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Designing for Reliability: Why Understanding Materials, Cleanliness, and Lifecycle Matters More Than Ever
January 28, 2026 | Marcy LaRont, I-Connect007Estimated reading time: 1 minute
Before a product enters manufacturing—long before the first panel hits the assembly line—its reliability is determined by a series of fundamental design decisions. Designing a PCB is not simply a matter of placing components on a board and sending the files to manufacturing. Designing for reliability requires a holistic approach.
Every material, from solder mask and laminate to flux and solder alloy, interacts with processing chemistry, environmental contaminants, and thermal cycling throughout the product’s lifetime. The environment in which the product is expected to work, and its intended lifecycle demands, must be understood at the outset. Failing to consider the design from every aspect can turn a promising design into a very expensive cautionary case study.
Flex Ltd. (formerly Solectron/Flextronics International) is one of the largest EMS providers in electronics manufacturing today. At productronica, Tiberiu (Tibi) Baranyi of Flex presented a comprehensive presentation on design for reliability, providing real-world case examples that illustrated the unfortunate outcomes of decisions that caused failures, and which should have been made differently. I spoke with him about why this topic is so important for designers to understand from the outset.
Marcy LaRont: Tibi, if there is one word on everyone’s lips, other than AI, it’s reliability. With today’s technology demands, the challenges around guaranteeing reliability are significant.
Tiberiu Baranyi: Yes, this is a key point. Before a design rolls into manufacturing, before it even progresses from concept to the initial phases of the design process, there are questions that must be answered. Product application, operating environment, and its expected lifecycle are three primary pieces of information you must have to create a successful design. Many factors need to come together in the design. It's not just throwing components on a printed writing board. Understanding your product’s end operating environment also dictates the best processes to use in manufacturing. These are things that must be considered and communicated when creating the design.
To continue reading this interview, which originally appeared in the January 2026 I-Connect007 Magazine, click here.
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