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Sustainability is one of the most widely used terms in business today, especially for electronics and manufacturing but what does it mean to you? We explore the environmental, business, and economic impacts.
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This issue previews many of the important events taking place at this year's show and highlights some changes and opportunities. So, buckle up. We are counting down to IPC APEX EXPO 2024.
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In this issue, we examine how fabs work with their design customers, educating them on the critical elements of fabrication needed to be successful, as well as the many tradeoffs involved. How well do you really know your customer? What makes for a closer, more synchronized working relationship?
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I-Connect007 Editor’s Choice: Five Must-Reads for the Week
April 15, 2022 | Nolan Johnson, I-Connect007Estimated reading time: 3 minutes
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.
I won’t keep you any longer; you’ve got news to read below, and if you’re in the United States, you might also have your taxes to finish. Get it postmarked by Monday!
Uncovering the Electronics Ecosystem
Published April 8
Will Marsh, vice president of TTM Technologies and president of the Printed Circuit Board Association of America, talks about the work the PCBAA has been doing in Washington, D.C., to get the industry better recognized by the country’s decision-makers. Marsh is optimistic, not only about the companies and individuals joining the effort, but in the recognition by Capitol Hill to secure the nation’s defense systems, and makes a case for why fab companies should join forces with PCBAA.
AltiumLive 2022: Vince Mazur’s Supply Chain Advice—Always Have Alternatives
Published April 11
Andy Shaughnessy gets an update from Vince Mazur, a technical marketing engineer at Altium, about his AltiumLive presentation, “Avoiding Supply Chain Issues with Variants and Live Part Choices.” Vince points out some of the high points of his talk, including the need for designers to pay closer attention to the supply chain than ever before, and to always have an alternative part or two as backup—just in case. Vince’s presentation can be found online with other Altium Live videos.
The Reality of Regulated Manufacturing
Published April 12
Ryan Bonner is CEO of DEFCERT, a specialist in 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. We caught up with Ryan after IPC APEX EXPO, to discuss cybersecurity and the digital factory. Click through to the interview to learn how this may apply to your facility.
Additive Design: Same Steps, Different Order
Published April 12
Dave Torp, CEO of Winonics, briefs Andy Shaughnessy about the company’s additive and semi-additive processes and what PCB designers need to know if they’re considering designing boards with these new technologies. Two key take-aways Dave explains are that 1) additive design is not much different from traditional design, but the steps in the design cycle are a different order, and 2) additive designers must communicate with their fabricators because so much of the new processes are still proprietary. See what else Torp has to say here.
Siemens’ SynthAI Revolutionizes Machine Vision Training with Artificial Intelligence
Published April 13
For those of us in the industry who are adding AI and machine learning to our processes, this news article gathered a lot of reads.
From the press release: “Machine learning is used for a variety of vision-based automation use cases such as robotic bin picking, sorting, palletizing, quality inspection and more. While usage of machine learning for vision-based automation is growing, many industries face challenges and struggle to implement it within their computer vision applications. This is due to the need to collect many images of the parts in question and the challenges associated with accurately annotating the different products within those images – particularly before production or manufacturing begins.
“To solve this challenge, synthetic data is used to speed up the data collection and training process. However, utilizing synthetic data for vision use cases requires expertise in synthetic image generation and can be complex, time consuming, and expensive. This where Siemens’ SynthAI changes the game.”
Suggested Items
The New Chapter: Attracting ‘Generation Green’
03/28/2024 | Hannah Grace & Paige Fiet -- Column: The New ChapterIn the electronics industry, we talk a lot about sustainability in terms of recruitment and retention of the next generation of engineers. But what if the key to sustaining the industry long into the future is through the more common definition of the word? What if, for just a moment, we think about sustainability in terms of the environment and what we as an industry are doing to care for it? Because, if you weren’t aware, Gen Z cares tremendously about the environment and the actions companies are taking to preserve it. Without Gen Z joining the electronics industry’s workforce, we won’t be able to sustain the industry for much longer.
Accenture Invests in Sanctuary AI to Bring AI-Powered, Humanoid Robotics to Work Alongside Humans
03/27/2024 | BUSINESS WIREAccenture has made a strategic investment, through Accenture Ventures, in Sanctuary AI, a developer of humanoid general-purpose robots that are powered by AI and can perform a wide variety of work tasks quickly, safely and effectively.
Don Dennison Appointed to Roll Out KIC’s Latest Thermal Analysis System Software in the Northeast
03/26/2024 | KICKIC, a renowned pioneer in thermal process and temperature measurement solutions for electronics manufacturing, is pleased to announce the appointment of PIT Equipment Services, LLC, led by Don Dennison, as its representative for New York, New Jersey, and Eastern Pennsylvania.
iNEMI/IPC White Paper on Complex Integrated Systems Highlights Future Technology and Manufacturing Ecosystem Needs
03/25/2024 | IPCToday’s system solutions combine more varied functionality, such as digital, analog, optical, micro-mechanical, etc., packed into smaller form factors. As a result, electronics manufacturing has to deliver increasingly complex integration of diverse technologies with system designs that blur the distinction between chip, package, board, and assembly.
Seeking Employment: Meet Gary Turner
03/25/2024 | Barry Matties, I-Connect007Meet Gary Turner, a recent graduate from the University of Texas at Dallas with a bachelor’s degree in mechanical engineering and a master’s in material science and engineering. He is currently seeking employment in the industry. The following interview will allow you to learn about Gary and see if he might be a good candidate for a position you are looking to fill.