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IPC Acquires Media Company I-Connect007, Strengthening Relationship to Drive Growth and Innovation in the Electronics Industry

IPC, a global electronics manufacturing industry association, has acquired media company I-Connect007, a global source for news and original content serving the printed circuit design, fabrication and assembly/EMS markets.

Balancing Talent and Procurement Challenges

Ron Preston, vice president of supply chain at Green Circuits, outlines the company’s specific challenges with high-mix work. While the company excels at turning around boards in just a few days, difficulties in supply chain, materials, and staffing remain ever-present. What is to be done and how is Green Circuits working its way through these issues? The answers might surprise you.

Solder Paste Printing and Optimizations for Interconnecting Back Contact Cells

The interdigitated back contact (IBC) is one of the methods to achieve rear contact solar cell interconnection. The contact and interconnection via rear side theoretically achieve higher efficiency by moving all the front contact grids to the rear side of the device. This results in all interconnection structures being located behind the cells, which brings two main advantages. First, there is no frontside shading of the cell by the interconnection ribbons, thus eliminating the need for trading off series resistance, losses for shading losses when using larger interconnection ribbons. Second, a more homogeneous looking frontside of the solar module enhances the aesthetics.

Optimizing Test Engineering Practices for High-Mix Electronics Manufacturing

For PCB and assembly manufacturers, test engineering has become a critical factor in enhancing the profitability of new product introductions (NPIs). Given the trend toward high-mix, low-volume production, the journey from design data to an automated PCB testing program must be quicker and more efficient than ever before. In this article, we will discuss how to optimize the efficiency of the test engineering process in accordance with these new market realities.

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

It’s always interesting how certain groups of news emerge in our most-read content. This week, reader interest seemed focused on two distinct themes: Mexico and awards. In this week’s list, we find the inaugural award recipients from iNEMI’s Project Leadership Awards. We also bring you the award recipients from the SEMI FlexTech conference held last week in San Francisco. News from Mexico includes a new Atotech facility, and an interview with IPC’s David Hernandez and Lorena Villanueva about IPC’s expanding presence in Mexico. Metcal’s new hot air rework system also got a lot of attention, with an abundance of reader interest.

How Important Is Trust?

If you work for a U.S. defense prime contractor, do you have concerns that the controlled unclassified information (CUI) for your printed circuit boards, your printed circuit board assemblies, and your cable and wire harnesses is safe? What about the design and the development process for your products? Is the controlled technical information (CTI) safe and protected? Are the suppliers that your company selected maintaining a quality system, a supply chain risk management process, a security system to protect products and services from unauthorized access, and a Chain of Custody policy for electronic and physical materials?

IPC Mexico Continues to Grow

IPC Mexico has been growing for the past few years, and it’s no wonder: Mexico has become a major hub in the world of PCB manufacturing, spurred in part by reshoring as companies pulled work back from China during the pandemic. As the country’s maquiladoras thrived, IPC began expanding the Mexican educational and training operations, and the group recently named Lorena Villanueva as director of IPC Mexico. Andy Shaughnessy and Barry Matties recently spoke with Lorena and IPC Vice President of Education David Hernandez about IPC Mexico’s growth, as well as the office’s plans to provide PCB manufacturers the training resources they need to succeed.

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

I’m getting a lot of out-of-office replies. Are you all on the beach now? It’s 91 degrees every day here in Atlanta lately, but each afternoon it rains like we’re in a horror movie, and that drops the temperature down to the subtropical arena. Still, I’ll take heat over freezing any day. Things are heating up in our industry too, as we see from my top five choices this week. First-quarter electronic design revenue is up year-on-year, but PCB revenue barely moved the needle YOY. Editor Nolan Johnson spent the week at SEMICON West and the FLEX Conference, and he brings us a review of these conferences, co-located at the Moscone Center in San Francisco. As he notes, printed electronic circuits are beginning to gain a foothold in the market.

Time to Get Serious About CMMC Readiness

Divyash Patel of MX2 Technology is a leading cybersecurity expert who’s sounding the alarm about getting your company into a state of readiness. But he’s not yelling fire in a theater. Whether it’s aligning with DoD’s CMMC, or just ensuring your company’s data and processes are protected, Divyash can see what’s coming. “This is a must-have compliance program,” he says. “It needs to be taken seriously and maintained.”

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

In more than one conversation while discussing the industry this week, the themes have included industry turmoil, lots of business opportunities, and the urgent need to build out to meet changing demands. In fact, our July issue of PCB007 Magazine, which publishes later this month, will focus on these very topics. It’s definitely one not to be missed! These themes also emerged in this week’s top five news items as well. Top stories include an acquisition in the soldering machinery space, sales and service expansion in Mexico, industry data from SIA on semiconductor global sales data, and strong financial numbers from two China-based manufacturers. Now, with the U.S. Congress putting its focus on the PCB industry, things could really heat up. It’s going to be an interesting year.

CMMC 2.0: Are You Ready?

Nolan Johnson discusses with Ryan Bonner of DEFCERT exactly where EMS companies should aim for CMMC certification and how to go about it. Organizations, he says, “need to avoid false dichotomies where they assume that either CMMC is a go or it’s not happening at all. All the government mandated reviews to keep CMMC moving forward, resulting in new contract clauses are already underway. The rule making is scheduled; it will happen.”

Anaya Vardya: An Advocate for Great Partnerships

We can’t have a solid issue about partnership without including Anaya Vardya, CEO of American Standard Circuits, who feels strongly that it’s time for electronics manufacturers to come together in a spirit of unity and put aside some of their competitive differences to create a more robust industry. For the past six years, Anaya has written in his monthly column about the advantages of working together for a common goal. We reviewed every column and curated our own top 10. We know you’ll agree with his sentiments. How have you seen this working in your factory?

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

The summer is heating up, and our news this week is on fire, literally. Eltek has resumed making deliveries after a fire at their facility in Petach-Tikva, Israel. There’s never a dull moment in this industry. And we have some good news: EIPC’s conferences are now live events again, and Editor Pete Starkey is back in the saddle, bringing us a review of the two-day conference. I know Pete was getting tired of sitting around his house and watching these events on video.

Partnership and Collaboration

Dan Beaulieu and Nolan Johnson recently had a conversation with Christopher Kalmus of Aurora Circuits and Brigitte Lawrence of Brigitflex. Joining them was Jeff Brandman of Aismalibar North America. The group discussed the value of partnerships, noting how it has helped them win and keep business. They also describe a recent project for an OEM manufacturer in the automotive industry that served as a case study for this discussion.

The U.S. Economy Needs the Bipartisan Innovation Act and the PCB Act

In this IPC-created interview between Dale Curtis, IPC Advocacy Communications and Chris Mitchell, IPC VP Global Government Relations, the importance of the semiconductor and PCB manufacturing legislation moving through US Congress is highlighted.

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

Market news was certainly big this week. While the U.S. stock market continues make some large swings, the PCB and PCBA are doing their own dance with the numbers. We’re still feeling the effects of the pandemic, but it seems to be more about playing catch up. Still, the industry is showing some instability, both in positive and negative ways.

Ventec’s Book on Thermal Management: The Summer Sequel You’ve Been Waiting For

I-Connect007 is excited to announce the release of the second title in Ventec’s series on thermal management, "The Printed Circuit Designer’s Guide to… Thermal Management with Insulated Metal Substrates, Volume 2." This second volume covers the latest developments in the field of thermal management, particularly in insulated metal substrates, using state-of-the-art products as examples, and focusing on specific solutions and enhanced properties of IMS.

Assemblers Play the ‘Revise or Wait’ Game With Designers

Nolan Johnson recently spoke with Duane Benson at Milwaukee Electronics and Screaming Circuits. Duane was pointing out a trend in moving designs into production, which he termed “revise or wait.” This excerpt provides a preview of our exploration of similar topics involving supply chain issues, lead times, and proceeding forward despite the supply challenges.

Clean Energy and Critical Minerals: The Dichotomy and Divergence

There has long been a battle between environmental groups and the mining industry. Environmental groups push for clean energy and net zero carbon initiatives while the U.S. mining industry is buried deeper and deeper under overly burdensome permitting processes and relentless lawsuits that halt exploration, construction, and clean production of critical minerals.

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

We’re still not officially into summer yet, but Atlanta is bringing the heat, baby! It’s hit 97 degrees a few times this week, and I now have a fan aimed right at my face. At least it’s nice and humid too. I’m glad I don’t wear make-up. And it’s been a hot week in the circuit board community. This week, Eltek reported a fire at a board shop in Israel, and Flex committed to building a 145,000-square-foor facility in Jalisco, Mexico to serve the electric and autonomous vehicle segment.

Mining for Metals Requires a Long View

Nolan Johnson talks with Shaun Dykes, a 50-year expert in the mining industry. Dykes gives a concise primer on mining development, and the amount of time and effort required to develop and supply the mineral resources we depend upon for the manufacture of printed circuit boards. There are many factors that play into when and where a mine is developed—and what can prevent a mine from ever producing minerals.

Review: Institute of Circuit Technology 2022 Annual Symposium

The British Motor Museum in Warwickshire, housing the world's largest collection of historic British cars, was venue for the 2022 Annual Symposium of the Institute of Circuit Technology on June 8, which attracted a substantial gathering of manufacturers and suppliers from the UK printed circuit industry. ICT chair Emma Hudson reflected upon lessons learned during the pandemic lock-down and how the industry has successfully adapted to circumstances. She commented that the UK’s PCB fabricators are extremely busy, as she introduced an outstanding conference programme including a keynote from the incomparable Happy Holden.

PCB Technologies' Subsidiary iNPACK to Exhibit at IMS Show

Jeff De Serrano, president of PCB Technologies USA, discusses the launch of their new company, iNPACK, which focuses on high-tech substrate technologies, microelectronics assembly, and electronics packaging. He details his plans to continue expanding InPack over the next year and to meet with customers and exhibit at the International Microwave Symposium Show in Denver June 19-24.

Social Responsibility and Ethics in Manufacturing

Customers, partners, and employees are increasingly moving toward companies that care about people and the environment and are no longer just about their economic profitability. Corporate social responsibility (CSR) has thus become essential, even in the manufacturing sector. CSR defines an organization's approach to sustainable development by considering the environmental, social, economic, and ethical issues of its activities.

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

PCB fabrication is back in the news this week and posting high readership numbers as well. Among the most-read news, we see industry leaders changing roles, capital equipment shipment milestones, operational cost efficiencies, and, last but not least, cybersecurity.

Book Excerpt: 'The Printed Circuit Assembler’s Guide to… Solder Defects'

Solder defects in surface-mount technology (SMT) assembly have been an issue for decades. Further, the combined challenges of Pb-free soldering and ever-increasing miniaturization have resulted in new or exacerbated defects in electronics assembly, but there are proven ways to avoid defects. This book will be especially beneficial to PCB assemblers in improving their assembly processes and the reliability of the end-product, eliminating field failures, and reducing costs.

The Double-edged Sword of CMMC 2.0

For the past few years, those whose SMT provider organizations supply or contract with the U.S. Department of Defense (DoD) have been hearing about—or even gearing up for—implementation of the Cybersecurity Maturity Model Certification program, better known as CMMC. By this, I mean that you were gearing up for CMMC 1.0. Today, we have CMMC 2.0, and there are a number of changes in the new version that impact both the standards for compliance and how you certify that compliance—especially if you run a small business.

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

Things are heating up in the world of PCB design and manufacturing as well. In the past week, we published quite a bit of news—some good, some not so good. Some of the news is mixed, as we see with the EMS industry shipments rising YOY in April, but falling from the previous month. It’s nice to see NASA investing in American small businesses, but they didn’t really have a choice, did they?

How Will Emerging Chiplet Technology Affect PCBs?

In a recent conversation with Ventec’s Alun Morgan, the I-Connect007 Editorial Team discussed, among several topics, semiconductor packaging developments. Industry insiders will know that, when you get Happy Holden and Alun Morgan talking about emerging technology trends, there will be insights shared.

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

I know I’m not alone in this behavior: Car advertisements during television commercial breaks are as good as invisible to me, until I’m thinking about getting a new car. Only then do I notice them. Rather, I see each one with all my attention and being. If that extends into our industry, then everybody must be itching to pick up some new equipment. This week’s must-reads includes a smattering of new product announcements, along with the news of the IPC European subsidiary.

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

This week, we bring you an article about manufacturing training for veterans, and a review of a great signal integrity webinar. IPC honors its A-Teams with the coveted Golden Gnome Awards, and Technica discusses various ways for fabricators to increase ROI. Dan Beaulieu has a review of a really cool book: Back to Human—How Great Leaders Create Connection in the Age of Isolation. In spite of all the meetings on Teams and Zoom, it’s easy to feel disconnected. But great leaders find a way to foster that connectivity.

Preparing the Next-gen Tech Workforce

Knowledge transfer, especially from the “graying-out” experienced technical workers in our industry, is a complex, difficult family of problems. It differs wildly between companies, and even within divisions of the same company. One of the biggest barriers is the full manufacturing schedules in North American electronics companies that don’t leave any slack time—and the 40-hour work week is a complete fantasy for many.

Jahr Turchan Discusses Blackfox's Training Scholarships for Veterans

Nolan Johnson recently interviewed Jahr Turchan, director of Veteran Services & Advanced Manufacturing Programs for Blackfox Training Institute. They discussed some of the new programs at Blackfox, including the Veteran Advanced Manufacturing Certification program. Thanks to programs like these, this is a great time for veterans transitioning into the manufacturing workplace.

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

The big news in the industry this week was the new bill introduced to the U.S. Congress in support of the PCB manufacturing industry. The Supporting American Printed Circuit Boards Act of 2022, which was introduced by Reps. Anna Eshoo (D-CA) and Blake Moore (R-UT), incentivizes “purchases of domestically produced PCBs as well as industry investments in factories, equipment, workforce training, and research and development.” The bill is a PCB-oriented complement to the semiconductor-oriented CHIPS Act of 2021.

The Data Format Effect on Business Costs

Nolan Johnson and Barry Matties talked with Axiom’s Rob Rowland and Kevin Bennett about current challenges facing EMS manufacturing. During this conversation, the pair discuss the impact of data file formats on pricing, manufacturing, and quality. As they explain, the use of intelligent data formats such as IPC-2581 and ODB++ can speed up the data import process compared to Gerber.

Exploring High Density With Axiom

Nolan Johnson and Barry Matties talk with Axiom’s Rob Rowland and Kevin Bennett about the current high-density challenges facing EMS manufacturing. In this interview, Bennett and Rowland zero in on component packaging and feeder technology as critical areas in need of improvement.

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

This week, we have some M&A news from Summit Interconnect, and a variety of columns. Chris Bonsell discusses the lack of preventive maintenance planning in PCB manufacturing, and Kelly Dack lays out some solder mask guidelines for PCB designers. Duane Benson helps make sense of the quoting process in a time of 50-week lead times, and Dan Beaulieu has a great review of a book about how shareholder policies have caused many of the problems we see in corporations today.

Are Your Existing Machines Enough to Keep Up?

Buy new or make do? It’s an age-old debate for manufacturers who are trying to decide how best to manage machine assets inside their manufacturing facilities. New machines are expensive, but so is operating existing machines at a comparative deficit.

VJ Electronix: Automating the X-ray Inspection Process

VJ Electronix's Brennan Caissie shares the benefits of a new inspection tool that can be used on a variety of boards, with an automated system that takes the pressure off the manufacturing floor operators and can provide feedback all the way to the design process.

Finding Solutions in the Quoting Process

It’s easy to frame all our supply chain woes around the COVID-19 pandemic. However, at Screaming Circuits, we started receiving dire warnings about component shortages in early 2018. At that time, we were told that the supply upheaval could last years and that we should expect it to get much worse before it got better. Now, four years later, I would say those warnings nailed it.

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

It certainly seems that our times continue to be interesting, don’t they? Just how many different flavors of supply chain disruption can we come up with? Investment on the supply side needs to increase, but the size of the labor force needs to increase even more, if we want to accomplish the task of the buildout itself, let alone running the facilities properly.

SMTA Dallas Expo: A Novel Approach to Outsourcing Sales

Caleb Townsend is the co-founder of Factur, a new kind of recruiting agency that specializes in filling marketing and sales positions. I met with Caleb at SMTA Dallas and asked him to discuss the creative ways he’s helping contract manufacturers to practice Lean principles in their sales department. As Caleb says, his company helps sales departments embrace methods similar to those used on the shop floor, which sometimes means updating their filing system from a “shoebox full of business cards.”

SMTA Atlanta: Peachy in the Peach State

I attended SMTA Atlanta Expo and Tech Forum last week, and it’s safe to say that this industry is definitely back in business in the Peach State. The aisles were busy all day, and the presentations were well attended.

How Smart Are You?

The standard IQ test has been established for many years now. Though the content within these tests has been cleverly and carefully put together, there are different kinds of “smarts” among people. It is likely that those who are putting together IQ tests will favor the kinds of “smarts” that they themselves have. Humans are very complex, however. Everyone is different, with natural skills and abilities in a multitude of disciplines: technical, artistic, social, and others. Put us all together as a society, and we make a pretty good team, at least when we all work together and support each other.

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

It’s been a busy week in this industry, and we have news and articles from the PCB design, fabrication, and assembly communities. The roller coaster ride continues, with whiplash-inducing news from IPC about March North American shipment—they’re up from February but down from the same period a year ago.

Big Data Can Bring Your Business Back

Let’s face it, in the past, electronics manufacturing has not been a big business for North America. A majority of electronics are assembled in Asia where supply chains and operating costs offer many economic advantages. In North America, the electronics manufacturing industry has been generally focused on lower volume, high-cost devices, while higher volume products are produced elsewhere. However, the COVID pandemic and various legislation in the U.S. are changing the situation, making electronics manufacturing in North America a more attractive option. How can factories in North America compete for the same type of manufacturing traditionally performed in lower-cost regions?

Getting Involved Earlier in the Test Process

At SMTA Dallas, Andy Shaughnessy stopped by the booth for The Test Connection, to find out from Bert Horner why the company has evolved into spending more time educating and consulting with their customers when it comes to testing new designs.

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

Welcome to April 15, everyone! There are reasons we tend to cover topics in a continuous conversation. First, there are always developments and news in the industry. Second, you dear readers respond to that content by reading it. This week the news items that drew the most reader interest verify that our industry has ongoing interest in government involvement in industry infrastructure, supply chain issues, cybersecurity, and new technologies like additive in fabrication.

CalcuQuote’s Breakthrough Quoting Solution

While at SMTA Expo Dallas, I learned more about CalcuQuote’s automated quoting and purchasing software from CalcuQuote president, Chintan Sutaria. As Chintan explains, in these days of supply chain challenges, having an automated system that easily and efficiently searches for—and purchases—components can be a game-changer for EMS companies.

KIC Adds Wave Monitoring Technology to Industry 4.0 Ecosystem for Thermal Processes

At the SMTA Dallas Expo, Andy Shaughnessy sat down with Miles Moreau of KIC to discuss the company’s latest offering in wave process inspection technology. Miles also explains how KIC’s early focus on automated real-time process monitoring has enabled them to become a leader in Smart factory implementation.

The Reality of Regulated Manufacturing

Nolan Johnson speaks with Ryan Bonner, CEO of DEFCERT, about government regulations for data and cybersecurity. A key component of moving to a digital factory will be to ensure security of the data required to operate a digital factory, and most importantly, customer design data.

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

Spring has definitely sprung, and the trade show season continues to roll right along. Managing Editor Nolan Johnson just returned from DesignCon 2022, and as he says in his review, the attendance was up from last year’s event, which had been at the McEnery Convention Center in the waning days of the pandemic. I hope we’re getting back to normal, whatever that means. This week, we have a few articles about Industry 4.0, as well as a column on setting your priorities. We have a cool article about methods for measuring the breakdown of resins during multiple thermal laminations, and a conversation with an EMS company president who realized that he was actually running a data collection firm that happened to make circuit boards. Can you say the same about your own company?

The Future is Driven by Data

When we visited Rocket EMS in 2013 to observe a DIY 4.0 factory data collection and management system in action, we were very impressed. This was clearly a factory of the future, even back then. We recently followed up with Rocket’s president, Michael Kottke, to discuss how this work has given the company a huge advantage over the competition. The moment he realized he’s now in a data collection business that happens to build printed circuit boards, everything changed. Is this where all companies should be headed? Perhaps, but you’ll want to take a cue from this type of innovative thinking.

Matt Kelly: The Digital Factory is Now

The I-Connect007 Editorial Team spoke with Matt Kelly, IPC chief technologist, about Factory of the Future. In this wide-ranging conversation, the team starts with the premise that factory automation is no longer a future topic, but a concern for right now. The conversation takes a closer look at the need for digitization, upskilling the workforce, ensuring ROI is gained from digitizing the factory and, at the center of it all, the need for a strong commitment to move forward as a company.

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

According to a quick look at history.com, “Some historians speculate that April Fools’ Day dates back to 1582, when France switched from the Julian calendar to the Gregorian calendar. In the Julian Calendar, as in the Hindu calendar, the new year began with the spring equinox around April 1.” All well and good, but why April Fools’? “People who were slow to get the news or failed to recognize that the start of the new year had moved to January 1 and continued to celebrate it during the last week of March through April 1 became the butt of jokes and hoaxes and were called “April fools.”

Improved Thermal Interface Materials For Cooling High-Power Electronics

Heat has been a significant concern in electronics since the beginning of the electronics age when hot glowing vacuum tubes were first used to receive and transmit data bits. The transistor and integrated circuit effectively solved that basic problem, but increases in integration resulted in increased concentration of heat, exacerbated by relentless increases in operating frequency. While improvements in electronics technology have been able to mitigate many thermal issues at chip level thanks to improved semiconductor designs devised to operate at lower voltages (thus requiring less energy) the thermal management challenge continues to vex electronic product developers.

Dallas SMTA Expo: Open for Business

This year’s theme was “Texas is Open for Business,” and the turnout seemed to reflect that observation. We saw a steady stream of attendees arriving throughout the day, and most of them stayed through the barbecue lunch and happy hour. Dallas SMTA Expo and Tech Forum is becoming much more than a regional show. I met exhibitors and attendees from around the southwest, and a few from across the country. The Plano Event Center has a configurable layout that can accommodate events of all sizes, and next year’s show is expected to be even bigger.

How to Minimize Quoting Time and Increase Accuracy in EMS Production

New product introductions (NPIs) and customization have been increasing rapidly over the past few years—with the results that the already-small profit margins in electronics assembly are shrinking even further. Fifteen years ago, the PCB was the product. Today, most products are a system, with multiple PCBs, cables, and enclosures. Many manufacturers want to provide turn-key products that have multiple BOMs, making the assembly process even more complicated.

M&A Activity: Keep Your Eye on the Ball

M&A activity is on the rise and shows no indication of slowing down, even if interest rates climb. In the past two years, there were more than 45 deals. Where does your company fit in? In this interview with Dan Beaulieu, M&A expert Tom Kastner breaks down the market and who benefits most when it comes to buyers, sellers, and where you live.

Dave Hillman on Living Your Passion

Barry Matties leads this engaging retrospective conversation with Dave Hillman, a Fellow, Materials and Process engineer at Collins Aerospace, who talks about mentorship, pandemic changes, and solder. “Soldering is soldering,” Dave says. “But how we do that keeps evolving in response to the new technologies and smaller packages.” What’s the key to his success and longevity? “Find your passion.” Here’s how he’s done it.
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