Knocking Down the Bone Pile: Gold Mitigation for Class 2 Electronics
Punching Out: Your Financial Preparation for a Sale
Nolan's Notes: The Next Killer App in Component Manufacturing
I-Connect007 Editor's Choice: Five Must-Reads for the Week
October 2, 2020 | Nolan Johnson, I-Connect007Estimated reading time: 2 minutes
Most all the action this week involved the STMA International Conference and Exposition. I-Connect007’s Real Time with… video interviews generally led the way for views and clicks.
In each item, the intent was to make things better in some fashion. Whether it was pivoting on trade show delivery, optimizing the metalization process in the fab, adding more AI to manufacturing capital equipment, unifying and furthering the concept of the digital twin concept, or responding to company growth by upgrading systems with the help the equipment manufacturers, all these news items speak to being adaptable and forward-thinking.
If you attended SMTAI, I hope you had a productive time. If you didn’t, then be sure to follow I-Connect007’s post-show coverage next week. View more video interviews and show-related content at Real Time with… SMTAI 2020 virtual.
Real Time with…SMTAI 2020: ASC Makes Lemonade Out of Lemons
September 25, 2020
Steve Williams and Anaya Vardya, president and CEO of American Standard Circuits (ASC), discuss the upcoming virtual SMTAI show and how the company is “making lemonade out of lemons.” There may not be any face-to-face interaction, but virtual shows are open to attendees from around the world with no travel or hotel costs. Anaya explains how the COVID-19 lockdown has caused ASC to become more creative in its marketing efforts, including holding webinars and publishing two eBooks with I-Connect007. They also discuss ASC’s holistic approach to the marketplace, with a diversified product mix across various segments.
Real Time with...SMTAI 2020: MacDermid Alpha’s Single-Step Metalization Paper
September 30, 2020
One of the MacDermid Alpha Electronics Solutions’ technical papers from SMTAI details a new process for filling through-holes with copper in a single step. Carmichael Gugliotti, the primary author and an applications specialist, and Richard Bellemare, director of electrolytic metalization, address why this new process matters and what’s in Gugliotti’s technical paper presentation for SMTAI. To view Gugliotti’s paper presentation, log on to the SMTAI technical sessions before October 31, 2020.
Real Time with...SMTAI 2020: Creative Electron Moves Toward Autonomous Systems
October 1, 2020
Andy Shaughnessy recently spoke with Dr. Bill Cardoso, CEO of Creative Electron, a provider of advanced X-ray inspection systems. Bill discusses some of the new technologies the company would be demonstrating in its virtual booth at SMTAI, including a next-generation X-ray parts counter and a new software platform that offers better automation than ever. He also explains the company’s plan to migrate from automation to autonomous systems by using AI to help remove humans from the process.
Twenty Companies Join New Industrial Digital Twin Association
September 28, 2020
The aim of this new association is to bring together all of the parallel development strands working toward the industrial digital twin and to develop it as an open-source solution together with member companies. Users benefit from the early insights into the digitization of industrial products. This reduces effort, integration time, and costs in the own value creation.
NK Technologies Increases Capacity by Trading up With Manncorp
September 25, 2020
NK Technologies, a developer and manufacturer of innovative current-sensing products, recently improved their manufacturing capacity by participating in Manncorp’s Trade In, Trade Up Program. Learn more about this program.
Share on:
Suggested Items
RF PCB Design Tips and Tricks
05/08/2025 | Cherie Litson, EPTAC MIT CID/CID+There are many great books, videos, and information online about designing PCBs for RF circuits. A few of my favorite RF sources are Hans Rosenberg, Stephen Chavez, and Rick Hartley, but there are many more. These PCB design engineers have a very good perspective on what it takes to take an RF design from schematic concept to PCB layout.
Trouble in Your Tank: Causes of Plating Voids, Pre-electroless Copper
05/09/2025 | Michael Carano -- Column: Trouble in Your TankIn the business of printed circuit fabrication, yield-reducing and costly defects can easily catch even the most seasoned engineers and production personnel off guard. In this month’s column, I’ll investigate copper plating voids with their genesis in the pre-plating process steps.
Elephantech: For a Greener Tomorrow
04/16/2025 | Marcy LaRont, PCB007 MagazineNobuhiko Okamoto is the global sales and marketing manager for Elephantech Inc., a Japanese startup with a vision to make electronics more sustainable. The company is developing a metal inkjet technology that can print directly on the substrate and then give it a copper thickness by plating. In this interview, he discusses this novel technology's environmental advantages, as well as its potential benefits for the PCB manufacturing and semiconductor packaging segments.
Trouble in Your Tank: Organic Addition Agents in Electrolytic Copper Plating
04/15/2025 | Michael Carano -- Column: Trouble in Your TankThere are numerous factors at play in the science of electroplating or, as most often called, electrolytic plating. One critical element is the use of organic addition agents and their role in copper plating. The function and use of these chemical compounds will be explored in more detail.
IDTechEx Highlights Recyclable Materials for PCBs
04/10/2025 | IDTechExConventional printed circuit board (PCB) manufacturing is wasteful, harmful to the environment and energy intensive. This can be mitigated by the implementation of new recyclable materials and technologies, which have the potential to revolutionize electronics manufacturing.