PCB Chat

In the wake of AS9100D, how is the electronics supply chain handling first article inspection requirements? And are board fabricators feeling the brunt of it? Mike Buetow explores the topic in this week's PCB Chat.

Mike O'Reilly is director of Aerosol Jet Product Management at Optomec, responsible for leading the company's Aerosol Jet commercialization efforts within printed electronics and related markets. Prior to joining Optomec, he was vice president of product marketing at Cadence Design Systems, responsible for system level design and verification products. Mike has over 30 years of experience introducing advanced technology into the commercial sector. He speaks with Mike Buetow about Optomec's new high-volume dispensing platform.

Randall Sherman is perhaps the leading analyst for the electronics manufacturing services and ODM markets. The founder of New Venture Research, he specializes in market and technology studies. He has a master’s in electrical engineering and an MBA, and his experience ranges from network design engineer to product market research, due diligence and business development-related services. He discusses how EMS companies are leading innovation by building intelligence into production systems.

Mike Buetow discusses the sale of Isola and pending sale of Park Electrochemical and what they could mean for the North American supply chain.

Mark Hepburn is director of product management at Cadence. He has spent more than 20 years in engineering and technical marketing and sales in EDA, with Innoveda, Mentor, and most recently Perception Software.

He joins Mike Buetow to discuss Allegro Pulse, a new web-based collaboration platform from Cadence.

Wally Rhines is president and chief executive of Mentor, which he has headed Mentor since 1993. Prior to that, he spent 21 years at Texas Instruments, ultimately as executive vice president of its Semiconductor Group. He has served on the boards of Cirrus Logic, TriQuint Semiconductor, Global Logic, among others, and spent 10 years as chairman of the Electronic Design Automation Consortium (now the ESS Alliance). He speaks with PCB Chat host Mike Buetow about the ESD Alliance's latest EDA market report.

From the floors of the Messe International Fairgrounds in Munich, home to Productronica, Mike Buetow reports on the biennial trade show and the latest equipment for inspecting electronics assemblies. And it is everywhere: There are more than 40 companies offering surface inspection, 28 showing AOI, and another 20 with x-ray machines.

For some 50 years, Rick Hartley has been an engineer and designer of printed circuit boards, primarily with BF Goodrich and L3 Avionics. He is now principal of RHartley Enterprises, where he consults with leading companies to resolve noise, signal integrity and EMI problems. Perhaps the most popular speaker in the history of PCB West, Rick recently has been conducting 2-day workshops on controlling signal noise. He talks EMI ("it's about fields") and his advice for designers with UPMG's Mike Buetow.

Joe Fama is an expert in electronics manufacturing services with more than 30 years helping OEMs and EMS companies, particularly in southeast Asia. Joe specializes in taking relatively unknown electronics companies and linking them with key OEMs. His career has taken him to Singapore, Malaysia, China, Mexico and the Philippines. He also writes an occasional column. He talks with Mike Buetow about setting up three-way program among a Western OEM and NPI EMS and a Southeast Asian volume EMS that can generate a recurring revenue stream for the US-based EMS.