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IPC Standards Released for Q2 2026

Each quarter, the Global Electronics Association releases a list of standards that are new or have been updated. To view a complete list of newly published standards and standards revisions, translations, proposed standards for ballot, final drafts for industry review, working drafts, and project approvals, visit electronics.org/ipc-standards. These are the latest releases for Q2 2026.

I-Connect007 Editor’s Choice: Five Must-Reads for the Week

Another week has flown by, and it’s time for the must-read articles and news highlights. This week, I’m putting a spotlight on FUJI PCB and FS Quality, through an interview by Dan Beaulieu with President Tianming Liu, and “the rest of the story” from the EIPC Summer Conference technical sessions. I’m also focusing on a new marketing book by Brittany Martin, and there’s rarely a week when we don’t talk about AI, so I also chose Sean Patterson’s most recent practical advice for PCB fabricators. Though the U.S. has placed a “stay” on CMMC Level 2 certification, it’s still coming for you and your business. If you work in the Mil/Aero space in the U.S., check out what Omega EMS has done to accelerate its compliance. Their wisdom may be worth your time.

The True Cost of Rework: Integrating RMAs and Rework into Core Business Processes

Returns and rework are a reality for every manufacturer. Most companies can authorize an RMA. Fewer have the process or vehicles for carrying it through receiving, quality, production, shipping, and accounting. RMAs and rework can have a significant impact on the top and bottom line. Credits and refunds reduce revenue. Repair adds cost to a product already built and takes capacity away from new, revenue-producing work. Poor execution also puts customer relationships at risk, which is everything in contract manufacturing.

Omega EMS Advances Toward CMMC Level 2 Certification

In June, Omega EMS announced its intention to achieve CMMC Level 2 before the U.S. Department of Defense’s mandatory November 2026 implementation timeline for organizations handling Controlled Unclassified Information (CUI). We caught up with Omega EMS CEO Chris Alessio to discuss the company’s certification journey, the investment required, and what CMMC means for Omega’s military and aerospace business. Note: The DoD has suspended its November requirement pending a 60-day review.

EIPC Summer Conference 2026: Technical Presentations Tell the Rest of the Story

In early June, the EIPC Summer Conference in Vilnius, Lithuania, featured an impressive group of speakers ranging from PCB suppliers and technical experts to startups and robotics OEMs, the latter of which added a “cool factor” to the meeting’s ambiance with a fully operational, interactive humanoid. After some early coverage of the event, I’m now following up with key takeaways from many of the technical presentations. I regret that I could not cover all speakers in detail, but this will give you a good taste of what you missed in Lithuania in June.

CMMC 2.0: The Defense Supply Chain’s Next Qualification Requirement

The U.S. Department of Defense’s Cybersecurity Maturity Model Certification (CMMC) program has finally moved from concept to contract language. Cybersecurity compliance for companies hoping to participate in the defense supply chain is now a prerequisite for doing business, right alongside AS9100, ITAR, Nadcap, and IPC standards. For years, many organizations have self-attested to cybersecurity compliance. Unfortunately, a series of high-profile cyber incidents demonstrated that self-attestation didn’t always translate into effective implementation. Sensitive information would leak through vulnerabilities in the Defense Industrial Base (DIB), often via suppliers and subcontractors.

Advanced Packaging, Materials Characterization, and System Integration: What’s Ahead in the Advanced Electronics Packaging Digest

The August issue of Advanced Electronics Packaging Digest explores how advanced packaging is reshaping semiconductor innovation through better materials characterization, heterogeneous integration (HI), workforce education, and system-level design. Together, these features examine the technologies and engineering decisions driving the next generation of electronic systems.

I-Connect007 Editor’s Choice: Five Must-Reads for the Week

Are you familiar with the “locus of control," which describes how much we believe our actions can change the outcome of our lives? Internal locus of control, for example, is the belief that our actions greatly shape our outcomes; external locus of control holds that external forces have a greater influence than our actions on how our lives play out. How we view our own locus of control can strongly influence how we respond to the world, perhaps even creating a self-fulfilling prophecy situation. The news has taken a more languid pace this week. Not so, however, for our intrepid band of I-Connect007 columnists, who thoughtfully tackle some chunky locus of control topics.

3 Key Takeaways: Design for Test Starts Long Before the First Test

Design for test has traditionally been viewed as the last checkpoint before a product enters production. Bert Horner's The Printed Circuit Assembler's Guide to... Design for Test challenges that thinking. In his book, he argues that testability should influence every stage of PCB and CCA development, from the first schematic through layout, manufacturing, inspection, and long-term product support. The result is a practical guide that connects engineering decisions with measurable manufacturing outcomes.

USMCA Rules of Origin for Electronics: What Could Change in 2026

In my first article on the USMCA, I explained why the USMCA six-year review matters to the electronics industry and where the negotiations currently stand. Now I want to get under the hood, because the most consequential changes for electronics manufacturers are in the rules of origin, the technical framework that determines whether your product gets duty-free treatment under USMCA. Free trade agreements don't just lower tariffs; they also determine what counts as an “originating” product.

SMTA Bright Manufacturing Challenge Enters Its Second Year With 30 Teams

SMTA’s second annual Bright Manufacturing Challenge kicked off July 1 and will end at SMTAI in October as college students from 30 teams (nearly double from the first year) compete to build a robot from the design to fabrication to assembly. Finalists will watch as the robots they built race for the first-place award. SMTA’s Tara Dunn talks about the program and this year’s challenge, what they’ve learned, and how excited the students are to be involved.

I-Connect007 Editor’s Choice: Five Must-Reads for the Week

When I first came to the electronics industry, I was coming from the outside. Over time, I learned that this is not an industry that can be understood from just one angle. What happens in design affects manufacturing. Material choices affect reliability. Supply chain decisions influence business strategy, and advances in technology create new challenges and opportunities throughout the entire ecosystem. That complexity is one of the things I appreciate most about covering this industry. Each week, I’m reminded that there is always another layer to explore.

August SMT007 Magazine: Cybersecurity Remains a Business Imperative

Although the Department of Defense recently suspended its planned rollout of mandatory third-party CMMC certification while it reviews the program, cybersecurity expectations across the defense supply chain remain firmly in place. This issue of SMT007 Magazine explores why manufacturers continue investing in stronger security, what CMMC Level 2 certification involves, and how leading EMS companies are navigating the process.

SMTLINK in the Evolution of Mexico's Electronics Industry

For years, Mexico’s competitive advantage was largely associated with manufacturing capacity, geographic proximity to the United States, and cost efficiency. While those factors remain important, success increasingly depends on a broader set of capabilities: engineering expertise, workforce development, process reliability, automation, and supply chain resilience.

Keeping Electronic Component Recovery and Reuse Closer to Home

Over the past several years, electronics manufacturers have been forced to rethink what supply chain resilience really means. Shortages, extended lead times, allocation pressures, obsolescence, and price volatility have exposed the limits of a procurement strategy built on the assumption that new components will always be available when needed. However, even when parts can be sourced, they may come with unacceptable lead times, inflated spot-market pricing, or concerns around authenticity and traceability.

Beyond PDFs: The Next Generation of Electronics Compliance

Why should electronics manufacturers care about the new IPC Supplier Declaration Standards? Because compliance with global government regulations means manufacturers are expected to collect, verify, and exchange unprecedented amounts of supply chain data, often across hundreds of suppliers and thousands of components. Even more, it must be managed and exchanged efficiently, accurately, and at scale. Yet many engineers, supply chain professionals, compliance managers, and purchasing teams still rely on spreadsheets, PDFs, and manual processes that were never designed to operate at today's scale.

I-Connect007 Editor’s Choice: Five Must-Reads for the Week

In this week’s top five must-reads, I chose articles that go from big business questions (to diversify or not), to important technical issues such as DFM errors made in creating HDI designs using ELIC and design for test, to a discussion around some of the power and thermal considerations in advanced packaging, and the fact that they are now, firmly, performance enablers, not after-the-fact elements to be managed in fabrication.

Circularity for a Resilient Supply Chain, PFAS, and More

As governments around the world take a closer look at PFAS and other sustainability issues, electronics manufacturers face an increasingly complex regulatory landscape. In part 2 of this interview, Dr. Diana Radovan, sustainability policy director at the Global Electronics Association, shares insights on emerging PFAS policies, circularity efforts, and the global conversations shaping the industry's future.

Beyond Recycling: A Circularity Approach for a Truly Resilient Electronics Supply Chain

Dr. Diana Radovan, director of sustainability policy and sustainability advocacy lead at the Global Electronics Association, has been at the center of some of the electronics industry's most consequential policy discussions, from the European Parliament in Brussels to sustainability summits in Germany and circularity conferences across Europe. With the European Union's landmark Circular Economy Act moving closer to reality and updates to PFAS regulations, she has been ensuring that the voice of the electronics industry is heard. In this interview, she discusses what's coming, why it matters, why true circularity extends far beyond recycling, and what policymakers still need to do to enable it.

Meet the Author Podcast: Bert Horner on Design for Test

I-Connect007 is pleased to announce the release of Episode 7 of the “Meet the Author” podcast, featuring Bert Horner, president of TTCI, discussing his new book, The Printed Circuit Assembler's Guide to... Design for Test. In this conversation with Nolan Johnson, Horner explores what he calls the "Butterfly Effect" of Design for Test (DFT): Decisions made early in the design process can significantly influence manufacturing success, product reliability, and long-term profitability.

Electronics Hiring Is a Precision Problem

Manufacturers across the electronics industry continue to report the same challenge: How do I find qualified people? At first glance, this appears to be a labor shortage, but the data reveals a more nuanced story. According to Deloitte and The Manufacturing Institute, the U.S. manufacturing sector will need approximately 3.8 million new workers between 2024 and 2033. Without significant improvements in workforce development and recruitment, an estimated 1.9 million of those positions could go unfilled.

I-Connect007 Editor’s Choice: Five Must-Reads for the Week

The Pentagon’s announcement on Tuesday that CMMC certification is being immediately suspended is the big news of the week. We’ve been covering the CMMC journey since the beginning, and we’ll stick with the story for the duration. If you’ve followed my list of must-reads, you know that I’m always interested in semiconductor news, and this week had a few good ones. I’ll mention them here, and urge you to read the entire stories: Apple adds to the recent Intel fab agreement by adding to its U.S.-based design and manufacturing agreement with Broadcom; Micron is investing $3 billion to the U.S. semiconductor ecosystem; and Intel announces a 5 billion euro investment in European infrastructure.

Ionic Contamination Debate Highlights Growing Divide in Automotive Electronics

A recent Global Electronics Association panel discussion revealed both broad agreement and sharp differences regarding one of electronics manufacturing’s most persistent reliability questions: How clean is clean enough? The discussion, focused on ionic contamination assessment in electronic control unit (ECU) manufacturing, brought together the following experts:  Tim Dietz from Ford Motor Company, Dr. Lothar Henneken from Robert Bosch, Eric Camden from Foresite, Hubertus Mertens from MKS’ Atotech, Doug Pauls from It Depends Electronics, and Stan Rak from SF Rak Company, as moderator. While everyone agreed that contamination control is essential for long-term reliability, panelists differed significantly on whether ion chromatography (IC) should play a larger role in production acceptance and process control.

Mycronic's Setup Optimization Genetics

At Mycronic, Robert Helleday, head of R&D, and Göran Frank, head of Product Management, are quick to clarify that setup optimization is “in our DNA at Mycronic.” That’s important because, in electronics manufacturing, every minute of machine downtime directly impacts productivity, profitability, and responsiveness to customer demand. As product lifecycles shorten and high-mix, low-volume production becomes the norm, manufacturers are under increasing pressure to reduce setup times, accelerate changeovers, and improve material flow without sacrificing quality or traceability.

3 Key Takeaways: A New Approach to Die Topside Interconnection

Every advance in power electronics places new demands on semiconductor packaging. As manufacturers push for greater power density, improved thermal management, and smaller form factors, even long-established interconnection methods deserve a fresh look. In its latest white paper, MacDermid Alpha Electronics Solutions examines how a sinter-ready copper foil solution could simplify die topside interconnection while improving performance.

Power Delivery, AI Infrastructure, and Materials Innovation: What’s Ahead in the Next Issue of Advanced Electronics Packaging Digest

The upcoming issue of Advanced Electronics Packaging Digest examines three areas where packaging technology is increasingly defining system performance: power delivery for AI accelerators, the rapid expansion of AI data centers, and the growing importance of substrate materials in high-reliability electronics. Together, these features explore how packaging decisions influence performance, reliability, and long-term scalability across the electronics ecosystem.

A Roadmap to Faster SMT Changeovers

The top-performing EMS providers—Jabil, Flex, Sanmina, Benchmark, Zollner, and Asteelflash—consistently focus on a foundational Lean manufacturing methodology known as SMED (single-minute exchange of die) to reduce equipment setup and changeover times to under 10 minutes. The four SMED pillars: Offline feeder preparation, Feeder cart exchange systems, Barcode/MES verification, and Dedicated setup technicians. These four changes alone typically deliver 60–80% of total achievable setup time reduction before more advanced automation is even considered.

Meet the Author Podcast: Exploring the Growing Role of UV Curable Conformal Coatings with Dow

UV curable conformal coatings are gaining momentum for good reason. Faster processing, simplified manufacturing, and improved reliability have made the technology an attractive option for electronics manufacturers looking to improve production without sacrificing performance. In the latest Meet the Author podcast from I-Connect007, Managing Editor Nolan Johnson welcomes Brian J. Chislea and Cody Schoener, PhD, of Dow, Inc. to discuss their new book, The Printed Circuit Designer's Guide to... UV Curable Conformal Coatings.

Follow the Story: How to Increase Your Supply Chain Intelligence

For years, supply chain management was largely about efficiency: securing materials, managing inventory, and delivering products on time. Today, it's much more complex. First, AI is reshaping demand forecasting and materials sourcing. We also feel the impact of trade policies on manufacturing decisions, and government advocacy efforts are shaping the business environment for electronics companies worldwide. Understanding these forces and how they connect is becoming a competitive advantage.

I-Connect007 Editor’s Choice: Five Must-Reads for the Week

This week, I’ve been enjoying time with all my young adult children and our 2-year-old grandson. He is a bundle of energy, curiosity, opinions, and above all else, joy. Little children are constant reminders to stop and appreciate all the beauties of life in their most simplest form. I think that’s one reason Dan Beaulieu’s column this week resonated with me so much. Life is serious, business is serious, solving problems is serious. But how we approach these parts of our lives matters. Dan reminds us that we can do important work with joy. Strong businesses recognize that culture is a strategic asset, not a nice-to-have. People perform better when they find purpose and satisfaction in what they do.

How Faster Changeovers Unlock Production Capacity

Traditionally, EMS companies have focused their continuous improvement efforts on machine speeds, placement accuracy, yield enhancement, and labor productivity. Yet across much of the industry, one of the largest contributors to lost capacity remains largely hidden in plain sight. We’re talking, of course, about setup time optimization. High-mix production is increasing even as product lifecycles shrink, meaning changeovers occur more frequently than ever, resulting in a proportionally larger amount of time lost to setup activities. Inefficient setup processes cost hundreds of hours of annual production capacity, and this lost time can mean the difference between a modest profit and self-funded company expansion.

ERP, Automation, and Maturity: A Systems Framework for Manufacturers

One unique opportunity for ERP consultants is to see how manufacturers operate. They can see how businesses adopt, stretch, patch, or replace systems to manage growth, customer requirements, inefficiency, or pressure on the bottom line. The insight is important to what business maturity looks like. ERP matters because it becomes the foundation for shared processes and data. It organizes how information moves, departments interact, work is measured, and how well an SMB manufacturer can scale.

Our Offices Are Closed Today in Observance of Independence Day

This year's celebration is especially meaningful as the United States marks its 250th anniversary, a milestone that recognizes two and a half centuries since the Signing of the Declaration of Independence in 1776. While the official national semiquincentennial is being commemorated throughout this anniversary year, today offers an opportunity to reflect on the ideals that have shaped the country and inspire its future.

I-Connect007 Editor’s Choice: Five Must-Reads for the Week

Today is a holiday in the U.S., the 250th anniversary of the signing of the Declaration of Independence, the document that launched the 13 British colonies on the path to becoming an independent country. The news, however, continues regardless of the day or the country being celebrated. Here are my top picks for the week. This week, I’m drawing attention to three news items on the shifting component supply chain balance. I’ve also selected the July issue of SMT007 Magazine on setup time optimization, and Steph Chavez’s column on digital twins.

July SMT007 Magazine Focuses on Setup Optimization

The fastest way to improve your uptime is by reducing setup time. That means transforming setup from a machine-centered activity into a logistics-centered process where materials, feeders, programs, and tooling arrive at the line fully validated before the previous job ends. The result is faster changeovers, less labor waste, and greater efficiency through single-minute exchange of die (SMED). In the July 2026 issue of SMT007 Magazine, we examine how manufacturers are applying SMED principles to reduce downtime, increase throughput, and improve overall equipment effectiveness.

Interlocking Material Management and Quality

Cogiscan’s Greg Benoit recently published a white paper series on material tracking in the EMS sector, in which he argues that achieving a fully integrated MES infrastructure requires more than a software package to make the system work at its best. In this interview, Greg discusses the white paper series in more depth. You can download the two-part Cogiscan white paper, Strategies for Efficient Material Management in Circuit Board Assembly, from our Industry Resource Center.

Book Excerpt: The Printed Circuit Designer’s Guide to... UV Curable Conformal Coatings, Chapter 3

Qualifying conformal coatings ensures electronic assemblies remain reliable, safe, and durable in harsh environments. Standards such as IPC-CC-830, MIL, IEC, and UL verify performance. Unqualified coatings risk failure, electrical breakdown, recalls, and safety hazards. Rigorous qualification protects product integrity, customer safety, and brand reputation.

I-Connect007 Editor’s Choice: Five Must-Reads for the Week

Amid AI, automation, advanced manufacturing, and an increasingly uncertain global business climate, our industry is moving at an electric pace. My must-reads for this week explore some of the ideas and technologies that help us keep up with so much change. Tom Kastner reminds us why staying focused may be one of the most valuable business skills, especially when navigating mergers and acquisitions. From Lithuania, robotics expert Aurelijus Beleckis makes a compelling case that automation is no longer just about ROI; it may be the key to long-term survival...

Balancing Performance, Cost, and Reliability When Selecting a Cleaning Machine

Even the most advanced cleaning chemistry requires an effective delivery system, so selecting the appropriate cleaning machine is crucial. Cleaning equipment must do far more than simply wash boards. As assemblies move toward lower standoff heights, finer pitches, and increasingly complex geometries, the equipment must deliver chemistry into confined spaces, reliably remove contamination, rinse thoroughly, and dry completely, all while balancing throughput, operating costs, and long-term reliability requirements.

Right-sizing Silver: An Application-driven Approach to Engineering Reliability

Rising cost pressure and metals market uncertainty are prompting manufacturers to rethink alloy composition to balance total cost of ownership, process yield, and mechanical performance. Solder alloy selection directly influences cost structure, process stability, and long‑term reliability in electronics assembly. As manufacturing scales and product requirements advance, these decisions are increasingly revisited with a more focused objective: aligning materials with how products are built, processed, and used in real‑world conditions.

I-Connect007 Editor’s Choice: Five Must-Reads for the Week

Why do so many students who begin college intending to pursue STEM careers ultimately change direction? According to research highlighted by Malcolm Gladwell, the answer often has less to do with ability than perseverance. That spirit of continuous learning is reflected in my must-reads for the week, from major industry investments and policy developments to conferences, publications, and tools designed to help engineers improve their craft. Be sure to read the June issues of I-Connect007 Magazine and the Advanced Electronics Packaging Digest, which both published this week. They serve as a reminder that innovation depends not only on technology, but also on the people willing to keep learning and growing throughout their careers.

EPTAC: The ‘Ivy League’ of High-tech Training

It’s been an exciting time for EPTAC, an IPC training and certification center based in Salem, New Hampshire, which recently opened a new state-of-the-art training facility to much fanfare. To help celebrate this accomplishment, we spoke with some key individuals who tell the story of what truly makes EPTAC successful. For over 35 years, EPTAC has built a reputation as a leading provider of IPC training and certification for the electronics manufacturing industry.

Dry Ice Blasting Offers Alternative Cleaning Method

Cleanliness is a critical factor in the production of every electronic component, from wafer fabrication to final product assembly. Unclean surfaces and parts can ruin entire batches of products, negatively affecting product performance, production yield rates, and overall operational costs. Any lapse in production quality or excessive downtime can be detrimental to an electronics manufacturing facility.

I-Connect007 Editor’s Choice: Five Must-Reads for the Week

It’s nearly the summer solstice, and here in the Pacific Northwest, the changing of the seasons will be like walking through a door. This week, while it’s still spring, we’ve been trudging through daytime highs of barely 60°F (15°C) with weather cells bringing rain squalls, thunderstorms, or gale-force winds. Next week, just as we approach the start of Summer, we’ll be sweltering near 100°F (38°C). So, while I wear a jacket at my desk today, in just a few days I’ll be wearing summer gear. I take this as a gentle reminder to always plan for the short term and the long term simultaneously.

Rethinking Resilience: How Electronic Component Recovery Is Reshaping the Supply Chain

The first article in this series explored how semiconductor shortages exposed the fragility of global supply chains. But shortages are only one part of a broader challenge. The electronics supply chain has always been complex, but in recent years it has become something else entirely: unpredictable. From pandemic-driven disruptions to geopolitical tensions and sudden demand spikes, manufacturers have been forced to confront the hard truth that traditional sourcing strategies are no longer enough.

Getters, Thermal Management, and High-Reliability Packaging: What’s Ahead in the Next Issue of Advanced Electronics Packaging Digest

The upcoming issue of Advanced Electronics Packaging Digest explores several technologies shaping the future of advanced packaging, from maintaining stable environments inside hermetic packages to managing heat in increasingly complex 3D architectures. The issue also examines packaging innovations for aerospace, defense, and automotive applications, as well as broader connections between semiconductor interconnects and the systems they support.

50 Years of Successful SPEA Testing Solutions

SPEA is celebrating 50 years of test innovation, building on the vision of founder Luciano Bonaria, whose zero-failure philosophy continues to shape the company today. In this interview, Andrea Furnari, vice president of sales and marketing (based in Volpiano, Italy), and Dustin Warren, vice president and regional director (based in Dallas, Texas), reflect on that legacy while pointing to what’s next, from expanding global support to new developments in AI-driven test and high-performance platforms.

Why Cleanliness Is a Critical Reliability Driver

As electronic assemblies move toward higher functionality within smaller footprints, design density is increasing quickly. Fine-pitch components, multilayer architectures, and elevated power densities are now standard across industries ranging from automotive to medical and aerospace. While these advancements result in significant performance gains, they also introduce a less visible, but highly consequential, risk: contamination.

The USMCA Six-Year Review: Why Electronics Manufacturers Should Be Paying Attention

For most of the past five years, the U.S.–Mexico–Canada Agreement (USMCA) has been the workhorse of the North American electronics supply chain. It is the legal backbone that allows a PCB fabricated in Asia to be populated in Mexico, tested in Texas, and shipped to a Canadian OEM without anyone paying a tariff at any of the three borders. That arrangement is now up for review, and the outcome will matter to anyone in electronics manufacturing who depends on cross-border production.

I-Connect007 Editor’s Choice: Five Must-Reads for the Week

It’s Friday, the sun is out here in Arizona, and AI is on my mind (and always in the news). So, AI seems like a good place for me to focus this week. My first recommendation for this week is an article I wrote about the e-glass (and copper foil) shortage now plaguing laminate and PCB fabricators as a result of the global market’s very heavy focus on AI-related tech, hardware products, and supporting infrastructure.

Seeing a Problem, Building a Solution: The ChipHub Story

After more than three decades in the hardware industry, Aftab Farooqi knew one thing for certain: the way companies source semiconductors and components wasn’t working as well as it could. “I spent years at companies like Google and Amazon working in semiconductor sourcing,” he explains. “We were evaluating hundreds of thousands of components, with billions of dollars in spend, but the process was still incredibly manual and inefficient.”

Road to Reliability: The Foundational Technologies of Materials in EV Reliability

EV reliability is often discussed at the vehicle or system level, but many of the most persistent failures begin at the materials level. Semiconductor devices, ceramic substrates, die attach materials, wire bonds, clips, thermal interface materials, laminates, coatings, seals, and coolants define the electrical, thermal, and mechanical limits of the hardware. Once EV architectures move toward higher voltages, switching speeds, and power density, and longer service life, those materials are pushed harder, and small weaknesses can turn into large field problems

BOOK EXCERPT: The Printed Circuit Assembler’s Guide to...Design for Test, A Practical Guide to Test and Inspection, Chapter 1

Over the last two to three decades, the electronics industry has experienced a significant transformation. Circuit card assembly (CCA) and printed circuit board (PCB) design have become highly automated and digitized, allowing for faster development and increased design reuse. Engineers can now easily build on existing, proven architectures. Despite these advancements, one key area often falls behind: test and inspection.

Five Questions With… Sydney Xiao, President, East Asia Region, Global Electronics Association

AI infrastructure is reshaping the electronics industry, shifting demand from consumer products to high-performance computing systems and driving new opportunities and challenges across the global supply chain. In this edition of “Five Questions With…,” Sydney Xiao highlights the growing importance of talent development, supply chain resilience, collaboration, and standards as companies navigate rapid technological and geopolitical change.

Key Considerations When Selecting an Aqueous Cleaning Agent

Selecting the appropriate aqueous cleaning agent is one of the most consequential decisions in mitigating contamination risks in high-density designs. Highly dense electronic assemblies have introduced a new level of sensitivity to contamination. Reduced conductor spacing, bottom-terminated components, and elevated power densities significantly increase the risk that even minimal flux residues will lead to electrochemical migration, leakage currents, and long-term reliability failures.

My Trip to Schneider Electric: AI, Data, and the Need for More Power

AI is pushing power infrastructure to its limits, and many of those same challenges, particularly around power delivery and heat management, parallel what the electronics industry faces in building and scaling advanced microelectronics. Yet when it comes to AI and hardware, we typically only see a small piece of the total picture. So, when Schneider Electric invited me to tour a modern AI data center still under construction, I jumped at the opportunity. This became a fascinating technical journey I’m excited to share.

MacDermid Alpha Addresses Power Module Reliability Challenges at PCIM Europe 2026

MacDermid Alpha Electronics Solutions will exhibit at PCIM Europe 2026, June 9 - 11 in Nuremberg, Germany, Booth 7-460.

I-Connect007 Editor’s Choice: Five Must-Reads for the Week

This week’s picks all seem to circle around one bigger reality: The electronics industry is rebuilding itself in real time. Whether it’s investing in workforce development, reshaping manufacturing processes, modernizing how we communicate with readers, or strengthening domestic advocacy, there’s a noticeable shift from simply reacting to challenges toward actively building long-term infrastructure.

Apprenticeship Summit Highlights Electronics Workforce ‘Puzzle’

Last week, I had the opportunity to attend the 2026 Apprenticeships for America Summit in Washington, D.C., and it was both energizing and informative to be surrounded by so many leaders working to strengthen and scale apprenticeships across the country. The summit brought together employers, intermediaries, workforce leaders, educators, policy experts, and apprenticeship advocates to discuss some of the most important topics in our field

Three Key Takeaways on Material Management From Cogiscan’s Latest White Papers

Effective material management has become increasingly critical as PCB assembly operations face mounting pressure to improve efficiency, control costs, and maintain quality in complex manufacturing environments. To help electronics manufacturers navigate these challenges, Cogiscan has contributed two complementary white papers to the I-Connect007 Industry Resource Center, offering practical strategies for improving material visibility, traceability, and production performance.
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