Siemens today announced Inventec Corporation, a global leader in high-tech electronics and server manufacturing, has adopted Siemens’ Valor NPI software and Process Preparation X solutions from the Siemens Xcelerator portfolio to strengthen design-for-manufacturing (DfM) efficiency and production quality across its server and notebook product lines.
Solving manufacturing issues before production
Inventec is a major Taiwan-based original design manufacturer (ODM) and original equipment manufacturer (OEM) that designs and manufactures notebooks, servers and other electronic devices for leading global brands. As the complexity of server and AI-driven hardware designs increases, the gap between design and manufacturing becomes a critical bottleneck. Realizing this, Inventec sought a scalable, automated approach to improve its early-stage manufacturing readiness and production quality.
By adopting Siemens’ Valor NPI, Inventec has embedded automated DfM verification into its development workflow, enabling engineering teams to identify and resolve manufacturing issues before production. This shift has helped Inventec significantly reduce late-stage design changes, improve first-pass yield and cut EQ from PCB and assembly partners by more than 50 percent.
“Our goal is to deliver cutting-edge server and notebook technology to our customers with speed and precision,” said Barry Chen, senior ECAD manager, Inventec Corporation. “With Siemens’ software, we’ve moved away from manual, document-based processes to a fully digitalized workflow. This has allowed us to identify and resolve potential manufacturing issues before production begins, accelerate time-to-market, reduce engineering change cycles and enhance collaboration between design and manufacturing teams.”
Fast error-free SMT readiness
In parallel, Inventec implemented Siemens’ Process Preparation X to streamline surface-mounted technology programming and digital work instruction generation, creating a unified programming environment across multiple SMTs, reducing manual data conversion and preventing polarity, offset and placement errors through virtual validation. As a result, Inventec achieved earlier detection of DfM and equipment-related issues before pilot runs, accelerated SMT program preparation by up to 50 percent, enabled automated and error-free generation of more than 20,000 production work instructions annually and improved consistency and quality across its global manufacturing operations.
“Electronics manufacturers are under increasing pressure to deliver highly complex products faster, with uncompromised quality,” said AJ Incorvaia, senior vice president and general manager, Electronic Board Systems, Siemens Digital Industries Software. “By adopting Siemens’ portfolio, Inventec has transformed its DFM operations to unlock new levels of operational excellence and gained significant productivity boosts to its SMT programming and work instruction generation workflow.”
SAN FRANCISCO, CA - Flux, the AI-powered platform for hardware design, today announced $37M of new investment, including a $27M Series B led by 8VC, with participation from existing investors including Bain Capital Ventures, Liquid 2 Ventures, and Outsiders Fund.
Flux also disclosed a previously unannounced $10M Series A led by Outsiders Fund and co-led by Bain Capital Ventures.
It’s yet more fuel for the Silicon Valley startup leading a grassroots revolution in hardware design.
Flux is the world’s first AI hardware engineer, trained on hundreds of thousands of real-world designs and fine-tuned for common design tasks. With nothing more than natural language prompts, Flux’s agentic AI works with users to plan circuit-board layouts, source components, and test designs. It outputs everything a manufacturer needs to produce a finished product. It even suggests ways to minimize costs and reduce supply-chain risks.
And it does all this in the web browser—no desktop application required.
“With Flux, you can have a brilliant idea one day and hold the finished product in your hand a few weeks later,” said Flux CEO Matthias Wagner.
More than 1 million makers, designers, and entrepreneurs have used Flux to design nearly 6.5 million devices, from wearables to robots to smart home controllers and drone navigation systems.
One Flux customer built an IoT device that extracts data from construction machinery, taking the entire project from concept to production without hiring an electrical engineer.
Another is using Flux to design and ship custom electronics throughout Africa.Yet another uses Flux to build IoT-enabled organ-on-chip platforms for drug discovery and biological barrier modeling.
With Flux, anyone can become a builder. In the past, designers had two options: They could hire electrical engineers to design PCB boards from scratch or buy OEM components off the shelf. But many smaller businesses can’t afford to hire, and don’t want to pay for OEM parts that do more than they need.
Flux gives them a third option: AI that delivers bespoke PCBs at near-material costs. Flux’s custom layouts reduce the need for complex multi-board integration, resulting in faster, cheaper production and easier maintenance in the field.
“We wrote Flux’s first check when they were only a few founders with an audacious vision to transform hardware design,” said 8VC partner Francisco Gimenez. “Seven years later, they’re redefining who can build electronic hardware. Their market is not simply electrical engineers designing PCBs. It’s the universe of makers from individuals to businesses to whole industries. We’re privileged to renew our support.”
Flux plans to use the new funding to extend its AI to even more complex electronic use cases.
“Historically, building hardware has been insanely difficult,” said Flux CEO Wagner. “When you’re working with atoms instead of electrons, everything costs more and takes longer. Those limitations have always kept hardware in the hands of an elite few. By bringing the cost of design down to near-zero, we’re giving millions of non-experts the ability to build for niche audiences—or make something for themselves. The electronics business has always been structured around giant manufacturers. Now, for the first time, Flux puts creators at the center.”
About Flux:
Flux is the AI hardware engineer—a new kind of AI agent that goes from text prompt to manufactured board in a single browser tab. Flux is leading a paradigm shift in hardware design with its end-to-end, eCAD environment, which includes integrated workflows, reusable blocks, and modern collaboration tools. Headquartered in San Francisco, Flux is backed by investors including 8VC, Bain Capital Ventures, Liquid 2 Ventures, and Outsiders Fund, along with Figma board member John Lilly and Github founder Tom Preston-Werner.
Atlanta — Following the Supreme Court's invalidation of IEEPA-based tariffs and implementation of new Section 122 global tariffs of 10-15%, the Electronic Components Industry Association (ECIA) is urging policy makers to prioritize stability and transparency in trade regulations to support the complex electronics supply chain.
"The electronics supply chain operates on relatively thin margins and requires predictable business conditions to function effectively," said David Loftus, President & CEO of ECIA. "While we adapt to new tariff structures, the constant volatility creates substantial operational and financial strain throughout our industry. Our manufacturers and authorized distribution channel need stability to serve customers reliably and maintain the working capital necessary for a healthy supply chain."
The rapid succession of tariff changes has created significant challenges for our manufacturers, and especially for their electronics distributors who serve as the critical link between global manufacturers and thousands of domestic customers.
Key pressure points include:
Pricing uncertainty that prevents accurate long-term customer quoting and extends sales cycles
Working capital trapped in duty drawback claims that can take months or years to process
Inventory valuation volatility from sudden tariff shifts affecting millions in on-hand stock
Documentation complexity requiring extensive tracking across thousands of components from multiple origin countries
"Our industry thrives on innovation and speed to market," Loftus continued. "Regulatory instability undermines both. We need consistent tariff classifications, transparent landed cost information from importers of record, and streamlined duty recovery processes to maintain supply chain reliability."
ECIA represents the full spectrum of companies in the electronics components supply chain.
ATLANTA, GA – ECIA has issued a follow up Industry Alert from its Global Industry Practices Committee (GIPC) experts to update members on last Friday’s U.S. Supreme Court tariff ruling. The U.S. Supreme Court has ruled that the International Emergency Economic Powers Act (IEEPA) does not authorize the imposition of tariffs. As a result, tariffs enacted under IEEPA authority have been invalidated, and the collection of those duties is being halted. This decision may affect ECIA member companies that import electronic components, subassemblies, or finished electronic products. This alert covers the component categories impacted and how companies might respond.
“The ECIA GIPC teams are working to keep our members informed and up to date,” ECIA VP of Industry Practices Christine Wolnik commented. “We will be hosting a webinar on tariffs on March 4th to highlight the Supreme Court ruling and provide an opportunity to answer questions. Look for details and an invitation soon."
While recognizing the need to balance global trade and support U.S. manufacturing, ECIA has taken the position that tariffs have imposed significant and uneven challenges on the component channel. ECIA is committed to monitoring the situation and providing members with the latest information for timely decision making.
February 18, 2026 – Boardera Software Inc., a provider of PCB costing and quoting automation software for the electronics manufacturing industry, today announced the launch of European data hosting services to support its growing customer base across Europe and ensure compliance with regional data privacy requirements.
With this deployment, European PCB fabricators and EMS assembly companies can now leverage the full capabilities of the Boardera Platform while maintaining their data within Europe. This enhancement reinforces Boardera’s commitment to data security and regulatory alignment.
By deploying EU data hosting services, Boardera directly addresses key concerns for manufacturers operating under GDPR and other European regulatory requirements. Sensitive customer data, engineering files, and pricing intelligence remain under EU jurisdiction, supporting compliance objectives without compromising access to advanced automation and AI-driven capabilities.
"One of our primary objectives is to ensure our global partners can utilize the platform’s services, with data compliance and residency regulation being top of mind. Designs and design data are to be treated as top secret within any network of partners involved with manufacturing in this industry. We look forward to servicing EU partners while maintaining that standard,” stated Curtis Hunter, CEO of Boardera Software Inc.
Palo Alto, United States, February 13, 2026 -- Inventors who are interested in developing an IoT product but don’t want to risk expensive manufacturing delays due to unforeseen design flaws can contact Rabbit Product Design to access its recently announced prototyping and manufacturing services. The company manages aspects of the development process, including PCB design and validation.
Modern IoT devices, especially wearables, have become smaller to meet consumer demand and, accordingly, require smaller and denser printed circuit boards (PCBs). Experts at Rabbit Product Design say that this kind of miniaturization can create challenges for developers, who must increase circuit complexity while keeping component sizes small; at the same time, the device must use power efficiently, enable wireless connectivity, manage thermal load, and be durable enough to withstand harsh environmental conditions in order to compete with other products on the market.
With so many considerations, extensive simulation and virtual prototyping are necessary to ensure the proposed product functions as intended. For this reason, the team says that IoT inventors should consider working with expert electronics and hardware designers, who often have insights into the latest technologies and trends and employ professional-grade tools for reliable prototyping and validation.
Additionally, professional designers can reduce the time to market by accelerating the development process, resulting in faster launches, often at lower costs.
With a team of senior-level designers with an average of 27 years of experience in the industry, Rabbit Product Design can provide full-service product development for IoT devices. As part of the process, the team first researches the main components required for the client’s product, creates a block diagram, and then uses advanced PCB design software to make a schematic. A prototype PCB is designed based on the schematic, and this design undergoes a review before it is sent for a prototype quote.
Once the review is complete, the components are ordered and soldered to the PCB through wave solder or hole technology. The bare board is inspected before being tested for functionality, allowing the team to identify errors early on in the development process.
Aside from prototyping, Rabbit Product Design can provide factory sourcing, production tooling, packaging, and marketing support as part of its end-to-end services.
