EMS Profile
 Out of the Fire, ACD Heats Up
Years after its building went up in flames, the Dallas-area design service bureau has transformed into a fast-growing contract electronics assembler.
 by Mike Buetow
Inspection
 Why Does SPI Have Such Huge Tolerances?
Automated solder paste inspection, a must for most PCB assemblers, appears to use ridiculously wide specification limits. Most SPI program generators read a stencil Gerber file and set the target paste deposit volumes to 100% of the apertures’ theoretical volumes, with tolerances of +/-50% – a ridiculously enormous tolerance.
 by Chrys Shea
Focus on Business 
The sales funnel. 
 Susan Mucha
On the Forefront
 The importance of being thin.
 E. Jan Vardaman
Screen Printing
 Tighter paste particle distribution.
 Clive Ashmore
Test and Inspection
 Boundary scan: present and future.
 Tan Beng Chye
Technical Abstracts
 In Case You Missed It.