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I-Connect007 Editor’s Choice: Five Must-Reads for the Week
December 4, 2020 | Andy Shaughnessy, Design007 MagazineEstimated reading time: 2 minutes
Around the holidays, we often see a slowdown in PCB design and manufacturing news. But this holiday season, there’s been no rest for the newsmakers in our industry! In the last week, our daily and weekly newsletters have been chock-full of breaking news and up-to-the-minute technical information that readers like you rely upon every day.
This week, we had important developments in the IPC-2581 design data exchange format. We also published a video roundtable with Siemens Digital Industries Software and Computrol, as well as an update from IPC’s Education Foundation about their student chapter members’ participation in virtual competitions. Happy Holden and Stephen Chavez delve deep into the waters of via design, and a video roundtable with Ventec International Group and Excello Circuits focuses on IMS thermal materials in multilayer stackups in power applications.
There seems to be a trend here. Much of the movement in this industry today involves access to data—the right data, and right now. You can expect that to continue into 2021 and beyond.
IPC Releases IPC-2581 Revision C for PCB Design
Published December 1
There was some big news this week in the world of design data formats. The new IPC-2581 Revision C includes XML with DFX tags, allowing greater bi-directional DFX data exchange in this open-source format. Rigid-flex designs are now supported. IPC-2581C is a key component of the IPC-DPMX format, and it is now optimized for use with the EDA tools of today and tomorrow, as well as Industry 4.0 and the digital twin.
Siemens and Computrol: Achieving Operational Excellence in Electronics Manufacturing
Published December 2
Happy Holden and Nolan Johnson recently held a video roundtable with Zac Elliott, technical marketing engineer at Siemens Digital Industries Software, and Farid Anani, VP of operations at Computrol. Elliott and Anani explain how the drive to increase automation sometimes winds up creating “islands of automation,” which must be connected for true process efficiency. They also discuss methods for making data smarter, as well as process engineers’ need for access to the data they need right away.
Foundations of the Future: IPC Student Chapters Gear Up for Competitions
Published December 2
Many of us are wondering who will replace the “graybeard” PCB designers, design engineers, and process engineers who continue to retire at a rapid pace. IPC is making some good progress attracting—and nurturing—the next generation of PCB technologists. In this column, IPC’s Aaron Birney discusses the organization’s efforts supporting the 38 IPC student chapters in the U.S., including recent virtual student competitions and plans for 2021.
Use of IMS Thermal Materials in Multilayer Stackups for Power Applications
Published December 1
Technical Editor Pete Starkey and I conducted a lively video roundtable around IMS thermal materials with Chris Hanson and Denis McCarthy of Ventec International Group, and Rax Ribadia of Excello Circuits. Hanson and McCarthy detail the development and benefits of using IMS laminates in multilayer stackups in power applications, and Ribadia explains why fabricating high-end PCBs with IMS thermal materials is much like fabricating any other “typical" board.
Stephen Chavez and Happy Holden on Designing Reliable Vias
Published December 2
In this wide-ranging interview, Stephen Chavez and Happy Holden discuss the ins and outs of proper via design, including a look at some of the drivers that are leading designers to create ever-smaller microvias and higher aspect ratios. They also discuss the effects of material choice, fabrication processes, and signal integrity issues on via design, and why true communication is paramount for the design of robust microvias.
Suggested Items
SMTA’s Conducts First UHDI Symposium
03/29/2024 | Marcy LaRont, PCB007 MagazineSMTA’s first UHDI Symposium in Peoria, Arizona, on Tuesday, March 26 featured a standout full-day technical program with 11 separate presentations on what will be required for our companies to move to ultra HDI manufacturing. The event was the brainchild of Tara Dunn, SMTA director of training and education. It included a compelling and collaborative presentation by David Haboud of Altium, John Johnson of American Standards Circuits, and Chrys Shea of Shea Engineering, who had spent the past several weeks creating and building an appropriate SMT test board vehicle for UHDI, something that was passed around for all conference goers to see and touch.
PCBflow Helps Designers Choose Best Manufacturer for the Job
03/28/2024 | Andy Shaughnessy, Design007 MagazineI recently spoke with a few technologists who have first-hand experience with PCBflow: Susan Kayesar, technical product manager with Siemens; Evgeny Makhline, CTO of Nistec, a CEM based in Israel; and Peter Tranitz, senior director of technology solutions and leader of the IPC Design Initiative. They explain how PCBflow functions, from the designer’s and manufacturer’s viewpoint, and how this database helps break down the wall between these stakeholders.
Elementary, Mr. Watson: Ensuring Design Integrity
03/28/2024 | John Watson -- Column: Elementary, Mr. WatsonBack in February, many of us watched the "Big Game." It reminded me of the saying, “It's not how you start that is important, but rather how you finish." It is perfectly okay when you are talking about sports, you get off to a bad first half and need to recover in the second half. However, when it comes to PCB design, this is not a good practice. If things start badly, they usually don't recover. They continue down that same path, costing more money and losing design time.
Arrow Electronics Launches Intelligent Vision Ecosystem
03/27/2024 | BUSINESS WIREArrow Electronics, Inc. is utilizing the onsemi Imager Access System (IAS) module standard for developing intelligent vision solutions for use in robotics, machine vision, commercial cameras and other uses.
Dymax Will Exhibit Light-Cure Solutions for Today’s Electronics at IPC APEX 2024
03/26/2024 | DymaxDymax, a leading manufacturer of rapid and light-curing materials and equipment, will exhibit at the IPC APEX EXPO 2024 in Anaheim, CA, April 9-11.