Moving from personal AI habits to standardized workflows can help manufacturing teams save time, improve consistency and scale practical AI use across operations.

It's 6:47 a.m., and Robert is doing what he does every morning before the production standup. He opens his AI chat, pastes in last night's shift handoff notes and types the same prompt he's typed every day for three weeks: "Summarize these production notes. Flag anything that needs immediate attention. Prioritize by customer impact."

PCB East 2026 celebrated its move to Worcester with an increase in conference classes, exhibitors and attendance.

I’ve always enjoyed attending PCB East, but this year was even better because I was there as a PCEA staff member.

As some of you may recall, I worked with Mike Buetow and Frances Stewart years ago as editor of PCD&F and conference chair for PCB East and PCB West. The show felt like Homecoming Week. It’s funny how the old “show mentality” kicked back in after I spent years away from putting on shows and conferences.

PCB East 2026 combined nonstop show-floor traffic, technical learning and after-hours networking into one of the event’s busiest and most connected years yet.

Trade shows have always had two versions of themselves.