bureau Electronics Group, the PCB manufacturing arm of The Bureau of Engraving, is closing its plant in northeast Minneapolis.

Also, Multek (multek.com), the PCB arm of Flextronics, was planning to close its plant in suburban Roseville in July and lay off 300 workers.

Dale Blanchfield, president of The Bureau Electronics Group, cited competition from Asia as the reason for the closure, the Minneapolis Star Tribune reported. The shutdown leaves 120 employees out of work, the Star Tribune said. A skeleton crew will finish the last order and close the plant, the paper reported.

"What business there is, is picked up in Asia," Blanchfield told the Star Tribune. "We just can't be competitive with what's going on there."

The Bureau had previously laid off 285 people, actions that are being contested in court, the Pioneer Press said. The union which represented workers at The Bureau is claiming that the company skipped its a mandatory 60-day notice, the paper said.

Besides closing its PCB plant in Roseville, Multek will cut its PCB plant in Guadalajara, Mexico, and lay off 200 workers there.

The moves were not surprising. Flextronics chairman Michael Marks told analysts on the company's mid-quarter conference call that the unit was losing money and that changes were in order. "It is my personal objective that by the end of this fiscal year, which means within the next three quarters, [Multek is] going to be at least breaking even," Marks told analysts. "And if we don't see a turnaround in demand, we're going to reduce capacity. Period."

The moves mark the exit of Multek from the North American PCB market. It closed its plant in Irvine, CA, in December and took a $100 million restructuring charge. Multek was once the third largest PCB maker in the U.S., according to N.T. Information.