The Labelexpo Latin American Summit will take place at the María Isabel Sheraton, Mexico City, on June 8-9, 2004.

Essemtec has appointed Steve Pollock as responsible sales manager for the US market. Based in Glassboro, N.J., Pollock's experience with SMT processes allows for professional customer support.

Universal Instruments Corp. has announced the addition of Aegis Industrial Software to the Universal third party software program.

IPC-Association Connecting Electronics Industries* has announced that Manufacturers' Services Limited (MSL) will hold three on-site training sessions in 2004 as part of IPC's Electronics Manufacturing Services (EMS) Program Manager Certification Program.

Netzsch Inc. has announced the appointment of Vessco Inc. as a representative for Netzsch Filtration Systems serving the states of Iowa, Minnesota, Nebraska, North Dakota, and South Dakota.

The Coatings & Colorants Business Unit of Degussa AG has announced plans to build a colorants plant and a manufacturing facility for the production of coating polyesters at the Shanghai site of Degussa Chemicals (Shanghai) Co. Ltd.

Jack Hunter, formerly of Bayer Chemicals and Polymers, has joined Plas-Pak Industries and will direct its newly patented Ratio-Pak HSS (High Solids Spray) Technology and Business.

ESSEMTEC, the worldwide leader for SMT production equipment for the low/midsize volume market, has opened its new sales and service organization in the US.

IPC-Association Connecting Electronics Industries has announced that it will sponsor Capitol Hill Day on Wednesday, May 12, 2004, in Washington D.C., immediately preceding IPC's Spring Technology Market Research Council Meeting on May 13-14, 2004, in Baltimore.

BASF Aktiengesellschaft increased its sales in the third quarter of 2003 by 2.1 percent to €7.7 billion when compared with the same period in 2002.