Standard of Excellence: Choosing the Right Replacement Vendor

June 24, 2019 | Team ASC, American Standard Circuits

What happens when you have all of the suppliers you need, but a larger firm acquires one of them all of a sudden, and there is only one qualified supplier left when there used to be two. As a smart PCB user, you always want to keep your options open in case you are going to have to qualify another supplier to buy your PCBs from.

3D Optical Inspection Provides ‘Eyes’ for Process Improvements in Industry 4.0

June 21, 2019 | Jenny Yuh, Koh Young Technology, and Brent Fischthal, Koh Young America

Automated 3D solder paste inspection (SPI) and 3D automated optical inspection (AOI) systems have become an integral part of the printed circuit board assembly (PCBA) process because they help ensure high-quality production. As today’s board complexity is increasing, inspection technology has become even more critical.

The Government Circuit: Team IPC Working on North American Trade, EPA Regulations, EU Policy, and More

June 13, 2019 | Chris Mitchell, IPC

In one of the highlights of IPC’s work every year, top executives from electronics companies from across the U.S. came together in Washington, D.C., recently to call for policies that will drive the electronics industry’s...

Punching Out! Delegate and You Shall Be Set Free

May 29, 2019 | Tom Kastner, GP Ventures, Ltd.

It is good for owners/CEOs to step back a few times a year and think about what they do well, what they like to do, and what others can do better. Delegating simple tasks, like sweeping floors, is easy, but delegating sales management...

Process Validation Can Lead to Higher Performance Levels

May 21, 2019 | Alfred Macha, AMT Partners

In this first column from Alfred Macha, which appears in the May issue of SMT007 Magazine, the author provides a practical guideline on how to effectively implement a sustainable process validation program for contract...