Our passion for technology can improve services and life experiences for everyone.

Many of us working in the electronics business, wherever we are in the value chain – from design to manufacturing, as well as marketing, sales and support – are more than simple creators of technology. We are also fans, adopters and evangelists. As a species, we have always pursued technologies with the goal of making our lives better.

It's in the interest of humanity that more people can use the technologies we create. Many powerful technologies that define the world we live in today began life as the invention and plaything of a small number of expert users: search engines, digital image sensing, blockchain, AI, even the internet itself, started this way but have become widely used to the advantage of all. This technological democratization is not a new phenomenon. The invention of the printing press is often cited as an early example. In addition to expanding and accelerating the spread of information, its arrival also enhanced the accuracy of the data shared by reducing human error.

For as long as there is invention, action will be needed to mitigate the divide that separates the technological haves and have-nots. The World Economic Forum points out that digital technologies are a driver for fairness and justice, and that equalizing access is essential to safeguard security and human rights. We can celebrate the fact that information services, banking, e-government, and e-health are already widely available and affordable, even in regions that have minimal fixed infrastructures.

Put the pedal to the metal in your PCB layouts.

Printed circuit board design evolves over time and the rate of the evolution is not slowing. High-speed digital design becomes a key topic as we move forward.

By the time you read this, I’ll be officially old. Early retirement age is 62 and I was born in ’62 so I’m eligible for those senior discounts. One of the things that happens as we age is time seems to go by even faster. We’ve seen so much, less is novel. We’re not plowing new furrows but rather deepening ones we’ve tracked before.

I say that to say this: Circuits keep switching faster all the time. What worked in my early days no longer gets it done. My first computer didn’t have a hard drive. It had two floppy disk drives, and they were the ones with 360KB­ rather than the smaller, stiffer 1.4MB. I had DOS on one floppy and a modem driver on the other. The baud rate was a blazing 1,200B.

Take proactive steps to minimize the impact of growing material prices.

Overseas board manufacturers have received formal notifications from major laminate suppliers about upcoming double-digit price increases for the raw materials required to produce printed circuit boards.

Compared to this time last year, gold and copper prices have risen significantly due to inflation, the push for green energy, and speculative demand and capacity limitations for these precious metals in the coming years.

While most notifications were heavy on apologies but light on details, one was specific about the increases:

Know the “whys” behind each clause in the manufacturing agreement.

Partnership is one of the most hackneyed terms in the electronics manufacturing services (EMS) industry. It often gets used to describe business relationships that are anything but partnerships. At the same time, the best EMS relationships actually are partnerships where parties have a symbiotic relationship beneficial for both companies. What drives these different relationships in the same business model? Often the answer is the program manager.

Back when outsourcing was a new concept, the most experienced employees at an original equipment manufacturer (OEM) were assigned the responsibility for the relationship. In many cases, those executives had manufacturing as well as purchasing experience. When demand or allocation surprises occurred, these experienced teams worked together for a good resolution in most cases. Today, contract manufacturing is just one more thing that most OEM purchasing departments source and manage. Buyers may or may not have ample experience managing EMS suppliers, particularly given the volume of turnover in these roles. Less experience translates to a focus on unit price, less ability to understand the impact of errors in forecasting, and difficulty in understanding issues that excess material creates.