PCB Chat

PCB Chat 87: Jorge Cardona on EMS in Colombia

Jorge Cardona is CEO of Invertronica Group, the parent company of a trio of firms in Colombia. Those companies include Tecrea, an electronics design and engineering unit; LosComponentes.com.co, a parts distributor, and Colcircuitos, the largest EMS company in Colombia. 

He speaks with Mike Buetow on markets and manufacturing in Central America, and why Colombia is a nearshore possibility for US OEMs and EMS companies looking for low-cost partners.

RM 82: Paul Salerno on Soldering Materials and Selection

Paul Salerno holds an MBA with specialization in finance and marketing from Rutgers Graduate School of Business. He is global portfolio manager at MacDermid Alpha Electronic Solutions with expertise in product lifecycle management and development of strategic technology roadmaps for the global surface mount technology business.

 

Paul works with customers in both Europe and Asia with customers in automotive, computing, communications and consumer electronic markets. Paul and Mike Konrad discuss soldering materials including "high reliability" solder paste, low and ultra-low solder pastes, and design-for-use solder paste selection processes.

 

Paul may be reached here:

Paul Salerno

Portfolio Manager, SMT Assembly Solutions

Paul.Salerno@MacDermidAlpha.com

 

PCB Chat 86: Wally Rhines on the ECAD Market Data

The second quarter was "dynamite" for PCB design software sales, explains Wally Rhines, referring to the 16% year-over-year increase in ECAD sales. Rhines, the longtime Mentor CEO and spokesperson for the ESD Alliance, joins market research guru Merlyn Brunken of Siemens to review the latest market data and discuss the history of semiconductor trade wars and relationships between PCB and IC design starts with PCB Chat host Mike Buetow.

 

RM 80: Cheryl Tulkoff and Greg Caswell on DfX

Episode 80: Cheryl Tulkoff & Greg Caswell's Book “Design for Excellence in Electronics Manufacturing”.

 

My guests Cheryl Tulkoff and Greg Caswell discuss their new book "Design for Excellence in Electronics Manufacturing" (published by Wiley and available on Amazon, Barnes & Noble, and Wiley).

An authoritative guide to optimizing design for manufacturability and reliability from a team of experts Design for Excellence in Electronics Manufacturing is a comprehensive, state-of-the-art book that covers design and reliability of electronics. The authors—noted experts on the topic—explain how using the DfX concepts of design for reliability, design for manufacturability, design for environment, design for testability, and more, reduce research and development costs and decrease time to market and allow companies to confidently issue warranty coverage. By employing the concepts outlined in Design for Excellence in Electronics Manufacturing, engineers and managers can increase customer satisfaction, market share, and long-term profits. In addition, the authors describe the best practices regarding product design and show how the practices can be adapted for different manufacturing processes, suppliers, use environments, and reliability expectations. This important book contains a comprehensive review of the design and reliability of electronics covers a range of topics: establishing a reliability program, design for the use environment, design for manufacturability, and more. Includes technical information on electronic packaging, discrete components, and assembly processes shows how aspects of electronics can fail under different environmental stresses. Written for reliability engineers, electronics engineers, design engineers, component engineers, and others, Design for Excellence in Electronics Manufacturing is a comprehensive book that reveals how to get product design right the first time.

 

Cheryl Tulkoff may be reached here:

cheryl.tulkoff@ni.com

 

Greg Caswell may be reached here:

greg.caswell@ansys.com

RM 79: Arch Systems‘ Dave Trail about Industry 4.0

Mike Konrad speaks with Dave Trail from Arch Systems about Industry 4.0.

 

Dave may be reached at
dtrail@archsys.io
808-868-8298

PCB Chat 85: Matt Dyson on Electrically Conductive Adhesives

Electrically conductive adhesives (ECAs) have been touted for decades as a potential replacement for solder. Technology roadmaps by organizations ranging from IPC to the Surface Mount Council often listed ECAs as a “coming” technology, and scores of papers have been presented highlighting possible uses and likely end-products.

The international research firm IDTechEx released in early October a new study called “Electrically Conductive Adhesives 2022-2032: Technologies, Markets, and Forecasts.” Matthew Dyson, Ph.D., a senior technology analyst at IDTechEx specializing in printed, organic and flexible electronics, spoke with Mike Buetow about the study’s findings and the future of ECAs, including in-mold and flexible electronics and their potential applications.

C2C 11: Poligage Founder and CEO Christine Davies

Christine Davies is founder and CEO of Poligage. Poligage is an online marketplace for public policy insights and government affairs services, providing efficient virtual connection with a carefully vetted network of world class experts who are available for flexible pay-as-you-go consultations, content, and projects. Founded in May of 2020, Poligage is still in its infancy.

Mike Konrad spoke with Christine about the her journey operating a business startup, why she choose to start a company, her vision, and strategies for growth.

 

Christine may be contacted here:

cdavies@poligage.com

https://www.poligage.com

RM 77: James Kovacevic on Maintenance Reliability Training

Our guest has been quoted saying his personal mission is to make industry a profitable place; where individuals and manufacturers possess the resources, knowledge, and courage to sustainably lower their operating costs. Mike Konrad speaks with James Kovacevic about his maintenance philosophies and his work teaching maintenance best practices.

 

RM 76 - Meet the Press

A conversation with media personalities Mike Buetow (Circuits Assembly Magazine), Trevor Galbraith (Global SMT & Packaging), Phil Stoten (Scoop TV), and Eric Miscoll (EMS Now). During our conversation we covered various topics including post pandemic production, innovations within our industry, supply chain and labor shortages, and more.

RM 75: Matric Group‘s Patrick Stimpert on Lean Manufacturing

EMS provider Matric Group's Patrick Stimpert incorporated the Toyota Production System’s Lean principles into his contract manufacturing business.

“Results are important. How do I get my results?," he states. "With the use of the Toyota Production System’s Lean principles and my simple rule 'Don’t waste time rearranging deck chairs on the Titanic, go fix the problem.' I believe in the "LEAN-IN" processes and gain improvements through RIPs (Rapid Improvement Projects) These projects are based on a standard of identifying problems, brainstorming solutions, attempting those solutions, and adjusting from there. If we are going to fail, we are going to fail fast and cheap.”