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I-Connect007 Editor’s Choice: Five Must-Reads for the Week
November 26, 2021 | Nolan Johnson, I-Connect007Estimated reading time: 1 minute
If you’re in the United States like I am, and if you celebrated with a traditional Thanksgiving dinner, like my family did, then you just might have fallen asleep sitting up in a chair (or in my case, stretched out on the couch) and missed some of the highlights in the news this week. Never fear, I woke up early to bring the top five news items you should know for this week.
We have industry bookings and sales news from IPC, some news from the flex sector, an explanation of induction lamination from Happy Holden, and two different takes on “sustainability.”
North American PCB Industry Sales Up 6% in October
Published November 24
“PCB orders fell slightly in October but remain well above 2020 levels and are 2.3 percent higher than 2019 levels,” said Shawn DuBravac, IPC’s chief economist. Check out the rest of the numbers here.
All Flex Discusses Merger and New Medical Applications
Published November 19
Jamin Taylor sat down with I-Connect007 at a recent technical conference to discuss the All Flex/Printed Circuits merger, as well as some new creative flex applications.
Happy's Tech Talk #2: Induction Lamination
Published November 23
If you thought the lamination process could never change, then think again. In Happy Holden’s second installment of the Tech Talk series, Happy details the induction lamination process. Read on to learn all about this new technology.
Foxconn Shared the Best Practices of Green Chemistry
Published November 22
With the business formula “Sustainability=EPS+ESG,” Foxconn begins to implement the U.N.’s SDGs (sustainable development goals), with an end goal of "responsible production.” Read more about how Foxconn is prioritizing sustainability.
Happy 99th Birthday to Harvey Miller!
Published November 23
Still active in the industry at 99 years old, the I-Connect007 staff is looking forward to the possibility that we’ll see Harvey in San Diego come January. Click through to find our 2016 interiew with Harvey, titled “What a Long, Strange Trip it’s Been—and It’s a Long Way from Being Over.”
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SMTAI 2025 Review: Reflecting on a Pragmatic and Forward-looking Industry
10/27/2025 | Marcy LaRont, I-Connect007Leaving the show floor on the final afternoon of SMTA International last week in Rosemont, Illinois, it was clear that the show remains a grounded, technically driven event that delivers a solid program, good networking, and an easy space to commune with industry colleagues and meet with customers.
Come Together: Tom Marktscheffel Used Data to Build CFX and a Global Factory Standard
10/27/2025 | Sandy Gentry, Community MagazineWhen Tom Marktscheffel, director of product management software solutions at ASMPT, looks back on his nearly three decades in electronics manufacturing, one word stands out: data. “Data is the new gold,” he says. Without it, automation, artificial intelligence, and the factory of the future are impossible. With it, the industry can move from manual, error-prone processes to smart, connected systems that make real-time decisions.
Simplifying Software Integration for Every Factory
10/22/2025 | Nolan Johnson, SMT007 MagazineAs a leading provider of factory digitalization solutions for electronics manufacturers, Cogiscan is at the heart of the software integration process. Davina McDonnell, director of marketing and product management, discusses how Cogiscan ensures that customers are ready to integrate and what it looks for to ensure a quick and appropriate installation.
MES Software Tools Need Thoughtful Integration
10/21/2025 | Nolan Johnson, SMT007 MagazineThe Global Electronics Association recently published a survey report on the state of EMS production software. This project, led by Thiago Guimaraes, director of industry intelligence, connects the dots across the global electronics value chain to uncover practical insights that individual companies might not have seen on their own. In this interview, Thiago discusses the whys and hows of this report.
SEMICON West: The Path to a $1 Trillion Future
10/14/2025 | Marcy LaRont, I-Connect007After more than 50 years in San Francisco, SEMICON West moved its 2025 show to Phoenix, which is significant because it highlights the importance of Arizona as a semiconductor and tech hub. Though the show will be back in San Francisco in 2026, the overwhelmingly warm welcome SEMI received from Arizona Governor Katie Hobbs, Phoenix Mayor Kate Gallego, and ASU President Michael Crowe—who has been responsible for ASU repeatedly achieving the U.S. News and World Reports most innovative university ranking—was remarked upon repeatedly. All indications are that SEMICON West may well be back in Phoenix after that 2026 season.