• View the Digital Edition

   

FEATURES

Cover Story
The Year of Staying Employed
The aging (graying, some say) of the printed circuit board design field continues, or so says our annual survey of the industry. What 400 designers have to say about their chances for survival in the era of automation and outsourcing. by Chelsey Drysdale

• Faked Parts Detection
  New Techniques to ID Counterfeit ICs
  The counterfeiting of electronics components and related parts is widespread. But newly developed methods promise now to help identify counterfeit plastic-encapsulated components using detection methods that cannot be tricked. By by Dr. Lawrence W. Kessler and Thomas Sharpe

•  

  FIRST PERSON

  • Caveat Lector
  
  
  Ride with Jeff.
  
  Mike Buetow

  • Database
    One designer’s winning pitch.
    Pete Waddell

  MONEY MATTERS

  • ROI
    Competency confusion.

    Peter Bigelow

  • Focus on Business
  
  
  A collaborative manufacturing template.

   

  Susan Mucha

   

  TECH TALK

  • Final Finishes

  
  
  No masking these changes.

   

  Lenora Toscano

   

  • Screen Printing

  
  
  Keep the printer running.

   

  Clive Ashmore

   

  • Tech Tips

  
  
  Conformal coating processes.

   

  ACI Technologies Inc.

   

  • Test and Inspection

  
  
  South beats East.

   

  Tan Beng Chye

   

  • Getting Lean

  
  
  Knowing the metrics.

   

  Ryan Wooten

   

   

FIRST PERSON

• View the Digital Edition

   

FEATURES

• Vapor Phase Rework

High Thermal Mass, Very High Lead Count SMT Connector Rework Process
Rigorous testing found local vapor phase clearly superior to alternative processes.
by Jim Bielick, Brian Chapman, Mitchell Ferrill, Michael Fisher, Phil Isaacs, Eddie Kobeda and Theron Lewis

• Apex Recap

New Year, New Outlook
An uptick in attendance on the floor overshadowed a lack of innovations in the booths.
By Mike Buetow and Chelsey Drysdale

FIRST PERSON

 

 

 

• Caveat Lector

EMS hot for LED.

Mike Buetow

• Talking Heads

FHP Reps’ Keith Favre.

Mike Buetow

• Database

Sayonara, electronics engineering?

Pete Waddell

 

MONEY MATTERS

• Sherman’s Market

Printed electronics: process revolution?

Randall Sherman

• ROI

Bad grades.

Peter Bigelow

TECH TALK

• On the Forefront

Inside the iPad.

E. Jan Vardaman

• Screen Printing

Post-print inspection.

Dr. Rita Mohanty

• Selective Soldering

Hot solder dip: back in vogue.

Al Cable

• Tech Tips

Implementing a reflow process.

ACI Technologies Inc.

• Wave Soldering Troubleshooting

Solder flooding.

Paul Lotosky

• Solar Technologies

Toward grid parity.

Darren Brown

DEPARTMENTS

• Technical Abstracts

• View the Digital Edition
  

FEATURES

• Process Improvement
  The DfM Continuum
  Design and manufacturing often are thought of as separate processes, with some interdependencies. But absent a feedback loop, development will be marred by unnecessary defects and re-spins.
  by John Isaac and Bruce Isbell
  

• Signal Integrity
  Open 'Eyes' in the Frequency Domain
  Although final performance is measured in the time domain, a detour may be the faster route to a signal integrity solution.
  by Dr. Eric Bogatin
  

• Screen Printing
  Divining Value in Screen Printer Ownership
  The purchase price of a capital item is only one element of value, but it can be one that is disproportionately influential in the purchase decision. A look at how some companies are matching equipment requirements with new ways to evaluate cost-of-ownership.
  by Trevor Warren
  

• Screen Printing
  Why Mixed Signal Calls for Precise Stencils
  Stencil accuracy has a direct bearing on the correct thermal profile.
  by Zulki Khan
  

• Materials Engineering
  Heat Transfer in LED Assembly
  LEDs may seem cool to the touch, but they all produce heat. So while they offer significant benefits over filament and fluorescent lighting, dissipating heat within an LED assembly involves the selection and use of thermally conductive and (usually) electrically insulating materials.
  by Chuck Neve
  

• Service Excellence
  The Big Mack Attack
  For two years running, Mack Technologies has taken home top honors in Circuits Assembly's Service Excellence Awards. Its secret? A customer service strategy based on execution performance and using data, derived through open and honest communication with customers, to drive improvements in performance.
  by Mike Buetow
  

FIRST PERSON

• Caveat Lector
  Toyota's painful lesson.
  Mike Buetow

• Sherman's Market
  No more dips for chips.
  Sandra Winkler

• Database
  Back to school.
  Pete Waddell

MONEY MATTERS

• ROI
  Fixing process improvement.
  Peter Bigelow

• Focus on Business
  Improve workers' lives, improve the bottom line.
  Susan Mucha

TECH TALK

• Real World EMC
  Designing out radiated emissions.
  Dr. Eric Bogatin

• Final Finishes
  Process flow and routine analysis.
  Lenora Toscano

• Screen Printing
  Maintaining the printer.
  Clive Ashmore

• Selective Soldering
  Hot for preheat.
  Alan Cable

• Tech Tips
  Corrosion mitigation.
  ACI Technologies Inc.

• Test and Inspection
  Machine programming.
  Tan Beng Chye

• Getting Lean
  Balancing tradeoffs of waste elimination.
  Ryan Wooten

• Wave Soldering Troubleshooting
  Lifted parts.
  Paul Lotosky

• The Defects Database
  Undissolved fluxes under low-standoff parts.
  Dr. Davide Di Maio

• Technical Abstracts
  In case you missed it.

 

DEPARTMENTS

Off the Shelf