ICT Autumn 2021 Webinar Review: High-voltage Testing and Advanced Antenna Materials

The Institute of Circuit Technology continues to deliver first-class on-line events. This year's ICT Autumn Webinar on September 7 presented papers by leading experts on high-voltage testing and advanced antenna materials. It was introduced and moderated by ICT Chair Emma Hudson.

Ucamco Improves Communication With Gerber Job Editor Notes in Mandarin

Ucamco recently announced that its Gerber Job Editor can now accept notes in Mandarin. I asked Karel Tavernier, managing director of Ucamco, to discuss the move to add Mandarin notes to the Gerber Job Editor, and what this means for CAM department users who may speak little or no English.

I-Connect007 Editor’s Choice: Five Must-Reads for the Week

The kids and grandkids are back in school, and fall is on the way. During this busy week, we published a variety of articles, covering everything from trade shows to mergers. It’s hard to argue with IPC’s plans to require proof of vaccine or a negative COVID test to enter IPC APEX EXPO; you can expect other trade shows to follow suit in the future. We’d hate for a show to become a super-spreader event.

From DesignCon: Insulectro Educating Designers About New Materials

I recently met with Insulectro VP of Technology Chris Hunrath at DesignCon 2021. We discussed a variety of new laminates that Insulectro is distributing, as well as some newer processes and the need to educate designers on the ins and outs of cutting-edge laminates.

Flex DFM: When All Things Must Be Considered

One of the best ways to avoid flex failures is by communicating with your flex fabricator early and often. Here are a couple key reasons why involving your flex and rigid-flex supplier early in the design of your product will help you save time and money—and produce a more reliable flex circuit.

I-Connect007 Editor’s Choice: Five Must-Reads for the Week

The past couple weeks have delivered quite a bit of PCB manufacturing industry news, to be sure. If you haven’t already seen this news piece from USPAE, “Electronics Industry Summit With US DoD Spawns More Dialogue, Collaboration,” I’d like to bring it to your attention one more time.

From DesignCon: Isola Navigating a Challenging Supply Stream

Nolan Johnson and Andy Shaughnessy visited with Jim Hartzell of Isola to learn about how the company has thrived in the past 18 months, despite some real supply chain backlogs. Jim also talks about new products, and what’s on the horizon for Isola.

DFM from the Fabricator’s Point of View

What do you think of when you hear the term DFM? The I-Connect007 Editorial Team posed this question to a trio of design and fabrication experts: DownStream Technologies co-founders Joe Clark and Rick Almeida, and Max Clark, business unit manager for Valor at Siemens EDA. We think you’ll enjoy this wide-ranging conversation.

From DesignCon: Technica’s 35 Years of Progress

During DesignCon 2021, Nolan Johnson caught up with Frank Medina of Technica, who looks back on the company’s 35-year history and how it has successfully weathered the bumps in the electronics market.

I-Connect007 Editor's Choice: Five Must-Reads for the Week

This week, we’ve covered a variety of topics in our newsletters and websites. In my Top Five picks, we have quite a mixed bag of industry news and articles. In market reports, there’s good news from the North American PCB side of things, but bad news from the EMS segment, driven by long lead times and material shortages. We also have an article that gets down to the root cause, or causes, of the six-month lead time and price increases.

Reasons and Solutions to PCB Lead Times and Price Increases

If there is anyone left in the electronics community who has not been impacted by the chaos in PCB pricing and lead times, they must live in an alternate universe. Seldom does a day pass without someone requesting a conference call to discuss the price increase. Everyone asks the same question: “What is the root cause?” I have concluded there is no single root cause.

We Must Talk to Each Other

“What we have here is a failure to communicate.” Sometimes when I hear that line from "Cool Hand Luke," I can’t help but think that old Strother Martin was in our business. That is to say that printed circuit board designers and board builders have always battled with a failure to communicate.

Electronics Industry Summit With U.S. DoD Spawns More Dialogue, Collaboration

The U.S. Government, the electronics industry, and academia must continue to step up their joint efforts to address risks and gaps in the defense electronics supply chain.

Designing With the End in Mind—How the Meaning of DFM Will Transform in the Future

Designers of today’s complex printed circuit boards occasionally encounter setbacks due to their lack of early planning. Such consequences for apathy in preparation and awareness will continue to escalate along the growth curve of complexity that the industry continues to experience. In this article, Altium's Vince Mazur explains how designers can be served by a design for manufacturing (DFM) mindset to help assure first-pass success.

I-Connect007 Editor’s Picks: Five Must-Reads for the Week

I’m at DesignCon as I start pen this week’s must-reads. It’s good to be back in the convention centers, I have to say. In my last installment, I expressed the anticipation; I can now confirm that taking the pulse of our industry is so much easier when one is nearer the heartbeat.

I-Connect007 Editor’s Choice: Five Must-Reads for the Week

Well, we’re officially in the trade show season. Delta variant or not, Editor Nolan Johnson and I are going to DesignCon next week. I’m flying on Delta, which I think is a harbinger of good luck. I did get flight insurance, though. I’m definitely ready to fly somewhere.

The Demand for Copper

Nolan Johnson spoke with Michael Coll and Chris Stevens of Nippon Denkai, home of the last-standing ED foil manufacturer in North America, about the demands and projections they’re seeing in the copper market currently.

Riding the Wave of Copper Inflation Pricing

In this interview with Ventec’s Mark Goodwin, he discusses the rising inflation hitting the electronics industry at the same moment as shortages of copper and other raw materials. He believes that, while the PCB industry has endured cycles like this before, this one feels different.

DFM For Your PCBs

Nolan Johnson speaks to Greg Link of WUS Printed Circuit Co. to gain a better understanding of where DFM fits in from a fabricator’s perspective.

I-Connect007 Editor’s Choice: Five Must-Reads for the Week

This week’s must-reads include: a recently-run interview with Travis Kelly from Isola; IPC Chief Economist Shawn DuBravac discussing economic trends that will touch the industry; new high-speed materials; technique for copper pour from Design007’s recent “Just Ask…” series; and maintaining continuous manufacturing knowledge throughout your enterprise.

Isola Responding to the Market

This interview with Isola’s Travis Kelly provides an overview of many important topics that the industry is facing, including how the global supply chain is being strained by materials, and what companies are trying to do to best manage the items within their control.

DFM 101: PCB Controlled Impedance

One of the biggest challenges facing PCB designers is not understanding the cost drivers in the PCB manufacturing process. This article is the latest in a series that will discuss these cost drivers (from the PCB manufacturer’s perspective) and the design decisions that will impact product reliability.

Catching Up With AMI’s Jim Barry

I met Jim Barry 25 years ago when we worked on a project at Eltek Ltd. Since then, I have followed his career with a great deal of interest, believing that he is one of the best technical sales professionals in our industry. When Jim recently accepted the position as vice president of business development at AMI right here in Maine, I knew it was time to catch up. Jim discusses the company's plans, including its move deeper into the milaero market.

Economic Drivers Take Us ‘Up, Up, and Away!’

Prices are up, up, and… up! Copper, for example, is at an all-time high—up 94% over the last year and up 69% compared to two years ago. But copper isn’t alone. We are seeing higher prices across the board. The IMF’s Non-Fuel Price Index, which includes precious metal, food, and industrial inputs, is up 43.6% over the last year and 44.7% over the last two years. Include fuel prices, and prices are up 70% over the last year. And that’s if you can even get the product you want in the first place, as shortages and longer lead-times abound. Shawn DuBravac explains.

I-Connect007 Editor’s Choice: Five Must-Reads for the Week

In the past week, we published quite a bit of news—some good, some not so good. The supply chain is likely to be a challenge for the next year or so. But in this industry, technologists always seem to find a workaround.

Rogers Technology Update

At the IEEE International Microwave Symposium (IMS) show in Atlanta, I met with John Coonrod, technical marketing manager with Rogers Corporation and a Design007 columnist. I asked John to discuss the papers he presented at IMS and to give us an update on Rogers’ materials and technology.

I-Connect007 Editor’s Choice: Five Must-Reads for the Week

In this week’s top five: a high profile surprise merger between Autodesk and Altium, which had been in the works, resolved this week; financial news from fabs and assemblers around the globe is reporting strong bookings and sales as the industry bounces back from pandemic-related shutdowns; component demands continue to exert pull pressures on the semiconductor suppliers, keeping the market (overly?) competitive pricewise. The tiles are indeed being stirred. Which pieces will you be dealt?

EIPC Technical Snapshot: Thinking Differently in a Post-Pandemic World

President Alun Morgan introduced the 10th in the enormously popular series of EIPC’s monthly Technical Snapshots. He said that although previous webinars had been directed at specific technical issues, the focus of the present session had been expanded to include a good measure of business content to provide better understanding of how it had developed during the pandemic, and also some pointers to how it would look and feel as we began to emerge from such unusual times

Anaya Vardya Discusses ASC’s Move into Additive Processes

It’s been far too long since I’ve been at a live trade show, so I jumped on the chance to attend the IEEE International Microwave Symposium (IMS) show in Atlanta. I ran into Anaya Vardya, CEO of American Standard Circuits, and asked him to give us an update on ASC’s new technologies.

Feeling the Supply Chain Squeeze

Nolan Johnson speaks with Joe D’Ambrisi of MacDermid Alpha to gain insight into what he’s seeing in the market from his perspective as a specialty chemicals and materials provider.

I-Connect007 Editor’s Choice: Five Must-Reads for the Week

Trade show season is around the corner, and we’re talking about real, in-person trade shows. The virtual shows served their purpose, and we may see more virtual shows in tandem with live events, but I’ll be glad to get back on the show floor and see what’s “really” going on out there. It's great to see IPC’s hand soldering competitions returning to Europe this fall.

Catching Up With Prototron’s Kim O’Neil

I recently sat down with industry veteran and friend Kim O’Neil to get to know more about his story. From his time his two tours in Vietnam, to his time in our industry, Kim has always been a solid contributor wherever he has served. Having known and worked with Kim for a number of years I knew that his was an interesting story that should be told.

Averatek Pushing Boundaries of Additive and Semi-Additive Processes

At the IEEE International Microwave Symposium show in Atlanta, I met with Tara Dunn, I-Connect007 columnist and VP of marketing and business development for Averatek. We sat down at the show and discussed the past year and a half, and after joking about how we felt like we were on an episode of The Twilight Zone, Tara gave me an update on Averatek’s continuing research into additive and semi-additive technologies.

I-Connect007 Editor’s Choice: Five Must-Reads for the Week

This may be a global industry, but the effect is very real: holidays in the U.S. will drive the industry news cycle. In fact, I can even (unscientifically) rank the major U.S. holidays by their silencing effect on the news. Christmas leads the way, of course, followed by New Year’s, Thanksgiving, Independence Day, Memorial Day, and Labor Day. Here's a wrap-up of the biggest stories of the past week, starting before Independence Day weekend.

Catching Up With Archer Circuits’ Echo Yang

I was thrilled when Echo Yang called to talk about her company, Archer Circuits. And the more she talked, the more I liked her story. Echo is a 37-year-old woman who started her own trading company. She is well-educated, well-trained, and well-spoken; she is filled with ambition and passion for what she does. You are going to find her story and the story of her company as interesting as I have. Enjoy.

I-Connect007 Editor’s Choice: Five Must-Reads for the Week

Optimism is on the rise. This week, we saw signs of increased confidence in the PCB industry, but this was tempered by the realities of supply chain issues and 50-week lead times for some components. We saw some M&A activity and a bit of really interesting news from Stanford University about flex. Cherie Litson brought us a story of her life in PCB design, against a backdrop of Star Trek. IPC also announced an introductory PCB design class. Isn’t it nice to have new designers again?

Meet Luca Gautero, New PCB007 Columnist

We are pleased to announce the latest addition to our team of expert columnists, Dr. Luca Gautero. In his column each month, Dr. Gautero will cover inkjet application for solder mask from a variety of angles. His technical perspective will address maintenance, material challenges, and patterning capabilities. Social responsibility and cost effectiveness will also be illustrated.

I-Connect007 Editor’s Choice: Five Must-Reads for the Week

This week, Nolan Johnson's top five includes two popular press releases on equipment purchases, plus a case study that details another company’s ROI from new equipment. We also bring you Pete Starkey’s latest EIPC webinar writeup, and a bit of historical controversy from Clyde Coombs.

Catching up With Siber Circuits

Siber Circuits is a Canada-based PCB fabricator doing most of its business in the U.S. and often with defense contractors, proving against the odds that it can be done. I spoke with the owner and president, Simon Etherington, about his company and why his long-time customers love working with them.

Hewlett-Packard’s Adoption—and Controversy—of Plated Through-Holes

I believe that it is instructive to remember just how close Hewlett-Packard—and likely the entire industry—came to adopting eyelets instead of plated through-holes in the early 1960s. That there was ever a controversy over the use of plated through-holes as an acceptable printed circuit interconnection process seems almost impossible to consider, let alone take seriously today. But in the late 1950s and early 1960s, the PTH was not just a controversial idea; serious product designers considered eyelets a preferred technology.

EIPC Technical Snapshot Review: Microvia Reliability Issues

Since the mid-1990s, when they were developed for mass production in the mobile phone industry, microvias have become principal enablers for high-density designs, and have evolved from single-level to complex stacked and staggered structures. They are fundamentally robust interconnects, although some aspects of their reliability are still under investigation.

I-Connect007 Editor’s Choice: Five Must-Reads for the Week

It’s summertime here in Atlanta. The masks are gone, and my Hawaiian shirts are back in rotation! It feels like we’re getting back to normal. Speaking of normal, it looks like DesignCon, PCB West, SMTA International, and IPC APEX EXPO are good to go; they’re set to be live, in-person events, just like in the “olden days” of early 2020.

ICAPE Group Offers Boots on the Ground Support in Asia

Nolan Johnson speaks with Roger Harts about some of the current complications around manufacturing electronics in China and how ICAPE Group works as a vital supplier partner to OEMs and companies hoping to manufacture in Asia.

Defining Operational Excellence

Nolan Johnson talks with Todd Brassard, VP/COO at Calumet Electronics. They start by discussing the definition of operational excellence, followed by its key components. Then Todd shares a helpful book and AS standard that have become the foundation for Calumet’s operational excellence.

I-Connect007 Editor’s Choice: Five Must-Reads for the Week

This week’s can’t miss news items touch all the bases—unlike Pittsburgh Pirates Rookie Ke’Bryan Hayes, who didn’t touch all the bases on Tuesday night’s game, and had his home run revoked.

ExpressPCB Plus 3.0 Adds Functionality, SnapEDA Integration

ExpressPCB has recently released version 3.0 of its ExpressPCB and Express PCB Plus PCB design tools. The I-Connect007 Editorial Team recently spoke with Michael Hebda, product manager for ExpressPCB. He offered a walk-through of the new Plus version 3.0 and explained how the new enhancements enable PCB designers to potentially cut hours or days off their design cycle.

ICT Webinar Review: Recyclable PCBs, and More

Another excellent technical webinar on June 1, introduced and moderated by ICT Chair Emma Hudson, provided updates on developments in recyclable PCBs, innovations in transparent flexible displays, and X-ray fluorescence techniques for the determination of the thickness and composition of metal coatings.

Catching up With Kusu’s Pascal Delloue

There are other countries in Asia besides China and Pascal Delloue intends to promote them. He has many years of experience in the global marketplace and his new company, Kusu Corporation, is poised to introduce SE Asian companies and the electronics products they can provide for the rest of the world. I have to say this is an interview like no other I have ever conducted. Read on and you’ll see what I mean.

Increasing Productivity Through Training

Too often when we think of training our manufacturing workforce, we focus on the shop floor. We look for opportunities mainly with those who are doing the making. We need to cast a wider gaze as the manufacturing process is not limited to the manufacturing floor. Quality, engineering, sales and marketing, logistics, and even accounting/finance are all part of the process that starts with a business plan and culminates with your trinket in the hands of your happy customer. All departments make up that “well-oiled machine.”

I-Connect007 Editor’s Choice: Five Must-Reads for the Week

In case you’ve been on the beach with an umbrella drink in your hand, in industry news we saw the soft opening of a new laminate facility and more M&A activity in the PCB fab segment. And we ran some really great content from our contributors, with articles on how to save your company money and how to save yourself time in the design cycle. Plus, Editor Nolan Johnson channels his inner John Updike with his review of one of the most popular manufacturing strategy books ever, three decades after its publication.

Alex Stepinski on Zero-Waste Facilities

After spending countless hours on airplanes to visit factories and suppliers all around the world, Alex began building the new “zero-waste” captive facility. After only a few years of operation, the factory was a clear success—so much so that the decision was made to upgrade the facility to produce leading-edge boards. This was the birth of GreenSource Engineering. It was decided that the new iteration would be more than a captive facility, it would also be a merchant shop.

Catching Up With Dick Saporito: A New Way for PCB Shops to Save Money

If your company's money woes have got you down, Dan Beaulieu's interview with Dick Saporito may lift your spirits. He uses his long-time career in PCB fab to help all types of companies save money. Could yours be next?

A Review of ‘World-Class Manufacturing’

"World Class Manufacturing: The Lessons of Simplicity Applied" by Richard J. Schonberger was published in 1986 as part of the World Class Manufacturing (WCM) vanguard of the time. And yet, a careful read shows that even though many processes have changed, there are fundamental thought patterns that persist in electronics manufacturing.

IPC Committees as an Emerging Engineer

We are extremely fortunate to have some of the industry leaders participating in our committees. We also try to make the documents easier to understand with simple wording, so it’s easier to be translated and used globally.

EIPC Technical Snapshot Webinar: Aspects of Additive Manufacturing

EIPC Technical Snapshots have become a monthly highlight, eagerly anticipated, enthusiastically supported, and with consistently outstanding quality of content. Introduced and moderated by EIPC board member Martyn Gaudion, managing director at Polar Instruments, the eighth in the series on May 19 featured a well-balanced selection of presentations with the collective focus of additive manufacturing in the electronics industry.

Why You Should Get Involved in IPC Standards Development

From a business perspective, involvement in IPC standards is incredibly important. Usage of IPC’s globally accepted standards creates a level playing field in the electronics supply chain. The playing field, however, is only as level as the participants who are involved in the development of a standard.

I-Connect007 Editor’s Choice: Five Must-Reads for the Week

Summer is almost upon us. But it doesn’t look like there’s much of a summer vacation afoot for this industry. In the past week, we saw lots of traction with our coverage of everything from M&A activity and the supply chain shortage to challenges facing PCB designers, Spanish language training courses, and designing for semi-additive processes.

IPC: Driving Our Industry for 64 Years

I have participated in many areas of IPC for several years, particularly the Government Relations Committee and the Suppliers Council. Now, there are many IPC committees, and most of them are focused on standards. Many IPC members take part in the committees—after all, electronic design and manufacturing standards is one of the key reasons IPC was founded. The results of the committees’ efforts represent a significant part of the value the IPC has contributed to the industry since it was founded in 1957.

Operational Excellence from a Design Services Manager

Jesse Vaughan discusses the key aspects of continuous improvement he sees in his role as manager of design services at ACDi, and the importance of carving out communication channels—both internally and externally to help build operational excellence.

Joe D’Ambrisi Discusses MacDermid Alpha's Acquisition of HK Wentworth

Element Solutions’ Executive Vice President Joe D’Ambrisi speaks with Nolan Johnson about MacDermid Alpha's recent acquisition of HK Wentworth. Joe shares some details on the transaction and outlines the expected benefits that come from bringing these two companies together.

I-Connect007 Editor’s Choice: Five Must-Reads for the Week

There is, increasingly, a sense of returning to “normal” daily life where I live. Of the state’s population, 35% have been immunized against coronavirus as of this week. Lockdowns are lifted, schools have partially reopened, and even some offices are staffing back up.

Catching Up With Gardien’s Niraj Patel

I have always been fascinated by this company, especially two particular services they offer. First, they embed their team into a facility and actually take over as the PCB company’s expert test center; second, they have a universal quality system to track problems and solutions from all over the world and then keep them in a universal database that can be shared by everyone. These are two services everyone in our business needs to know about, which is why I recently reached out to Niraj Patel, Gardien’s vice president in charge of North America.

I-Connect007 Editor’s Choice: Five Must-Reads for the Week

Finally, it’s May. The snow has melted, the flowers are beginning to bloom, and summer is just around the corner. We’re slowly getting back to normal after the craziest year I can remember. And our industry is on the move! This week, we bring you a veritable seafood platter of articles and columns about PCB design, fabrication, and assembly.

Arlon President Discusses Acquisition by EMC

Arlon President Brad Foster updates Nolan Johnson on EMC’s acquisition of Arlon in December 2020. Foster shares the basic structure of the agreement, the long-term stability built into the merger, and outlines how this brings EMC, Arlon and Technica together as a team. Foster also hints at what we can expect to see from Arlon and EMC in the coming months.

An Inside Look at the IPC Committee Process

As IPC committee meetings were in full effect at this year’s APEX EXPO, Nolan Johnson and Barry Matties have a discussion with many of IPC’s directors and program managers—Teresa Rowe, Chris Jorgensen, Deb Obitz, John Perry, Andres Ojalill, and Patrick Crawford—to gain a better understanding of how committees work.

Show & Tell Magazine Now Available on Demand

IPC APEX EXPO 2021 is in the history books now. But as the paperboys used to say in the 1930s, you can still “read all about it” in Real Time With… IPC APEX EXPO 2021 Show & Tell Magazine! It’s all right here in one convenient publication: interviews with award winners, coverage of keynote speeches, show notes from our technical staff, thoughts from IPC Emerging Engineers, and much more

Exciting Advances From NVIDIA’s GPU

NVIDIA’s Graphics Processing Technology Conference was, as expected, a showcase of new developments, as well as an opportunity for engineers and developers to learn, enhance skills, and discuss new ideas. Just hearing about all the amazing new developments and the accelerating expansion of AI in virtually all aspects of modern society gives those who attended a better idea of just how much AI is and will continue to change their work and our world.

DFM 101: PCB Materials

One of the biggest challenges facing PCB designers is understanding the cost drivers in the PCB manufacturing process. This article is the first in a series that will discuss these cost drivers (from the PCB manufacturer’s perspective) and the design decisions that will impact product reliability.

I-Connect007 Editor’s Choice: Five Must-Reads for the Week

This week’s biggest news came in the form of industry briefings—there were a lot of them and the news was universally positive. The news you need to read for this week includes three reports from IPC detailing: the strength and risks in the global economic recovery; a strong EMS book-to-bill ratio; and strong North American PCB sales. Zeroing in on a single company, Apple reported a significant jump in revenue.

Why We Simulate

When Bill Hargin was cutting his teeth in high-speed PCB design some 25 years ago, speeds were slow, layer counts were low, dielectric constants and loss tangents were high, design margins were wide, copper roughness didn’t matter, and glass-weave styles didn’t matter. Dielectrics were called “FR-4” and their properties didn’t matter much. A fast PCI bus operated at just 66 MHz. Times have certainly changed.

Benchmarking Your Process Engineering

Mark Thompson has been in bare board fabrication for over 30 years. He is now laying out printed circuit boards at Monsoon Solutions, a high-tech design bureau near Seattle, Washington. With Mark’s extensive hands-on knowledge of PCB manufacturing, he brings a unique perspective to PCB design. In this discussion with the I-Connect007 editorial team, Mark shares what’s important from a process engineer’s point of view, and how to stay on top of evaluating and benchmarking your manufacturing process, along with insights from his new role as a designer.

EIPC Technical Snapshot: Supply Chain and Material Price Pressures

EIPC’s seventh Technical Snapshot webinar on April 14 was timely and appropriate. In the context of current supply chain issues and material price pressures facing the PCB industry, particularly in Europe, the EIPC team brought together an outstanding group of experts—each a leading authority in his field—to analyse and comment upon the areas of concern and to respond to questions raised by a capacity audience. As Alun Morgan said, “If you don’t use the European supply chain, you won’t have it anymore!”

Isola Releases IS550H Material

Nolan Johnson speaks with Michael Gay of Isola and Chris Hunrath of Insulectro about the release of their new halogen-free, high-thermal reliability material, which they hope fills the gap in the market between epoxies and polyimides.

I-Connect007 Editor’s Choice: Five Must-Reads for the Week

This week, we bring you a wide swath of news, columns, and articles from the past week. Altium announced a new cloud platform that connects design stakeholders with users of its Altium 365 environment. Cadence Design Systems has acquired a company that develops computational fluid dynamics technology to help expand its system analysis offerings.

I-Connect007 'Just Ask' Q&A Compilation Available Now

Throughout 2020, we asked you to send us your questions for Happy Holden, John Mitchell, Joe Fjelstad, Tara Dunn, and Heidi Barnes. You all had plenty of questions for these industry experts. The following is a handy compilation of your questions and their answers.