Dan’s Biz Bookshelf: ‘Costovation: Innovation That Gives Your Customers Exactly What They Want—And Nothing More’
The Right Approach: ‘Twas the Night Before Christmas (Harley-style)
It’s Only Common Sense: Dear Santa, Here’s My Sales Wish List
Ventec: The Flexibility We Need in Standards-driven Manufacturing
February 13, 2024 | Barry Matties, I-Connect007Estimated reading time: 2 minutes
Ventec International COO Mark Goodwin and technology ambassador Alun Morgan had quite a bit to say at productronica 2023 about slash sheets, IPC standards, and how to bring the PCB designer closer to the supplier. As Mark says, what matters to designers, manufacturers, and even consumers, is that the products meet compliance standards, such as REACH. They don’t need to know how something is built. They just want performance and availability.
Barry Matties: Since our last conversation regarding your recommendations with slash sheets, where are you now?
Mark Goodwin: At IPC APEX EXPO 2023, we learned that the whole industry has been misunderstanding the descriptive information at the top of the IPC slash sheet; it actually has no relevance. It is not part of the material specification.
Alun Morgan: The slash sheet structure was good 30 years ago when you could define properties by family groups, with only three or four resin types available. Today, we no longer have resin systems that are only one resin type; we have fillers and mixtures and all kinds of performance enhancements. The future moved on from that framework; it doesn't fit anymore.
That was why we joined in and worked with UL to create a comprehensive list of resin chemistry definitions for designers. If you're a PCB designer, you ask, “What do I need to know to make my decision?” Now, they can look it up and know exactly what it means when you say “primary resin,” “flame retardant,” or “filler.” We have a basis of understanding and some common language.
Goodwin: We worked on those definitions and proposed that they be included in the preamble of the IPC-4101 specs.
Morgan: I'm proud of our work with UL in adding definitions for resin chemistry terms in UL 746E. We all worked hard to ensure we had a base level (of terms and definitions) in place. It's the first step. The next work to be done—which is a lot—is to move into the performance area, which hasn’t been mapped out yet.
Goodwin: Those performance criteria should include physical, mechanical, and electrical properties.
Morgan: We've often argued that we should try and curate these within our industry sectors. That makes sense. If we've learned anything, it’s that the design process is far from materials. Designers don't understand detail about the material side. Why would they? Even for PCB manufacturing, the designers don't have a comprehensive understanding. Now, the designer can say to the engineer, “I'm a designer for automotive cabins,” and the engineer says, “Here’s a set of standards that will be appropriate for your kind of designs,” or “I design ECUs for under the hood.” Now, here are the products that would fit there. It's not the end of the story, but a starting place for these guys. If you can give them a starting place, how much easier the job is.
Goodwin: This happened naturally with thermal management. It was a new thing that came along with thermal modeling so the designers have a much deeper connection to the materials in that sector than they do in any other.
To read this entire conversation, which appeared in the January 2024 issue of PCB007 Magazine, click here.
Share on:
Suggested Items
Book Excerpt: The Printed Circuit Designer’s Guide to... DFM Essentials, Ch. 1
10/25/2024 | I-Connect007The guidelines offered in this book are based on both ASC recommendations and IPC standards with the understanding that some may require adjustment based on the material set, fabricator processes, and other design constraints. This chapter details high-frequency materials, copper foil types, metal core PCBs, and the benefits of embedded capacitance and resistor materials in multilayer PCBs.
Trouble in Your Tank: Materials for PWB Fabrication—Drillability and Metallization
07/16/2024 | Michael Carano -- Column: Trouble in Your TankLaminate materials are the building blocks on which printed circuit boards are manufactured. Circuit board designers rely on the critical electrical properties of the materials to design the interconnects, and with the drive toward IoT (internet of things), autonomous driving, and virtual and augmented reality, material properties take on a very high level of importance.
Don’t Overconstrain Your Board Materials
07/02/2024 | I-Connect007 Editorial TeamWhen we started planning May’s issue, which centers on the use of traditional laminates in certain high-frequency PCBs, we knew we had to interview Kris Moyer and Ed Kelley together. Kris teaches advanced PCB design classes for IPC, and Ed is the former CTO of Isola and founder of Four Peaks Innovation. What ensued was a wide-ranging discussion on the evolution of “standard” PCB laminates and the recent trend by some OEMs to use these materials in high-frequency and even RF boards.
Beyond Prepreg: The Glassless ‘Revolution’
06/25/2024 | Marcy LaRont, PCB007 MagazineAs our industry rallies around the call to action for HDI and UHDI, we find unparalleled and myriad laminate options. This abundance is rivaled only by the question surrounding them: Can they measure up to the high technology packaging demands required in our near future? Unsurprisingly, recent developments in FR-4-esque materials for high-speed and high-density designs, as well as newer, glassless technology for replacing traditional glass-impregnated laminates and prepreg, are garnering much interest. I caught up with Alun Morgan, technology ambassador for Ventec International Group, to ask about the impending “glassless revolution” and how it’s poised to solve some of our manufacturing challenges.
Traditional Materials, High-Frequency Boards?
06/18/2024 | I-Connect007 Editorial TeamNot long ago, high-frequency and RF boards required specialized laminates, which tend to be costly and difficult to manufacture. But now, high-frequency designers use traditional PCB laminates for certain high-frequency boards. How is this possible? For some insight, we asked Ed Kelley, founder of Four Peaks Innovation and former CTO of Isola, to discuss how traditional materials have improved and what this means to PCB designers and design engineers today.