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Current IssueSales: From Pitch to PO
From the first cold call to finally receiving that first purchase order, the July PCB007 Magazine breaks down some critical parts of the sales stack. To up your sales game, read on!
The Hole Truth: Via Integrity in an HDI World
From the drilled hole to registration across multiple sequential lamination cycles, to the quality of your copper plating, via reliability in an HDI world is becoming an ever-greater challenge. This month we look at “The Hole Truth,” from creating the “perfect” via to how you can assure via quality and reliability, the first time, every time.
In Pursuit of Perfection: Defect Reduction
For bare PCB board fabrication, defect reduction is a critical aspect of a company's bottom line profitability. In this issue, we examine how imaging, etching, and plating processes can provide information and insight into reducing defects and increasing yields.
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I-Connect007 Editor’s Choice: Five Must-Reads for the Week
June 30, 2023 | Nolan Johnson, I-Connect007Estimated reading time: 2 minutes

It’s a heady time here in the U.S. between the summer holidays of Memorial Day (last Monday in May) and Independence Day (July 4). This four-week period straddles the Northern solstice, boasts the longest days of the year in the Northern Hemisphere. This is the high season for outside activities, which may be pulling you away from the office. Am I right? Never fear, I-Connect007 is here to deliver the “must know” news stories.
I’m bending the rules (again) this week by adding some additional links to some of the news items, so as to provide a more comprehensive picture of the story. So, what do we have? A conversation with Omron, news from Isola and Insulectro, Pete Starkey’s EIPC Summer Conference coverage (keynote, Day 1 and Day 2 summaries), and IPC monthly sales reports for EMS and PCB fab.
If you’re in the U.S., have a wildly independent holiday weekend; for our global readers, we’ll still be here, watching the news for you. Stay tuned.
Omron Discusses SPI, AI and More
Published June 26
At the recent SMTA Oregon Tech Forum and Expo, Tim Anderson, a senior account manager at Omron, presented his insights on SPI, the latest trends in the industry, and some solutions to consider. Afterward, Barry Matties caught up with Anderson for a follow up discussion. As Anderson points out, the SPI, AOI, and AXI systems of today do far more than simply catch defects. This is a short and informative read for anyone following these machinery applications.
Isola Changing With the Times
Published June 29
Changing market conditions require changes in approach. I-Connect007’s Barry Matties and Nolan Johnson spoke with Isola’s Travis Kelly, Sean Mirshafiei, and Kirk Thompson about Isola’s recent responses to market conditions. In this interview, Kelly, Mirshafiei, and Thompson outline recent changes to Isola senior leadership, optimizing manufacturing to meet the needs of the global market, and the strategic importance of advanced packaging to the global economy, and to the U.S., in particular.
EIPC Summer Conference 2023: The Keynote Session
Published June 26
The EIPC technical sessions–whether the monthly snapshot sessions, or the semi-annual conferences– are eternally full of high-value technical updates. This year’s summer session follows that same tradition. Of course, Pete Starkey’s detailed narratives always bring an extra bit of humanity to the sessions. We’re leading with Mr. Starkey’s coverage of the keynote, but I’ve added links to the summaries for Day 1 and Day 2 here, as well.
Insulectro Announces New Partnership With Laminate Suppliers Arlon Electronics Materials and EMC
Published June 27
Insulectro announces its new status as exclusive distributor for North America of Arlon copper clad laminates beginning Sept. 4, 2023. In addition, Arlon is the master distributor for Elite Materials Company (EMC), based in Taiwan. This brings both product lines to the Insulectro line card. Read here to get the details.
North American EMS Industry Up 7.1% in May
Published June 22
Read the whole post here, but just to tease the content, “EMS bookings in May increased 0.8 percent year-over-year and increased 4.4 percent from the previous month.” Also linked to the EMS report is the PCB fabrication report: North American PCB Industry Sales Up 6.7% in May
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Sweeney Ng - CEE PCBSuggested Items
MKS’ Atotech to Participate in IPCA Electronics Expo 2025
08/11/2025 | AtotechMKS Inc., a global provider of enabling technologies that transform our world, announced that its strategic brands ESI® (laser systems) and Atotech® (process chemicals, equipment, software, and services) will showcase their latest range of leading manufacturing solutions for printed circuit board (PCB) and package substrate manufacturing at the upcoming 17th IPCA Show to be held at Pragati Maidan, New Delhi from August 21-23, 2025.
MKS Showcases Next-generation PCB Manufacturing Solutions at the Thailand Electronics Circuit Asia 2025
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Point2 Technology, Foxconn Interconnect Technology Partner to Revolutionize AI Cluster Scalability with Terabit-Speed Interconnect
08/06/2025 | BUSINESS WIREPoint2 Technology, a leading provider of ultra-low-power, low-latency mixed-signal SoC solutions for multi-terabit interconnect, and Foxconn Interconnect Technology (FIT), a global leader in precision interconnect solutions, have signed a Memorandum of Understanding (MOU) to accelerate the commercialization of next-generation Active RF Cable (ARC) and Near Pluggable e-Tube (NPE) solutions.
Advancing Electrolytic Copper Plating for AI-driven Package Substrates
08/05/2025 | Dirk Ruess and Mustafa Oezkoek, MKS’ AtotechThe rise of artificial intelligence (AI) applications has become a pivotal force driving growth in the server industry. Its challenging requirements for high-frequency and high-density computing are leading to an increasing demand for development of advanced manufacturing methods of package substrates with finer features, higher hole densities, and denser interconnects. These requirements are essential for modern multilayer board (MLB) designs, which play a critical role in AI hardware. However, these intricate designs introduce considerable manufacturing complexities.
Statement from the Global Electronics Association on the July 2025 Tariff on Copper Foil and Electronics-Grade Copper Inputs
07/31/2025 | Global Electronics AssociationWe are disappointed by today’s decision to impose a 50% tariff on imported copper foil and other essential materials critical to electronics manufacturing in the United States.