Latest Articles

A Gap in Capability in the Defense Industrial Base

The U.S. Partnership for Assured Electronics (USPAE) recently announced information about developing a public-private venture to catalyze advanced U.S. circuit board manufacturing capabilities. To learn more about the program and how industry can take part, we spoke with Joe O’Neil, who is directing the development effort for the partnership.

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

In this week’s Top 5, we start with a conversation with Mike Soble, who explains why SEL and Chemcut have such a great partnership. We have a review of SMTA International, which took place this week in Minneapolis. We also have a conversation with the design team at Monsoon Solutions; they explain how they geared their documentation process to the requirements of IPC standards. Mike Morando explains how to qualify your rigid-flex manufacturer. And we have an announcement about the IPC Checklist, a very useful document that I-Connect007 recently published.

Insulectro Flex Materials Showcase Offers Tips for Technologists

Insulectro continues its drive to educate PCB designers about the ins and outs of advanced flex materials. On Sept. 19 the company hosted an all-day seminar on flexible and printed electronic materials at its San Jose, Calif., facility.

MKS' Atotech: More Horizontal Panel Plating in the U.S.

Recently, Schweitzer Engineering Laboratories (SEL) opened its new $100 million captive printed circuit board manufacturing facility in Moscow, Idaho. The new facility features state-of-the-art PCB equipment from MKS’ Atotech, one of the leading providers of advanced PCB and IC substrate horizontal manufacturing equipment for the electronics industry. This type of equipment is normally delivered to Asian markets and is not usually seen in North America.

Notion Systems: The Arrival of the ‘Jet Age’

Notion Systems is a German-based company and one of the leading suppliers of industrial inkjet systems for functional materials. Antonio Schmidt, senior vice president of sales and marketing, explains that by applying the solder resist fully-digitally, Notion gave Schweitzer Engineering Laboratories (SEL) the opportunity to save time, investment, space, and labor in their new printed circuit board manufacturing facility.

Chemcut: Blending Capabilities and Culture

Mike Soble, who works in technical sales for Chemcut, explains that despite the long distance between Idaho and Pennsylvania, working with Schweitzer Engineering Laboratories on its new facilities was truly a perfect match.

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

This week, our must-read picks include the PCB industry monthly report, IPC’s Alison James’ statement to the EU regarding the vitality of our industry, an overview of test and inspection, greenfield fabrication facility design, and the future of advanced packaging and solder.

Culture by Design: Building a Winning Team from the Start

If you want to attract top talent and achieve great results, your organizational culture is key. It’s hands-down one of the most important elements in your business and it’s quite possibly one of the best predictors of your long-term success. Studies have long shown the tie between strong cultures and higher productivity and revenue. So, it needs to be created and nurtured carefully. Your hiring practices need to support it.

Sigma Mecer: Turning Copper ‘Green’

Andreas Littorin is CEO at Sigma Engineering AB. The company has been manufacturing equipment for the PCB industry for 45 years, mainly a mature product for copper recycling of alkaline and acidic etchants in the PCB manufacturing process.

GreenSource Engineering: An Eye on Design

Schweitzer engaged the services of GreenSource Engineering to assist in the initial design of the facility, along with handling automation equipment. Nolan Johnson met with the GreenSource team— Michael Gleason, Marco Mirkovic, James Brown, and Rick Nichols—representing GreenSource Engineering and GreenSource Fabrication (GSF), to better understand their working relationship for the build-out of the new facility in Moscow, Idaho.

USPAE, DoD Launch $10 Million Defense Business Accelerator

In a major initiative to innovate how the Department of Defense (DoD) spurs commercial technology development, the U.S. Partnership for Assured Electronics (USPAE) and DoD launched a Defense Business Accelerator (DBX) to open doors for industrial base growth and stimulate private investment.

Schmoll: Pushing Drilling Forward

Automation is everywhere, and nowhere is that more evident than the machines from Schmoll used in the new captive facility for Schweitzer Engineering Laboratories. Schmoll Maschinen GmbH Executive Director Stephan Kunz, and Evan Howard, service manager for Schmoll products, Burkle North America, discuss how their machines are perfectly suited for SEL’s production lines.

Book Excerpt: 'The Printed Circuit Designer's Guide to... Designing for Reality,' Introduction

Based on the wisdom of 50 years of PCB manufacturing at Sunstone Circuits, this book is a must-have reference for designers understanding the PCB manufacturing process as it relates to their design. Designing for manufacturability requires understanding the production process fundamentals and factors within the process that often lead to variations in manufacturability, reliability, and cost of the board.

The SEL Supply Line: An Introduction

During my recent tour of SEL’s new $100 million PCB factory in Moscow, Idaho, I spoke with Engineering Director John Hendrickson specifically about the partnerships they formed with the many equipment suppliers it took to build a new factory. I wanted to know when he’s choosing a supplier in a critical aspect, what is he looking for?

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

This week’s must-reads cover a little bit of everything: advanced packaging substrates, rigid-flex design, the potential loss of tribal knowledge, ultra HDI processing, and the need for fabricators to begin utilizing Smart systems. In a few weeks, we’ll be attending SMTA International in Minneapolis, and then productronica in Munich. We hope to see you on the road!

Rigid-flex Design Guidelines 

Rigid-flex circuits are unique structures; part rigid board and part flex, they’re increasingly working their way into many of the electronic devices we use every day. There have been many advances in rigid-flex lately as more companies find themselves exploring this technology. So, before I started writing this article about rigid-flex design, I double-checked a few things. Fortunately, there is plenty of rigid-flex information available on a variety of great websites that we all know and trust.

Pivoting on Substrates

Oved Shapira is CEO of PCB Technologies, the Israeli-based printed circuit provider. PCB Technologies has recently invested in facilities and expertise to design, fabricate, and assemble substrates, a key component for advanced packaging technologies. Oved spoke with Barry Matties and Nolan Johnson about how advanced packaging will influence the industry. He said it will shift everything, including design, fabrication, assembly techniques, and capital equipment development. Some of these shifts might be subtle, and others more seismic. Whatever the changes, Oved says it’s coming.

Cutting-edge Inspection Challenges

Koh Young’s Brent Fischthal explains how UHDI and advanced packaging are challenging inspection systems. He says the shift toward larger components and advanced packaging brings a host of challenges that impact the industry. These challenges include complexity, density, package diversity, and inspection methodologies, all of which necessitate a more innovative approach.

The Honest Truth About Founders and Investors: An Author Interview

I was so impressed with "Founder vs. Investor: The Honest Truth about Venture Capital from Start up to IPO" by Elizabeth Zalman and Jerry Neumann that I just had to reach out to them. In my interview with the authors, they share how the book came about, how they often didn’t agree, and how vital that was to the integrity of the story they hoped to tell. I know this interview will be just as valuable for you as it was for me.

Towards a Silicon to Systems Industrial Strategy

"Electronics systems are at the heart of almost all modern technology. The performance and functionality of these systems have increased at breathtaking speed, chiefly as a result of advancements in semiconductor technology. Semiconductors do not function in isolation," writes Alison James, IPC senior director of government relations, in a 2023 report for the European Commission’s Directorate General for Internal Market, Industry, Entrepreneurship. "These electronics systems feature prominently in key sectors like defence, aerospace, space, automotive, medical, and high-performance computing, but electronics are vital to every industry and are central to a variety of EU priorities, including the twin digital and green transitions and Europe’s technological sovereignty."

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

This week has been chock full of news about upcoming trade shows and conferences. Clearly, the season is upon us. This week, I-Connect007 reported on PCB West in Santa Clara (often referred to as the show which kicks off trade show season) and the topic of artificial intelligence was everywhere. By the looks of it, not just at the conference, either. For months now, the mainstream media has been gobbling up all sorts of news about generative AI engines, painting the picture that we’ll all lose our jobs to these tools, while also reporting on situations where the results from AI have gotten progressively worse over time.

What is Ultra HDI?

Ever since high density interconnect (HDI) was created in 1982 by Hewlett-Packard to package its first 32-bit computer powered by a single chip, it has continued to evolve and provide the solutions for miniaturized products. The leading edge of HDI technology became the process used for organic flip-chip packaging for the semiconductor industry. The two distinct markets—IC substrates and product-system integration—are now colliding and utilizing the same ultra-HDI manufacturing processes.

The Drive Toward UHDI and Substrates

Panasonic’s Darren Hitchcock spoke with the I-Connect007 Editorial Team on the complexities of moving toward ultra HDI manufacturing. As we learn in this conversation, the number of shifting constraints relative to traditional PCB fabrication is quite large and can sometimes conflict with each other.

Rigid-flex Stackup: It’s a 3D World

Z-zero founder Bill Hargin has been studying stackup design techniques for years. He developed the company’s PCB stackup planning software, and he wrote an I-Connect007 eBook, The Printed Circuit Designer’s Guide to… Stackups: The Design within the Design. In this interview, Bill shares his thoughts on designing rigid-flex stackups, the challenges they bring, and what rigid board designers need to know about designing stackups in 3D. “Flexperts” Mark Finstad of Flexible Circuit Technologies and Nick Koop of TTM Technologies also offer insight into the many tradeoffs that rigid-flex designers face.

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

We’ve had a hot week in this industry. In my picks for this week, we introduce a new SMT007 columnist, and we have a look at the CHIPS Act one year later. We have a great article about sourcing diversification, and a look at the latest electronics news coming out of India. And columnist Vern Solberg explains DFM best practices for flexible circuits.
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