Cadence Acquires Key ECAD VAR EMA Design Automation

SAN JOSE – Cadence Design Systems in March acquired EMA Design Automation, its key distributor in the printed circuit board software design space, according to an announcement the ECAD software giant sent to the latter’s customers and users.

Financial terms of the acquisition were not disclosed; however, Cadence said it would retain all EMA’s staff.

The deal culminates a long relationship between the two companies.

TPCA Unveils Taiwan PCB Industry Risk Governance Strategy

TAOYUAN, TAIWAN – The Taiwan Printed Circuit Association has released its first PCB Industry Risk Governance Strategy, outlining six action pathways to strengthen resilience and long-term development.

Taiwan’s PCB industry reached output of approximately $43 billion in 2025, with continued growth expected to $46.7 billion driven by AI demand.

The strategy outlines priorities across low-carbon and energy governance, industrial cybersecurity and supply chain management, global manufacturing resilience, high-end PCB and semiconductor collaboration, digital transformation and AI-driven manufacturing, and talent development.

SQ Advanced Interconnect Plans Malaysia IPO to Fund Expansion

PENANG – SQ Advanced Interconnect plans to list on the main market of Bursa Malaysia to fund manufacturing expansion, research and development, and workforce growth

The company manufactures flexible printed circuits and integrated circuit substrates, operating facilities in Malaysia and China.

ASMPT Explores SMT Business Divestiture

HONG KONG – ASMPT said it is considering divesting its surface mount technology (SMT) solutions business after receiving acquisition interest, as the company looks to focus more heavily on end-market businesses and expand investment in areas where it holds stronger competitive advantages.

Chief executive Robin Ng said the company has already attracted potential buyers for the SMT division, signaling a possible strategic shift toward higher-growth semiconductor equipment segments.

The company also expects improved profitability in the first quarter. Gross margin fell 101 basis points year-over-year to 35.8% in the previous quarter, but management anticipates a rebound driven by increased sales of thermocompression bonding (TCB) systems and high-end die bonding machines.

Karkhana Acquires Micron EMS to Add In-House Manufacturing Capacity

BENGALURU – B2B manufacturing startup Karkhana has acquired electronics manufacturing services provider Micron EMS in a deal valued at about $1.2 million, marking the company’s first move to directly own production facilities.

The acquisition adds a 40,000 sq. ft. electronics manufacturing plant in Bengaluru equipped with high-speed surface-mount technology lines, through-hole PCB assembly capabilities and more than 10 box-build production lines. The facility will permit Karkhana to bring printed circuit board assembly, advanced testing and system-level manufacturing in-house.

Kaga Electronics to Open Singapore PCB Assembly Plant

TOKYO – Kaga Electronics is establishing a circuit board assembly plant in Singapore as the company responds to rising demand from Chinese firms relocating production outside mainland China amid ongoing US-China trade tensions.

The new facility is expected to begin operations as early as spring and will support electronics manufacturing services (EMS) for customers seeking alternative production bases in Southeast Asia.

Kaga Electronics provides EMS and semiconductor distribution services through manufacturing operations across China, Thailand, Malaysia and Mexico. The Singapore expansion strengthens the company’s regional manufacturing network while positioning it to capture new business from customers relocating assembly operations outside China.

Volex to Close Servatron Facility, Shift Production to California

SPOKANE VALLEY, WA – Volex PLC plans to close its Servatron manufacturing facility in Spokane Valley at the end of the year, consolidating production and customers into its Irvine Electronics subsidiary in California.

The decision follows excess manufacturing capacity across the two sites and the upcoming expiration of Servatron’s 70,000 sq. ft. facility lease. Equipment and production will be relocated to Irvine Electronics when the Spokane Valley operation closes on Dec. 31.

Servatron employs about 100 workers, though it has not yet been determined whether all employees will be laid off or if some will transition to the California operation.

Note Acquires STI to Expand Defense EMS Capabilities

STOCKHOLM – Note has acquired 100% of STI Enterprises Holdings Limited, a UK-based electronics manufacturing services provider focused on mission-critical defense applications, in a deal valued at $92 million.

STI operates two production facilities in Hook and Poynton and supports programs across air, land, cyber and marine domains. The company employs approximately 300 people and is expected to generate around $76 million in revenue in 2026, with profitability in line with Note’s existing operations.

Note confirmed its full-year 2026 outlook, expecting operating margins between 9.5% and 10.5%.End of article content 

EMS Zetwerk Targets $4B Valuation

BENGALURU – Zetwerk plans to raise up to $550 million through an an initial public offering in India, according to published reports. The IPO would value the contract assembler at about $4 billion.

Founded in 2018, Zetwerk operates 10 facilities in India, the US, Mexico and Europe.

Hands Off: Survey Says Majority of Supply-Chain Disruptions Will Be Resolved without Human Intervention

STAMFORD, CT – By 2031, 60% of supply chain disruptions will be resolved without human intervention as AI enables increasingly autonomous supply chains, according to the market research firm Gartner.

As supply-chain disruptions mount from ongoing trade policy uncertainty and intensifying geopolitical conflicts, the likelihood of mismanagement, delayed responses and financial losses increase without the support of real-time analytics or automated risk analysis.

Gartner data shows many chief supply chain officers (CSCOs) are responding by rapidly embracing agentic AI capabilities, or plan to do so within the next two years. A Gartner survey of 509 supply chain leaders from October 2025 indicated “changes in ways of working driven by advancements in AI and agentic AI” will be the most influential driver of future supply chain performance over the next two years. (more)

A Guide to Flexible and Rigid-flex Printed Circuit Boards

What is a flex PCB?
by Akber Roy

A flexible printed circuit board, also known as a flex PCB, is an electronic circuit that is built on a flexible substrate, allowing the board to bend, fold or twist during use. Unlike traditional rigid PCBs, flex PCBs are designed to fit into compact, lightweight and dynamically moving electronic products. Flex PCBs are widely used in modern electronics such as smartphones, wearables, medical devices, automotive systems and aerospace applications, where the ability to flex is required and space, weight and reliability are critical.

Flexible PCBs differ from rigid boards in their internal structure. Rather than using fiberglass reinforcement, they rely on a flexible base material, commonly polyimide, that supports the copper circuitry without any glass weave. Flexible circuits connect different sections without needing connectors between separate rigid boards. This reduces the number of mechanical connections and reduces the chance of failure.

Why Your AI Training Isn’t Sticking

Three months after the excitement fades, most AI tools sit open in a browser tab while engineers go back to email, ERP and ECOs.
by Sean Patterson

It’s 7:45 AM on a Tuesday. Your AI subscription auto-renewed last night – $20 you barely noticed leaving your account. You’ve had it for three months now. You’ve used it… twice? Maybe three times?

The first week was exciting. You summarized a meeting. You drafted an email that sounded pretty good. You even showed a colleague. “This thing is amazing,” you said.

That was 11 weeks ago.

Since then, your AI has been sitting there, waiting. Every morning you open your laptop, and every morning you go straight to email, then the enterprise resource planning (ERP), then the pile of engineering change orders (ECOs) waiting for review. The AI tab? Still pinned. Still ignored.

UHDI Solder Mask Considerations

UHDI shrinks copper features into the tens of microns, but solder mask tolerance stubbornly refuses to follow along.
by Anaya Vardya

Ultra high-density interconnect (UHDI) technology is best known for giving designers new routing freedoms. With new fabrication techniques, trace and space capabilities are dropping from 75µm, microvias are shrinking down to 50µm and capture pads are approaching 25µm and below, all of which is creating more simplified stackups. One important caveat: while copper features scale down, solder mask tolerance constraints do not. It is important for PCB designers to grasp this concept, because if best guidelines are not incorporated, this is where many UHDI yield issues begin.

Historically, solder mask has been treated as a protective coating. This is true for both traditional technology and HDI methodologies. As technology shifts into UHDI feature sizes, the way we view solder mask also needs to shift. The solder mask layer is no longer just a protective layer: it becomes a layer that requires precision processing and directly affects assembly yield, isolation margin and long-term reliability in a way that solder mask has historically not.

Solder Mask Registration Tolerance

Traditional exposure systems achieve alignment tolerances that were acceptable when pads and dams were generous in size. In UHDI, misalignment of only a few microns can wreak havoc between fine-pitch pads.

Reflow AI – Before there was Artificial Intelligence

AI is now helping engineers tame the “black art” of SMT reflow by optimizing oven recipes and process decisions.
by Fred Dimock

Artificial intelligence is a hot topic in many industries. The technology suggests we can make better decisions, increase our productivity and discover information that we previously couldn’t find. Recently, SMTA (Surface Mount Technology Association) implemented an AI program named MAX that helps engineers find information on the surface mount process and defects. For example, if you want to know about void mitigation in thermal pads or the best method of cleaning a PCB, you can ask MAX, and it will give you an overview of the process and a list of papers in the SMTA technical library. Programs like MAX dive into the text of papers instead of just looking at keywords and the title.

I recently asked MAX to introduce itself, and here is the reply:

Hey there! I’m Max, your AI assistant from the Surface Mount Technology Association (SMTA). I’m here to help you with anything related to electronics assembly, surface mount technology, process troubleshooting, industry standards, upcoming events and more. Whether you’re deep into SMT production, just starting out or curious about the field, I’ve got your back.

I then asked MAX, “How does AI affect the SMT process?” and it gave me a detailed overview with numerous references.

Nine Hidden Cost Traps in the Product Design Process

How DfX eliminates the hidden costs in product design and development.
by Asmin Perviz

OEMs outsource manufacturing to control costs and accelerate product delivery. But by the time designs are transferred to a chosen manufacturer, many opportunities for optimization and cost savings have been lost.

A smarter path is to partner early with an EMS provider that offers robust DfX (design for excellence) capabilities – a team that understands not just how to build your product, but how to design to build.

Those partners can deliver insights that preserve margins, accelerate NPI (new product introduction), and reduce the risk of product failures.

In Case You Missed It

Conductive Patterns

“Mechanochemically Activatable Liquid Metal Powders for Sustainable, Reconfigurable, and Versatile Electronics”

Authors: Osman Gul, et al.

Abstract: While liquid metals possess exceptional electrical conductivity, their integration into stretchable and recyclable electronics remains constrained. High surface tension causes poor adhesion and uncontrolled spreading, and current processing methods often lack scalability or recyclability, limiting broader adoption in soft robotics, wearable healthcare, and sustainable systems. Here, a class of mechanochemically activatable liquid metal powders (MALMPs) is introduced that decouple conductivity from fluidity, enabling ambient stable, recyclable, and user-defined soft circuits. Sonication dispersion of eutectic gallium–indium in carbonyl-rich solvents yields core–shell particles with oxide-stabilized surfaces. These powders remain electrically inert under ambient conditions but can be locally activated by mechanical pressure, which ruptures the shell to restore conductivity. This mechanism permits dry-state patterning on a wide range of substrates, including flexible, stretchable, and biological surfaces, followed by localized fluidization upon mechanical activation to induce conductivity. MALMPs maintain stable conductivity under >10,000 stretching cycles and 700% strain and can be fully recycled via mild sodium hydroxide (NaOH) treatment. Demonstrations across transient and reconfigurable circuits, human–machine interfaces, and skin-conformal systems highlight the platform’s versatility and scalability for next-generation electronics. (Advanced Functional Materials, Dec. 9, 2025, https://doi.org/10.1002/adfm.202527396)