Identify the areas of variance in stencil design and adjust SPI programming accordingly.

Don’t underestimate the speed and execution of a smaller shop.

Def.: Mom and Pop Shop. A common characterization of a family-owned company, usually small, closely held, and tightly run under original or second-generation ownership; often used as a term of derision or condescension by members of large companies; unsophisticated, provincial, or parochial; perceived as lacking in the most current skills, tools, or manufacturing methods. Often viewed as predisposed to surviving as a business and ensuring family succession first, with growth for growth’s sake a secondary priority. Not innovative. Inflexible in business practices. Rarely for sale. Content to operate in their space. Stuck in their ways.

Your operation? Or perhaps someone’s cursory impression of it? Certainly you have heard someone belittle a company by saying, “They’re nothing more than a mom-and-pop operation.” How did you as an owner feel when you got wind of that summary judgment? Was your comeback equally dismissive and snap-judgmental (“Typical remarks by someone who’s never met a payroll in their life”)?

Not enough solder? Blame the via design!

Vias in pads can be “solder thirsty” and suck up solder from pads at terminals during reflow, creating what may appear to be solder insufficiency at the joints. This problem is typical of a via-in-pad design. It’s unpredictable as well; solder will randomly tend to fill those vias during the reflow process and some locations may appear worse than others, for example.

Eight things you should do when your PCB vendor has been acquired.

Your printed circuit board supplier has been acquired. Will this acquisition benefit you as a board buyer? Or will it lead to higher prices and a reduced level of service?

The reality is that your relationship with the supplier and the level of service will likely change. Here are steps you can take to protect your PCB supply chain.

1. Don't wait to be visited by the new supplier team, especially if the acquired firm was a big part of your PCB spend. Request a meeting sooner rather than later. Pay attention to how receptive the new supplier is to the meeting and be ready to ask as many questions as you need to get the lay of the land.