t was 16 years ago this month when a group of Chicago-area printed circuit board manufacturers stuck a flag in the ground and declared themselves the new vanguard of the American industry. At an early meeting, leaders called free trade “the seed of our own destruction,” and railed against the devastation of the domestic fab industry.

They called on public officials to fight China on currency manipulation and tariffs, and to enact trade policy that better fit the current state of the domestic market. Nothing less than the long-term security of the US was at stake.

The group had a point: Domestic PCB production had fallen by half in three years to $5 billion. Not only was no recovery in sight, but in some cases the deck seemed stacked against them. For instance, raw materials imported to the US from Asia were assessed tariffs, but assembled PCBs were not. Ouch.

In the statement, the trade group said it welcomes the administration’s focus on workforce development. IPC’s investments in education and training programs are centered on a goal of creating one million new skilled workforce opportunities over the next five years. As part of its efforts, the association plans to introduce new earn-and-learn programs.

IPC said the private sector is best-suited to identify occupational skills workers need to succeed. However, it added, the qualifications for SREs are not sufficiently defined to ensure the most appropriate entities will be given that role. IPC recommends the standards-setting entities be limited to well-established, industry-recognized associations or non-profits.

Loomia has raised more than $1.7 million and is ready to scale its technology. The firm has two patents and has completed three years of research.

PE OEM Eastprint’s facilities in Massachusetts and Mexico will be set up to produce Loomia technology.

The firms have conducted trial runs of a non-ink-based soft circuit production system this past year and produced a heating system certified by the Federal Communications Commission.

Compeq is the world’s seventh largest PCB fabricator, according to the latest NTI-100. – MB

The company will be moving into a newly constructed industrial building. The facility will be optimized for the quickturn PCB market.

“The finalization of the lease agreement and the build-out of our new facility will allow us to optimize our ability to serve the evolving electronics market in North America as it continues to shift from volume manufacturing to low volume, high customization,” said Travis Kelly, executive vice chairman and CEO, Isola.

The facility is expected to open in multiple phases starting this month. – CD

Project activities focused on construction of a set of decision trees to identify the options at each step in the value recovery chain in the context of a circular economy and what information each of the stakeholders needs to pursue higher value recovery along a given pathway; development of economic models, lifecycle assessments and logistics models to determine which value recovery options generate the highest value by type and size of drive. These models provide the basis for business decision-making by the stakeholders, both individually and collectively, as part of supply chains; demonstration projects to prove the efficacy of major critical-to-market circular economy pathways.

The demonstration teams were able to successfully reuse magnet assemblies, recover intact magnets for non-HDD use, make magnets from magnets and shred, make rare earth element oxides from HDD magnets and develop business models that would allow functioning HDDs to be reused/resold after secure, verifiable, economically viable data wiping.

“Think of more personalized healthcare, where you put devices that match maybe your profile as an individual,” said Steven Borges, executive vice president and CEO, Jabil Healthcare. “That’s everything from orthopedics, surgical instruments for the surgeon, and things of that nature.”

Jabil will work with New Mexico colleges and universities to develop a workforce.

The expansion is supported by New Mexico’s Local Economic Development Act. The state and city are expected to provide $1 million to help with the project.

Smartphone sales have stagnated, so OEMs and carriers are pushing 5G development and deployment, with the hope customers will be enticed to upgrade their phones, according to the firm. These early 5G phones are primarily designed to enhance 4G LTE by adding sub-6GHz frequency spectrum. Support for the millimeter-wave version of 5G, which many consider to be the “true” 5G, is limited, as rollout of the technology is still in its infancy.

The past couple years have been good ones. Despite increased and costly quality protocols, foreign competition, escalating raw material costs and fewer material suppliers – and even the advent of punitive tariffs – business has been good. With fewer negative issues to contend with, the one that continues to be most talked about is the difficulty to locate, recruit, develop, and retain quality employees. Indeed, this may be the challenge of our times. As older employees approach retirement, ones who are just beginning their careers seem less interested in manufacturing as a career path than at any time we can remember.

This talent gap threatens to upturn our industry – nay, most industries – more dramatically than any new disruptive technology. Much has been said about the difficulties attracting millennials to our industry. Many initiatives have been started to educate, entice and attract younger people to companies that build technology, products and the “things” we need and use in our day-to-day lives. Some have been more successful than others, but none has been a silver bullet that works all the time in every circumstance, across all industries. While creating work environments that more resemble a summer camp than a place to produce high-quality, complex products may be the way to emulate the software-centric businesses so many millennials yearn to be part of, maybe there is a simpler approach.

Despite all the hype over employee-centric, motivational work environments at companies such as Google, before we invest in the likes of basketball courts in the plating area or coffee bars in the QC department, it might be more effective to revisit time-tested, yet often forgotten, basics of managing and supervision. For instance, saying “thank you!”

The one predicable outcome of trade wars is they tend to make sourcing teams evaluate their outsourcing strategies. Given that project requirements and cost drivers change over time, even without fluctuating tariffs, periodic evaluations can help better align electronics manufacturing services (EMS) partners with current needs. That said, moving to mitigate tariff concerns alone can create a cascade of unplanned costs that far outweigh the cost of tariffs.

Areas to evaluate when considering a move include:

• Supply chain implications
• Transfer of work costs
• Market factors

Supply chain implications. Moving a project into a different region can trigger supply chain woes on two levels. First, while the materials market is less constrained than a year ago, materials allocation can vary by region. Consequently, material that was available in one region may not be available in a different one. There can also be surprises in the precision engineering realm. Molding and metal fabrication equipment can vary by region. In some cases, that impacts preferred tooling sizes, which could result in a need to fabricate new tooling. If the original supplier licensed the design being used or amortized tooling as part of the unit, a decision to move could create a requirement for an entire custom part redesign and tooling development effort. If new tooling is required, one important question to consider is whether a product is too far along in its lifecycle for new tooling to be cost-feasible.

The one predicable outcome of trade wars is they tend to make sourcing teams evaluate their outsourcing strategies. Given that project requirements and cost drivers change over time, even without fluctuating tariffs, periodic evaluations can help better align electronics manufacturing services (EMS) partners with current needs. That said, moving to mitigate tariff concerns alone can create a cascade of unplanned costs that far outweigh the cost of tariffs.

Areas to evaluate when considering a move include:

• Supply chain implications
• Transfer of work costs
• Market factors

Supply chain implications. Moving a project into a different region can trigger supply chain woes on two levels. First, while the materials market is less constrained than a year ago, materials allocation can vary by region. Consequently, material that was available in one region may not be available in a different one. There can also be surprises in the precision engineering realm. Molding and metal fabrication equipment can vary by region. In some cases, that impacts preferred tooling sizes, which could result in a need to fabricate new tooling. If the original supplier licensed the design being used or amortized tooling as part of the unit, a decision to move could create a requirement for an entire custom part redesign and tooling development effort. If new tooling is required, one important question to consider is whether a product is too far along in its lifecycle for new tooling to be cost-feasible.

In our previous columns we covered all aspects of design fundamentals. As this series comes to a close, it’s important to understand why being knowledgeable on all facets of the design process is integral to design success and how this affects the future of PCB design.

Printed circuit board technology is evolving rapidly. Likewise, engineers need to evolve just as quickly. PCB designers’ roles will soon become even more important. Empowering engineers with the knowledge needed to understand design fundamentals, effectively leverage today’s technology, and learn from others’ mistakes is crucial.

Automation plus the latest software capabilities have made it much easier for even the most inexperienced users to “complete” full designs. But the lack of design fundamentals and collaboration can lead to major issues later and make it almost impossible to leverage the technology available to its fullest potential.

The IPC Designers Council (DC) Executive Board held its semiannual meeting on Sept. 10 at PCB West. This year, the Executive Board decided to open the meeting to the public. This decision bore good fruit, as we had roughly 30-plus attendees at the meeting. Gary Ferrari, who is an IPC Hall of Famer, DC Executive Board Chairman Mike Creeden and I facilitated the meeting, with Gary taking the lead.

This was the second time we implemented a Webex for those who could not attend the conference in person. As a result, domestic and international executive board members were able to attend remotely. We also had individual chapter leaders connecting online and an IPC staff member in attendance. Further, there were a few representatives from several industry ECAD tool suppliers, including Mentor, Altium, Cadence and DownStream. We also had representatives from industry media and EPTAC.

The meeting was very positive. Each attendee added to the buzz in the room. Everyone was given the opportunity to introduce themselves and speak regarding the agenda. The main topic of discussion involved individual chapter activities. During the open floor dialogue, I provided a status update that covered the ongoing success of the eight local chapters and their respective activities, as spotlighted in this column series. Gary also presented updates from overseas chapters covering Southeast Asia and Paris.

While glass-weave skew (GWS) is a real problem, it’s hard to characterize because it is statistical in nature. What is the chance one line in a pair will see a different dielectric constant than the other? It depends on the pitch of the lines, the length of the lines, the laminate composition, and the relative chance alignment of the glass bundles under the two lines.

Obviously, PTFE-based materials often used for RF/microwave designs don’t have glass-weave skew concerns to begin with, though at a cost premium. This column is focused on what the industry refers to as “anisotropic” materials, however. Isotropic laminates will be discussed in more detail in a future installment.

We know the world must deal with aging populations. Diabetes rates are increasing, particularly in North America, Europe and parts of Asia. As our transport networks shrink the globe, travelers can pick up viruses or diseases almost anywhere and present to their local practitioner, who likely has little or no experience of the exotic strain they are carrying. Our doctors are only human; we cannot expect them to know all the symptoms of all the ailments in the world and diagnose the right treatment in time, every time.

All the while, the global population continues to grow and further squeeze healthcare resources. Seeing a doctor is increasingly difficult, and practitioners’ time is increasingly precious and expensive.

As a general rule, we recommend putting the flex in the center of the stackup. This permits the design to have an asymmetric stack. (Symmetry is very important when it comes to managing bow and twist.)

That said, there are a number of reasons why the flex may not reside in the middle of the stackup.

Ed.: This is the second of an occasional series by the authors of the 2019 iNEMI Roadmap. This information is excerpted from the roadmap, available from iNEMI (inemi.org/2019-roadmap-overview).

Previous iNEMI roadmaps indicated that increasing cost and time pressures were driving the electronics industry to rely more heavily on modeling, simulation and design tools (MS&DT) over experimental prototyping during product and technology development. That theme continues to be relevant and central.

The emerging challenges in the MS&DT area are bound on the one end by the emergence of the Internet of Things (IoT) and growth of many connected and smart devices, and on the other end by the complex, high-speed, high-bandwidth devices that represent the growing high-end (HE) systems market. This latter market supports and comprises the connected infrastructure for communicating and processing large amounts of data – the “big data” of the connected world comprised of smart and connected devices.

As the Internet of Things evolves and millions of internet-connected devices get deployed, data center operators are working hard to keep up with the movement of data. They must find ways to meet ever-increasing data and storage needs, while ensuring the quality of service and keeping costs down. For many data center operators, minimizing power consumption is one of their top priorities to reduce operating expenses. Double Data Rate 5 memory, officially abbreviated as DDR5, looks to provide the performance enhancements and power management required in the data center to support 400GE networking speeds.

The new Jedec DDR5 will offer improved performance with greater power efficiency compared to previous-generation DRAM technologies. As planned, DDR5 will provide double the bandwidth and density over DDR4, along with delivering improved channel efficiency. These enhancements, combined with a more user-friendly interface for server and client platforms, will enable high performance and improved power management in a wide variety of applications.

Leveraging Supply Chain Command for Lower Material Prices

Ventec USA president Jack Pattie talked with PCD&F editor-in-chief Mike Buetow in August on how the laminate manufacturer is coping with US tariffs, capacity constraints, and his advice for designers of short-supply materials. Excerpts. (See pcdandf.com for the complete interview.)

Mike Buetow: How are the tariffs affecting Ventec at present?

Jack Pattie: We followed the US trade representative website [ustr.gov] very closely, so we knew that there was a good chance that it was coming, but in order to fulfill our commitment to serving our customers, we still had to import material from our main factory in China. In the interim we were working on a transition of our US orders to our Taiwan factory. Fortunately, since April 2019 we are a publicly traded company in Taiwan, and we have a fully capable factory in Taiwan, but it took some time for that transition.

Time was, PCB fabrication was a standard in-house function of OEMs. IBM, Digital Equipment, AT&T, Texas Instruments, Rockwell and hosts of other large and not-so-large OEMs had captive operations. Board “design” meant place and route, and was a specialty, as was library management and engineering.

Today, of course, that’s all changed. As specialization on one end has ended, it’s become the norm on the other. Fabrication is largely a merchant exercise. And a designer does a little bit – or a lot – of everything.

What’s been lost on the way is the knowledge of how a board is made. No longer can designers take the long walk from one end of the campus to the other to witness the process and talk to the operators and process engineers in person. Communication now ends at the CAM station, if it even makes it there. A surprisingly large contingent of designers today have never seen the inside of a board shop, let alone had the opportunity to get their questions answered.

I have been conducting market analyses for different parts of the electronics market for the past 19 years, starting with the PCB industry in my function as managing director of the German Association of Printed Circuit Industry, and for member companies of the OEM, EMS and ceramic hybrid industry. Fruitful discussions with industry colleagues were helpful, and my understanding of the principles of market behavior and interpretation of numbers grew every year.

Having experienced how fast markets can move, whether to China or other countries in the Far East, in 2015 I decided to bring my experience to all EMS companies in Europe. My objective was to help the European industry make better decisions in strategic planning, benchmarking and understanding of the European EMS market. This marked the launch of the in4ma (information for manufacturers) EMS statistical program for Europe.

Our engineers set up a test with a really long board run to evaluate time to bridge, a fairly standard analysis used to understand how many PCBs can be printed for a particular product until solder paste bridging begins to appear. The evaluation, which was performed using a relatively complex ASM test board, was proceeding beautifully until we noticed a sudden shift in the output. The measurable Sigma shift went from a process running at 4 Sigma (1.33 Cpk) to 3 Sigma (1.0 Cpk). The engineer running the evaluation was looking at the process window and robustness, beginning at a 10,000 ft. view with a box plot, which gives reasonable stability insight across the entire run. When a more granular examination of the data was conducted, the data spike appeared on three boards in the batch, with one PCB being more extreme.

To be clear, the data did not show bridging at the point at which the shift was observed, and in fact, the board at 1.0 Cpk was still within the specification range. But, seeing this unusual spike indicated that if the trend continued, the process would most certainly become out of control. The printed boards were put back through solder paste inspection (SPI) to verify repeatability, and, indeed, it was confirmed. The chance of SPI having a wobble exactly on the same board was remote, and we ran it three different times. So, the culprit wasn’t SPI but rather some characteristic with the board or other input.

Cleaning the samples before aging is also good practice if samples will be coated before scanning electron microscope (SEM) assessment.

In general, the following comments and guidelines are designed for a discussion involving typical modern selective coating equipment (FIGURE 1). However, nearly all the principles are applicable to manual spraying operations as well.

Why clean and flush? Before discussing the specific considerations involved in the clean and flush process, let’s explain the reasoning behind it. Beyond the obvious answer that it is simply good practice, there are a few reasons to regularly clean and flush the selective coating system:

“Ultra-High Thermal Isolation across Heterogeneously Layered Two-Dimensional Materials”

Authors: Sam Vaziri, et al.

Abstract: Heterogeneous integration of nanomaterials has enabled advanced electronics and photonics applications. However, similar progress has been challenging for thermal applications, in part due to shorter wavelengths of heat carriers (phonons) compared to electrons and photons. Here, the authors demonstrate unusually high thermal isolation across ultrathin heterostructures, achieved by layering atomically thin two-dimensional (2-D) materials. The authors realize artificial stacks of monolayer graphene, MoS₂, and WSe₂ with thermal resistance greater than 100 times thicker than SiO₂ and effective thermal conductivity lower than air at room temperature. Using Raman thermometry, we simultaneously identify the thermal resistance between any 2-D monolayers in the stack. Ultra-high thermal isolation is achieved through the mismatch in mass density and phonon density of states between the 2-D layers. These thermal metamaterials are an example in the emerging field of phononics and could find applications where ultrathin thermal insulation is desired in thermal energy harvesting or for routing heat in ultracompact geometries. (Science Advances, Aug. 16, 2019, advances.sciencemag.org/content/5/8/eaax1325)