e speak so often of the maturing (“graying”) of the engineers and operators who work in the printed circuit industry, we sometimes overlook whether the same term applies to the companies that employ those individuals.

And yet that matzah ball is hanging out there, particularly when it comes to printed circuit design software.

The textbook definition of a mature market is when it has reached a “state of equilibrium.” This is characterized by “an absence of significant growth or a lack of innovation.”

In a regulatory filing, Elite said it sought to establish a North American manufacturing base and expand to the US to meet long-term market demand.

Rancho Cucamonga, CA-based EMD makes specialty laminates and prepregs for PCBs used in the aerospace, defense and semiconductor industries. Known also as Arlon EMD, it has been owned by Critical Point Capital since its purchase from Rogers in 2015. (MB)

Circuits West designs and manufactures PCBs, specializing in the support and design of complex, dense and high-speed applications.

“I am excited to take over the company I’ve seen my father build over the past 25 years and lead it into the future,” said Anderson. “This investment will help Circuits West grow, add capabilities and modernize as a PCB manufacturer, while continuing to provide our clients with a world-class product and unparalleled customer service.”

DPO added, “We became intrigued by the bare board fab industry after learning that many of our private equity clients were investing in the space. When we dug into the industry and visited over a dozen board houses, it became clear there was a spectrum of quality, and that Circuits West was clearly near the top. Chuck did a great job of growing the company and continuing to invest in technology. With Charles’ energy and experience inside and outside the industry, we think we can do something really special. We will differentiate based on speed, quality and customer centricity that we think will be unrivaled in the relatively sleepy PCB space.” (CD)

IPC said industry experts believe a five-year, $40 million investment in a public-private R&D program would yield more than $100 million in US defense savings per year and improve military readiness and overall innovation. Congress provided $5 million for such R&D in FY 2020.

SMTC’s board of directors has unanimously approved the acquisition and recommends stockholders adopt the agreement.

“Over the past three years, the team at SMTC has done an excellent job of transforming the company into a global leader among midsize providers of end-to-end electronics manufacturing services by offering superior supply chain management and proactive services and solutions to an expanding base of customers,” said Ed Smith, president and CEO, SMTC. “Partnering with H.I.G. will enable us to accelerate our growth through continued investment in our customers, capabilities, and footprint.

Last July, OEP bought the EMS assets of Sparton Corp., which has since been renamed Spartronics. The combined companies will have annual revenues of around $420 million, a source with knowledge of the transaction told CIRCUITS ASSEMBLY.

With the relocation, the company continues to reside in the Greater Pittsburgh area and gains more square footage in anticipation of future growth. Intervala finalized the five-year lease for the 217,000 sq. ft. space, including several extension options.

Stagnation has many causes, which can take a long time to do damage. Most common are simple things, such as when a company slows or stops development of new products or capabilities, or when it takes existing customers for granted while not working to develop new ones. Most common is when management stops investing in needed equipment or workers to make the bottom line look better, quarter after quarter. Each of these decisions are made, consciously or not, by management. And while the intentions may have been good, over time they become the root cause of stagnation and can bring a vibrant company to its knees.

Authors: Wenyu Wang, et al.

Abstract: Scalability and device integration have been prevailing issues limiting the ability to harness the potential of small-diameter conducting fibers. The authors report inflight fiber printing (iFP), a one-step process that integrates conducting fiber production and fiber-to-circuit connection. Inorganic (silver) or organic {PEDOT:PSS [poly(3,4-ethylenedioxythiophene) polystyrene sulfonate]} fibers with 1- to 3-µm diameters are fabricated, with the fiber arrays exhibiting more than 95% transmittance (350 to 750nm). The high surface area-to-volume ratio, permissiveness, and transparency of the fiber arrays were exploited to construct sensing and optoelectronic architectures. The authors show the PEDOT:PSS fibers as a cell-interfaced impedimetric sensor, a 3-D moisture flow sensor, and noncontact, wearable/portable respiratory sensors. The capability to design suspended fibers, networks of homo cross-junctions and hetero cross-junctions, and coupling iFP fibers with 3-D-printed parts paves the way to additive manufacturing of fiber-based 3-D devices with multi-latitude functions and superior spatiotemporal resolution, beyond conventional film-based device architectures. (Science Advances, September 2020, https://advances.sciencemag.org/content/6/40/eaba0931)