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FEATURES

INSPECTION
What is FAI, and What is the Purpose?
While SAE AS9102 defines first article inspection and its purpose, there is often confusion regarding that definition and its importance to an OEM. These concerns cause havoc in both the design and production worlds. Here, a leading defense contractor clears up FAI.
by Karen Ebner, Charles A. Hill and G. Wilkish

PACKAGING
Characteristics of a Third-Level PCB Assembly
Under typical circumstances, engineers won’t know whether a design will work until the prototype is built. A package “implementation” approach, rather than package “installation” approach, can help EMS firms comply with OEM requirements.
by Mueed Khan

FIRST PERSON

• CAVEAT LECTOR
  Material loss.
  Mike Buetow

MONEY MATTERS

• ROI
  Service with a smile.
  Peter Bigelow
  

• FOCUS ON BUSINESS
  Priced to win.
  Joseph Fama

TECH TALK

• ON THE FOREFRONT
  ECTC: a packaging heaven.
  E. Jan Vardaman
  

• DESIGNER’S NOTEBOOK
  Moving targets.
  Charles Pfeil
  

• GETTING LEAN
  Counting the data.
  Ron Feyereisen

• TECH TIPS
  More whiskers.
  Karl Seelig and Tim O’Neill

• TEST AND INSPECTION
  I’m your answer.
  Robert Boguski

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FEATURES

PCB DESIGN
Power Integrity and Power Distribution Design Tips
A power integrity problem can be difficult to detect and recreate, which can slow time to market. Take these steps to improve the power integrity of a system.
by Griff Derryberry

DFM
Design Practices for Panelization and Depanelization
Panelization keeps small boards attached to each other within a single, larger substrate. Using arrays benefits the fabricator and the assembler. Here’s how the designer can help.
by Phil Lerma

PCB HISTORY
A Trip through Time
From manual drilling and fry pans to the highly automated production machines today, PCB manufacturing has come a long way in a relatively short period, as a walk through Electropac’s PCB Museum reminds us.by Mike Buetow

EMS TOP 50
A Muddled Recovery
The EMS industry is recovering, but not broadly, with at least 22 of the top 50 companies experiencing lower sales last year, some by a billion or more.by Mike Buetow

FIRST PERSON

• CAVEAT LECTOR
  The Boss.
  Mike Buetow

MONEY MATTERS

• ROI
  Young and restless.
  Peter Bigelow
  

• FOCUS ON BUSINESS
  Finding the source.
  Susan Mucha

TECH TALK

• DESIGNER’S NOTEBOOK
  Third-party libraries.
  F. Scott Fillebrown
  

• DEFECTS DATABASE
  Sulphur corrosion.
  Dr. Chris Hunt

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FEATURES

COMPONENT PACKAGING
Power Electronics Packages with Embedded Components – Recent Trends and Developments
Power electronics packaging applications are in strong demand for their reliability and cost. Development work ranges from low-power converter modules, over single or multichip MOSFET or IGBT packages, to high-power applications. Recent developments toward module realization for high-power automotive applications include the screening and use of organic substrate materials for embedding and thermal management, as well as interconnection materials for die, module and heatsink assembly.
by Lars Boettcher, Stefan Karaszkiewicz, Dionysios Manessis and Andreas Ostmann

STENCIL DESIGN
Automating Stencil Design
Stencil design calculation capability is not new to electronics manufacturing, but evolving software tools have brought about much-needed sophistication to stencil design calculations and analyses, all while slicing the time it takes to perform the calculations.
by Chrys Shea

IPC APEX EXPO RECAP
Good Values in Vegas
LEDs and 03105 package styles were the main topics of conversation, but – surprisingly? – what really stood out at the annual IPC trade show was the exhibitors’ good vibes.
by Mike Buetow (photos by Rebekah Venturini)

FIRST PERSON

• CAVEAT LECTOR
  At the Apex?
  Mike Buetow

MONEY MATTERS

• ROI
  Lessons from the past.
  Peter Bigelow
  

• FOCUS ON BUSINESS
  Competition from unlikely places.
  Joseph Fama

TECH TALK

• DESIGNER’S NOTEBOOK
  Constraint management.
  John McMillan
  

• THE FLEXPERTS
  Flex PCB routing.
  Mark Finstad
  

• TECH TIPS
  Close shaves.
  Karl Seelig and Tim O’Neill