It's Only Common Sense: Leveraging AI in Your Sales Strategy
Dan’s Biz Bookshelf: 'Hidden Potential: The Science of Achieving Greater Things'
Trouble in Your Tank: Minimizing Small-via Defects for High-reliability PCBs
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Wisdom From Data-center Power Pioneer Mike Mosman
Few engineers have moved the levers of modern electronics more decisively than Mike Mosman. From the pre-email computer rooms of the 1980s to today’s hyperscale campuses cranking out AI cycles, the retired power engineer and co-founder of CCG Facilities Integration has spent four decades proving that uptime is a design discipline, not a hope.
Labor Day: U.S. Federal Holiday
Today is Labor Day, a U.S. federal holiday that Americans celebrate on the first Monday of September each year. This marks the 131st anniversary of the holiday. In 1887, Oregon was the first state to make Labor Day an official holiday. In 1894, after the Pullman Strike, Congress passed a bill that recognized Labor Day as a federal holiday, and President Grover Cleveland signed the bill into law.
I-Connect007 Editor’s Choice: Five Must-Reads for the Week
This week, we bring you Global Electronics Association’s Chris Mitchell’s government relations column on—you guessed it—trade deals. TTM is balancing its facilities between East and West. The Global Electronics Association released July numbers for North American PCB shipments, and the news is good. Meanwhile, the corresponding report for EMS might seem like bad news, but that’s misleading. Be sure to look deeper for the rest of the story. Finally, for a bit space-science palate cleansing, I’m sharing news of the latest launch of NASA’s X-37B.
Mastering PCB Floor Planning
Placement of PCB components is far more than just fitting components onto a board. It’s a strategic and critical foundational step, often called “floor planning,” that profoundly impacts the board’s performance, reliability, manufacturability, and cost. Floor planning ties into the solvability perspective, with performance and manufacturability being the other two competing perspectives for addressing and achieving success in PCB design.
Coming Soon: The Advanced Electronics Packaging Digest
The upcoming Advanced Electronics Packaging Digest is a curated, condensed monthly publication designed to keep you informed and engaged with the fast-moving world of advanced electronics packaging (AEP). In our inaugural September issue, we will begin at the foundation with an in-depth interview featuring Matt Kelly, CTO of the Global Electronics Association. Kelly and his Technology Solutions Team approach advanced packaging from a holistic systems perspective.
Partnerships Drive Innovation for a Brighter Manufacturing Future
When Schweitzer Engineering Laboratories (SEL) opened its greenfield facility in 2023, it did so with careful attention to choosing its suppliers. In this discussion, Collin Peters, electronics business director for North America at MKS’ Atotech, and Justin Kennedy, manager of engineering at SEL, explore their unique partnership that includes collaborative efforts to develop innovative solutions like the Uniplate® PLBCu6 line.
TTM Technologies: Bridging East and West with Strategic Expansion
As global supply chains shift and demand for supply chain resiliency grows, TTM Technologies is expanding with purpose: bolstering its U.S. presence while maintaining a strong footprint in Asia. With recent moves in Wisconsin and Malaysia, the company is positioning itself to better support customers amid an evolving geopolitical landscape. In this interview, President and CEO of TTM Technologies Tom Edman discusses TTM’s expansion strategy, the future of manufacturing, and his planned retirement after his long tenure at the helm of the company.
I-Connect007 Editor's Choice: Five Must-Reads for the Week
In this week’s roundup, we have a variety of articles covering design, manufacturing, sustainability, and, of course, tariff negotiations. We have a milestone anniversary to celebrate as well, with Dan Beaulieu about to publish his 1,000th column. When does Dan even sleep? Here’s to hoping that we have 1,000 more weeks of "It’s Only Common Sense."
Lessons From a Thousand Columns: Dan Beaulieu on Writing, Selling, and Staying the Course
For 20 years, Dan Beaulieu has been a steady voice in sales and marketing, offering weekly columns that challenge, inspire, and guide professionals in the electronics industry and beyond. Soon, he will reach a remarkable milestone—his 1,000th It’s Only Common Sense weekly column. In this Q&A, we look behind the scenes of Dan’s writing journey, exploring what has kept him motivated, the lessons he’s learned along the way, and how two decades of weekly columns have shaped his career and the industry conversation.
SEL: Revolutionizing PCB Production Through MES, Partnerships, and Vision
Two years ago, we visited Schweitzer Engineering Laboratories (SEL) to better understand its new captive greenfield PCB facility. We recently returned, this time to discuss how this bold vision has transformed the industry. Barry Matties met with John Hendrickson, engineering director, and Jessi Hall, vice president of vertical integration, to discuss the transformative capabilities of Factory Core, SEL’s custom manufacturing execution system (MES), which allows for real-time monitoring of workflow and machine performance, and has led to impressive improvements in quality and cost efficiency.
How Good Design Enables Sustainable PCBs
Sustainability has become a key focus for PCB companies seeking to reduce waste, conserve energy, and optimize resources. While many discussions on sustainability center around materials or energy-efficient processes, PCB design is an often overlooked factor that lies at the heart of manufacturing. Good design practices, especially those based on established IPC standards, play a central role in enabling sustainable PCB production. By ensuring designs are manufacturable and reliable, engineers can significantly reduce the environmental impact of their products.
The Power Shift in U.S. Manufacturing Ownership
The U.S. manufacturing landscape is driven by reshoring initiatives, supply chain realignments, and a surge of foreign interest. What does that mean for U.S.-based PCB and EMS companies? In this interview, mergers and acquisitions expert Tom Kastner breaks down the forces reshaping the industry—why foreign investors are eager to enter the U.S. market, why many are evaluating greenfield facilities over acquisitions, and why the high-mix, low-volume focus of most domestic shops doesn’t always align with foreign buyers’ goals.
Inventing the Future: An Interview with Dr. Ed Schweitzer
Dr. Edmund O. Schweitzer III, founder of Schweitzer Engineering Laboratories (SEL), has a corner office in the company’s world headquarters in Pullman, Washington. Forty-two years after his SEL-21—the first microprocessor-based digital protective relay—ushered in a new era of power-system protection, he has forever changed the way the world safeguards its electric grids. In this three-hour conversation, Dr. Schweitzer reveals that he remains excited to get to work each day, unpacking the “better, cheaper, faster, simpler” mantra that’s still driving SEL’s innovation, and the culture glue that keeps more than 7,000 employee-owners rowing in unison.
Hall of Fame Spotlight Series: Highlighting Jerry Siegmund
The Raymond E. Pritchard Hall of Fame (HOF) Award has been awarded to those who have contributed significantly to the Global Electronics Association (formerly known as IPC) and our industry. Though many early HOF members have passed away and are unknown to today’s membership, their contributions still resonate. This special series on Hall of Fame members provides a reminder of who was honored and why.
I-Connect007 Editor’s Choice: Five Must-Reads for the Week
In our industry, my top reads include Prashant Patel’s overview and argument for reshoring, which I found to be a great general overview and breakdown. In further support of the onshoring/reshoring message, I’m highlighting Nolan Johnson’s interview on the survey and report by the Reshoring Initiative. Check out my interview with USPAE’s Jim Will on the state of the flat panel display (FPD) industry and the risks associated with it for U.S. defense and critical infrastructure products.
The Art and Science of PCB Floor Planning: A Comprehensive Guide
PCB design is an intricate and crucial part of developing electronic products. One of the foundational stages of PCB design is floor planning, a phase where the placement of components and the flow of signals are meticulously mapped out. A good floor plan ensures that the PCB performs well, is easy to manufacture, and meets all mechanical and electrical requirements. We’ll explore the essential aspects of floor planning, from its objectives and process to the challenges that designers face.
A Passion for PCB Prototypes: Accurate Circuit Engineering—'Good People Doing Something They Love'
Founded in 1983, Accurate Circuit Engineering (ACE) in Santa Ana, California, is a PCB prototype manufacturer and industry leader in radio frequency (RF) and microwave boards. It started as a family company and still adheres to those values by knowing its staff well and tailoring work and education to encourage them to stay at the company. “ACE is good people doing something they love,” says James Hofer, director of operations. “I am passionate about what I do, and ACE allows me to pursue that passion."
COVID, Tough Sales, and What Made Me a Better Salesperson
Before 2020, we approached sales differently. A persistent, gritty salesperson could approach businesses daily without an appointment. They would often be turned away, but sometimes, they would be given a shot. Then, in March 2020, the COVID-19 pandemic became official, and things started to shut down. When we finally came back, everything had changed, creating an impenetrable barrier for outside salespeople.
I-Connect007 Editor’s Choice: Five Must-Reads for the Week
If you’ve been watching the news lately, you might be tempted to opine, “What’s going on here?” In this week’s must-reads, we have a wrap-up of the latest news about U.S. tariffs with Asia, and columnist Tom Yang explains why some PCB fabrication business should remain in China. We also have a piece that examines the unprecedented growth that green manufacturing is expected to see over the next four years.
Materials and Manufacturing for the AI Era: The Next PCB Frontier
AI is pushing hardware to its limits, and the bottleneck isn’t design anymore—it’s materials. Next-generation AI servers aren’t just heavier on layer counts. They demand better materials to handle the speed, heat, and signal integrity requirements of 400G, 800G, and even 1.6T Ethernet systems. Many server motherboards are already 32–36 layers. For the next wave of 1.6T-capable boards, expect 40–50 layers, which must maintain high-frequency performance without degrading signal quality.
Inside the AI Hardware Boom: Servers, Substrates and Advanced Packaging
AI is rewriting the hardware playbook, marrying complex software and algorithms to run and improve machine and equipment operations. Sorting through, managing, and utilizing massive amounts of data takes tremendous data storage and processing power. Enter the new generation of supercomputers and data servers. The data servers being built today are not your momma’s server, as they say.
AI Is the Golden Track Reviving Electronics and PCBs
Remember 2021? Despite COVID, the electronics industry hit a high. Then came the slide. By 2023, the industry was deep in the red. With inflation, policy shifts, and exchange rate shocks, the problems were long, and the outlook was bleak. Recovery finally appeared in 2024, but it was fragile. Automotive electronics slumped, wireless demand stayed soft, and the ride up was anything but smooth. Yet, amid the uncertainty, one bright track emerged: artificial intelligence (AI).
UHDI Fundamentals: UHDI Technology and Industry 4.0
Ultra high density interconnect (UHDI) technology is rapidly transforming how smart systems are designed and deployed in Industry 4.0. With its capacity to support highly miniaturized, high-performance, and densely packed electronics, UHDI is a critical enabler of the smart, connected, and automated industrial future. This article explores the synergy between UHDI and Industry 4.0 technologies, highlighting applications, benefits, and future directions.
Advancing Electrolytic Copper Plating for AI-driven Package Substrates
The 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.
I-Connect007 Editor’s Choice: Five Must-Reads for the Week
We start with the latest report from the Global Electronics Association: North American PCB sales are down 8.6% in June. That might sound grim, but keep reading—there’s more to the story. Bookings are holding steady, and Dr. Shawn DuBravac offers context that paints a more balanced picture. Next, we turn our gaze to India, where mobile phone exports have surged 127-fold over the past decade. That stat alone says volumes about India’s emergence as a force in electronics manufacturing, something we’ll be digging into more deeply in an upcoming SMT007 feature.
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