Printed Circuit Design & Fab Online Magazine

ROI

Peter Bigelow Vendors are shifting capacity from traditional PCB materials to advanced dielectrics. They should be increasing both.

I have some good news, and some bad news. (Spoiler alert: This should be a wake-up call to all companies that produce materials and supplies that go into printed circuit boards.)

Read more: AI Boom Sparks PCB Materials Warning

Peter Bigelow Growing use of AI in design and inspection workflows introduces internal security risks, as improper tools may expose sensitive data and compromise compliance.

Security has become a major issue for the industry over the past couple decades. Long gone are the times when information could be shared without concern that it would be intercepted, copied or stolen during the course of “normal” operations. Communications technology has changed and evolved, and new threats have emerged. The regrettable result is that security is front-and-center of any company’s day-to-day concerns.

Read more: When AI Becomes a Security Risk Inside the Organization

Peter Bigelow Supply shortages, inflation and geopolitical tensions echo an era thought long past.

Over the past year or so, the world appears to be an episode of Back to the Future, with events eerily reminiscent of when I commenced my career in the 1970s. Some call the “good old days,” yet regardless of whether they were – and there’s some debate to that – they certainly appear to be back!

Read more: Back to the 1970s? Lessons for Growth in Today’s Volatile Supply Environment

Peter Bigelow Cost pressure once again may become the industry’s biggest driver of change.

Necessity is the mother of invention, they say. Well, I am not sure necessity is the mother of all invention, but it can definitely be tied to a whole bunch, and probably has more than a few still to birth.

Read more: The Next Materials Reckoning in Electronics Manufacturing