A positive counterbalance for mitigating inflation.

Ideally, design for excellence (DFx) should optimize and standardize every product and associated manufacturing processes to achieve high throughput and eliminate defect opportunities. While Lean original equipment manufacturers (OEMs) may reach those lofty goals in their facilities, electronics manufacturing services (EMS) environments rarely achieve them. In these environments, OEMs control their designs and much, if not all, of their approved material list (AML).

How to limit shared design data, protecting IP and securing the manufacturing handoff.

Last month’s column on intelligent data transfer discussed how PCB design data have evolved from unintelligent, fragmented formats like Gerber to an intelligent, integrated, single-file exchange through IPC-2581. We talked about what intelligent data means – design data that retains their full context, hierarchy and relationships throughout the product lifecycle – and why the industry needs to move away from legacy Gerber-based packages.

This month, we take a deeper look at how intellectual property (IP) is protected using IPC-2581 and how its function mode capability enables secure and efficient data sharing (Figure 1).

Growth in the consumer sector is a reason for us to celebrate and a signal for us to change.

The consumer sector is arguably the most powerful aspect of today’s immense electronics industry, influencing our quality of life and our perception of it. The standards of functionality, appearance and quality are far above the norms of just a few years ago, and many of us own far more of these luxuriant items than previous generations could have dreamed.

Don’t let derailments break your sales spirit.

In the past four years I have sustained numerous injuries from my “hobbies.” Why do I do this, and how does this relate to business? The easy answers are to slow the aging process, challenge myself, achieve some goals I’ve arbitrarily set and overcome some fears … well, maybe some of all of that.