We speak so often of the maturing (“graying”) of the engineers and operators who work in the printed circuit industry, we sometimes overlook whether the same term applies to the companies that employ those individuals.

And yet that matzah ball is hanging out there, particularly when it comes to printed circuit design software.

The textbook definition of a mature market is when it has reached a “state of equilibrium.” This is characterized by “an absence of significant growth or a lack of innovation.”

It goes on: “In a mature market, companies have excess inventory or capacity, products become more homogenized (less differentiated), and there is pressure on prices and profits.”

Can you think of anything in our corner of the world that applies to?

Bare board fabrication comes to mind. Even as the volume and frequency of electronics are exploding, growth at the manufacturing level is nominal, year in, year out. A relative handful of customers, such as Apple, Samsung and Intel, often dictate the winners and losers.

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A near real-time feedback loop between layout and assembly.

Two core tenets of Lean manufacturing philosophy are eliminating defect opportunities and minimizing process variation. Consequently, most companies embracing Lean principles do some form of design for manufacturability (DfM) analysis to identify manufacturability issues either during design or in the new product introduction phase. In some cases, this is an automated feature of design software. In other cases, this is done manually.

SigmaTron has adopted a hybrid process that uses software automation to speed basic analysis, followed by an engineering review. This E-DFM software tool reduces the time it takes to create a detailed report from several days to a few hours and works with SigmaTron’s existing Valor software platform.

Automating the process improves efficiency, since the engineering team reviews the automatically generated reports and suggests solutions for accuracy instead of individually performing a full analysis themselves. They then can make suggestions to further optimize the recommendations, as needed. The tool has been customized from industry-standard PCBA design rules and SigmaTron’s equipment/process-specific manufacturing guidelines, so it reflects equipment and process constraints.

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What’s more in need of rehabilitation? The bonepile, or supplier gateway?

Hello, I would like to get some information about your capabilities for Bonepile Rehabilitation. I have some legacy circuit cards that were previously tested on a FACTRON 750. Can you reverse engineer the schematics/gerbers from a known good board? Once you have diagnosis (sic) the problem on a failed board, can you also perform the repair? Are you cybersecurity certified for ITAR data?

This is how an unsolicited customer engagement often begins. No unusual requirements here, other than the obvious need for remedial grammar lessons.

“Yes, yes and yes.”

Good. Then you may be able to assist us. What is your process?

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Excessive temperature or moisture may be to blame.

Open connections on area array packages can be difficult to spot, particularly if they are intermittent electrical failures like the examples in FIGURE 1. One or more open joints can occur between the package and solder sphere or at the PCB pad interface. Reflow soldering with either convection or vapor phase can cause packages to move and separate. This can be caused by warping of the package or in some cases minor popcorning due to moisture. Both faults can be simulated and recorded with video for reference.

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