Segment information

9 Months Ended

Jul. 31, 2015

Segment Reporting [Abstract]

Segment information

Note 8 - Segment information

The Company aggregates operating divisions into operating segments which have similar economic characteristics and divisions are similar in the majority of the following areas: (1) the nature of the product and services; (2) the nature of the production process; (3) the type or class of customer for their products and services; (4) the methods used to distribute their products or services; (5) if applicable, the nature of the regulatory environment. The Company currently has three segments - RF Connector and Cable Assembly, Custom Cabling Manufacturing and Assembly, and Medical Cabling and Interconnector based upon this evaluation.

The RF Connector and Cable Assembly segment is comprised of two divisions and the Custom Cabling Manufacturing and Assembly segment currently is comprised of three divisions/subsidiaries, whereas the Medical Cabling and Interconnector segment is comprised of one division. The five divisions that meet the quantitative thresholds for segment reporting are Connector and Cable Assembly, Cables Unlimited, Comnet, Bioconnect and Rel-Tech. The other division aggregated into the RF Connector and Cable Assembly segment has similar products that are marketed to their respective customer base and production and product development processes that are similar in nature. The specific customers are different for each division; however, there is some overlapping of product sales to them.

Management identifies the Company’s segments based on strategic business units that are, in turn, based along market lines. These strategic business units offer products and services to different markets in accordance with their customer base and product usage. For segment reporting purposes, the Company (i) aggregates the Connector and Cable Assembly division and the Aviel division into the RF Connector and Cable Assembly segment; (ii) aggregates the Cables Unlimited, Comnet and Rel-Tech subsidiaries into the Custom Cabling Manufacturing and Assembly segment; and (iii) has defined the Bioconnect Division as the Medical Cabling and Interconnector segment.

In its operation of the business, management, including our chief operating decision maker, the Company’s Chief Executive Officer, reviews certain financial information, including segmented profit and loss statements before taxes, depreciation and amortization to evaluate performance of individual operating segments. The segment information in this note is reported on that basis.

Substantially all of the Company’s operations are conducted in the United States; however, the Company derives a portion of its revenue from export sales. The Company attributes sales to geographic areas based on the location of the customers. The following table presents the sales of the Company by geographic area for the three and nine months ended July 31, 2015 and 2014 (in thousands):

	Three Months Ended July 31,				Nine Months Ended July 31,
	2015		2014		2015		2014
United States	$	8,573	$	5,148	$	22,887	$	15,897
Foreign Countries:
Canada		64		91		290		310
Israel		76		65		264		287
Mexico		135		132		324		390
All Other		51		100		103		266
		326		388		981		1,253
Totals	$	8,899	$	5,536	$	23,868	$	17,150

Net sales, income (loss) from continuing operations before provision for income taxes and other related segment information for the three months ended July 31, 2015 and 2014 are as follows (in thousands): 

	RF Connector		Custom Cabling		Medical
	and		Manufacturing and		Cabling and
	Cable Assembly		Assembly		Interconnector		Corporate		Total
2015
Net sales	$	2,909	$	5,405	$	585	$	-	$	8,899
Income (loss) from continuing operations before provision for income taxes		135		(152)		151		4		138
Depreciation and amortization		49		276		5		-		330
2014
Net sales	$	3,375	$	1,497	$	664	$	-	$	5,536
Income (loss) from continuing operations before provision for income taxes		662		(199)		166		6		635
Depreciation and amortization		47		98		6		-		151

Net sales, income (loss) from continuing operations before provision for income taxes and other related segment information for the nine months ended July 31, 2015 and 2014 are as follows (in thousands): 

	RF Connector		Custom Cabling		Medical
	and		Manufacturing and		Cabling and
	Cable Assembly		Assembly		Interconnector		Corporate		Total
2015
Net sales	$	8,949	$	13,274	$	1,645	$	-	$	23,868
Income (loss) from continuing operations before provision for income taxes		699		(185)		369		19		902
Depreciation and amortization		131		573		15		-		719
2014
Net sales	$	9,659	$	5,364	$	2,127	$	-	$	17,150
Income (loss) from continuing operations before provision for income taxes		1,621		(385)		499		17		1,752
Depreciation and amortization		143		281		21		-		445