Ventec Evaluating US Manufacturing Expansion

TAOYUAN, TAIWAN – Ventec International Group is evaluating potential sites in the US for a new manufacturing facility as part of its strategy to expand its global footprint and better serve North American customers.

The proposed site would focus on producing high-performance laminate and prepreg materials for mission-critical PCB applications across aerospace, defense, industrial and medical sectors. The company said the move would enhance supply chain resilience by enabling more localized, high-mix manufacturing capabilities closer to key customers.

The evaluation is part of Ventec’s broader “China + Taiwan Plus One” strategy aimed at diversifying production and strengthening supply continuity. The company’s Thailand facility, currently under development, is expected to begin operations in 2026 and represents a key step in that plan.

SpaceX Advances Texas Chip Facility While Facing Packaging and PCB Delays

AUSTIN, TX – SpaceX has begun installing equipment at its Texas semiconductor facility as it works toward bringing chip packaging in-house, even as production timelines face delays tied to packaging and PCB challenges.

Sources said the Bastrop facility is targeting initial production by the end of the year and will handle packaging of RF chips used in Starlink systems. The move is part of a broader effort to internalize semiconductor capabilities and reduce reliance on external providers.

Chimney Rock Equity Acquires United Electronics

AUSTIN, TX – Chimney Rock Equity Partners has acquired United Electronics, a provider of electronics design and manufacturing solutions serving defense, aerospace and industrial markets. Terms of the transaction were not disclosed.

Headquartered in Charleston, SC, the company produces radio frequency (RF) systems, circuit card assemblies and power and connectivity solutions used in mission-critical applications. Its components support signal transmission and power management across platforms including military aircraft, ground vehicles, naval systems, satellites and telecom infrastructure.

Apple Expands US Manufacturing Program With $400M Investment

CUPERTINO, CA – Apple is committing $400 million through 2030 to expand its US manufacturing footprint, adding four new partners to its domestic production program.

The expansion brings Bosch, Cirrus Logic, TDK and Qnity Electronics into the initiative, extending Apple’s efforts to localize key components across its supply chain.

Storskogen Acquires Darlington EMS to Expand UK Electronics Presence

STOCKHOLM – Storskogen has acquired a 90% stake in UK-based Darlington EMS, strengthening its position in electronics manufacturing and expanding its footprint in the United Kingdom. The transaction closed Apr. 2.

Darlington EMS, which specializes in the production of electronic parts and components, employs 70 people and reported revenue of £8.1 million (approximately $10.2 million) in 2025.End of article content 

Syrma SGS Completes Joint Venture with Elemaster

MUMBAI – Syrma SGS Technology has completed the closing of its joint venture with Italy-based Elemaster, finalizing a strategic partnership aimed at expanding capabilities in electronics manufacturing services.

The transaction, originally announced in September, establishes a new entity through Syrma, with Syrma holding a 60% controlling stake and Elemaster owning the remaining 40%.

MK Electron Expands Solder Paste, Pd Alloy Production

SEOUL – MK Electron said it will expand production of solder paste and palladium (Pd) alloys as part of a broader strategy to drive growth across semiconductor packaging and SMT applications.

The company plans to increase capacity through new capital investments, though financial details were not disclosed. The move includes scaling solder paste production, where MK Electron has internalized the full manufacturing process, from solder powder production to flux blending and final paste formulation.

20 in a Row: PCB Design Tool Sales Set Another Mark

MILPITAS, CA – Sales of printed circuit board and multichip module design tools rose 1.8% year-over-year in the fourth quarter, hitting a record $484.6 million, the ESD Alliance announced in April. It marked 20 straight quarters of year-over-year growth in the segment and beat the previous quarterly high by more than $10 million.

The segment’s four-quarter moving average rose 4.5%. The four-quarter moving average is calculated by comparing consecutive sets of four quarters and is used to smooth out fluctuations in data sets. (more)

Why Agentic AI Requires Design Methodology

Capturing design intent is critical for AI to function as a true partner in PCB design.
by Charles Pfeil

For the past several years, the discussion around artificial intelligence in PCB design has largely focused on capability. How fast can AI route? How many rules can it process? How well can it replicate known good designs? These are reasonable questions, but they are increasingly the wrong ones.

We are now entering a phase where AI can do many of these things quite well. It can generate layouts, evaluate electrical performance and explore solution spaces at a speed no human designer can match. That part is no longer theoretical. What remains unresolved is something far more fundamental, and it has little to do with model intelligence.

The limitation is methodology. Not methodology in the abstract sense, but the specific, often unspoken process that experienced designers use when they are confronted with a problem they have never seen before. If every board were just a variation of the last one, none of us would have jobs. Or at least, not interesting ones.

Ultra UDI PCB Design Guidelines: Lessons from the Fabrication Floor

Ultra HDI success depends on designing within production limits, not pushing minimum capabilities.
by Anaya Vardya

There’s a point many design teams reach where routing density that once seemed impossible becomes routine. Then the design hits the fabrication floor, and questions begin.

Stackup choices. Mask clearances. Registration tolerances. Individually, these may seem like small details. But in ultra HDI (UHDI), small decisions compound quickly – impacting yield, cost and timelines.

From the fabrication perspective, this pattern is common in first-time UHDI builds. Designers want fixed rules and clear limits. But in UHDI, the most accurate answer is often: “it depends.”

Understanding the Role of Capacitors in PDN Design

Capacitors shape PDN performance by controlling impedance, supporting transient loads and stabilizing voltage across the system.
by Akber Roy

A power delivery network (PDN) is the electrical infrastructure that distributes stable, low‑noise power from voltage regulators to integrated circuits (ICs). As digital systems increase in speed and complexity, PDN design has become a critical discipline for ensuring signal and power integrity and overall system reliability. Among all PDN elements, capacitors play the most influential role in shaping impedance, supporting transient loads and suppressing noise. This article defines the PDN, outlines its objectives and major components, and examines capacitor functions in a PDN design, including bypass, decoupling and bulk capacitors. Also, it will study the guidelines for selection and placement on the PCB.

A PDN is the complete electrical path that delivers power from the source (VRM, battery, converter) to every load (ICs, memory, sensors) on a PCB. It includes all conductive structures and components that influence voltage stability, noise and transient response. It is often described as the circulatory system of electronics because every IC depends on it for reliable operation.

Design of Experiments with Field Constraints

Design of Experiments can still deliver meaningful process insights by adapting proven methods to real-world manufacturing constraints.
by Patrick Valentine, Brittany Malin and April Labonte

Design of experiments (DoE) is an efficient method for planning experiments. DoE involves intentionally changing one or more input-process factors – also known as independent variables – to observe how these changes affect output or response variables (the outcomes measured in an experiment). DoE is often used for product and process design, development and improvement. To maximize information and minimize time, resources or cost, a properly chosen experimental design is needed.

An experimental design is the creation of a detailed plan for an experiment that is completed before the experiment begins. A good experimental design incorporates process knowledge, sound statistical procedures and experience. Process knowledge includes technical knowledge and intellectual capacity gained from previous projects or problems. Statistical procedures include a basic understanding of ANOVA (analysis of variance) tables and how to interpret residual plots. While experience takes time, developing a sound experimental design is needed to ensure efficient time utilization and valid, relevant results.

Properly defining the response variable is key to ensuring the experiment’s validity. The engineer must decide what will be measured, how it will be expressed and whether the response is continuous (can take any value within a range, such as weight or temperature) or categorical (fits into groups, such as pass/fail). In general, continuous responses are preferred due to greater analytical sensitivity¹. Clear operational definitions reduce ambiguity and support consistent data collection. Reliable measurement systems and stable process conditions are also needed. These ensure that statistical significance reflects true process behavior and not measurement variation².

Evaluation of Solder Paste Printability with Solder Paste Inspection Equipment After Extended Stencil Cleaning Cycle Intervals

Extending stencil cleaning intervals to 50 prints maintained consistent deposition while improving throughput and reducing downtime.
by Takeshi Yahagi, Shantanu Joshi, Jasbir Bath, Ray Welch, Joel Scutchfield and Brent Fischthal

Solder paste printing is an essential part of the electronics manufacturing process. Having a solder paste that can print high solder paste volumes with high repeatability of paste volume will improve process yields. Solder paste inspection is used to validate paste printing volumes and consistency of printed paste deposition. During paste printing, under stencil cleaning is employed to ensure high printed paste volumes are maintained between board prints to reduce printing defects. The frequency of under stencil cleaning varies based on the solder paste used, the product board type, the stencil thickness and stencil aperture openings used during paste printing.

The industry needs a solder paste that has good paste printing volume and requires less stencil cleaning during paste printing. Extending the interval between stencil cleaning cycles will help improve manufacturing throughput and reduce downtime.

The following sections will discuss an evaluation of solder pastes during paste printing with extended stencil cleaning intervals between board prints. Solder paste inspection equipment was used to assess the volumes of solder paste printed. It will help to show how robust statistical analysis and inspection technologies for printed solder paste can offer the industry a method for improving process efficiency, irrespective of the specific brand or product used.

Semiconductor Market: Supply, Costs and Sourcing

What tight supply and rising costs mean for your sourcing strategy.
by Marc Schwanbeck

The first quarter of 2026 made clear that the semiconductor market is no longer moving in a normal cycle. Instead of supply rising and falling evenly across industries, we’re seeing a structural shift in how chips are produced and distributed.

That shift is driven largely by sustained investment in artificial intelligence (AI) and the infrastructure that supports it, especially in large-scale data centers and high-performance computing.

At the same time, supply is being prioritized toward those high-growth, high-margin applications. For procurement teams, that changes the core challenge from price volatility to whether supply is available at all.

In Case You Missed It

Additive Manufacturing

“Three-Dimensional Printing of Nanomaterials-Based Electronics with a Metamaterial-Inspired Near-Field Electromagnetic Structure”

Authors: Jian Teng, et al.

Abstract: Three-dimensional (3-D) printing can create freeform architectures and electronics with unprecedented versatility. However, the full potential of electronic 3-D printing has so far been limited by the inability to selectively anneal the printed materials, especially on temperature-sensitive substrates. Here, the authors achieve highly selective and rapid volumetric heating of 3-D-printed nanomaterials and polymers in situ by focusing microwaves using a metamaterial-inspired near-field electromagnetic structure (Meta-NFS). In contrast to previous work, the Meta-NFS achieves the spatial resolution and power density needed to 3-D-print freeform microstructures, enabling local programming of electronic and mechanical properties even within optically opaque materials. By broadening the material palettes compatible with 3-D printing, near-field microwave 3-D printing with Meta-NFS enables classes of electronics that are otherwise challenging to create. (Science Advances, Feb. 6, 2026, vol. 12, no. 6, https://www.science.org/doi/10.1126/sciadv.adz7415)