Printed Circuit Design & Fab Online Magazine - Current Issue

Current Issue

In November I was invited to join the “disruptors” of the industry – also known as Mark Goodwin and Gene Weiner – on a panel to discuss the derisking of the supply chain.

Against the backdrop of the biennial Productronica trade show, the largest of its kind for electronics manufacturing in the West, and hosted by my media colleague Trevor Galbraith, we attempted to delve into the issues at hand when it comes to ensuring supply chain resiliency.

As Goodwin, the chief operating officer of Ventec, correctly framed the situation, the vast majority of materials originate in Asia, particularly China, and while parts of the supply chain are being moved back to the West, a full-scale migration won’t happen in our lifetimes. Given that, what needs to happen at the margins to ensure at least a minimal degree of secure chains?

The role of government naturally came up, and it was suggested that legislators are driving reverse migration. I pushed back on that notion, opining instead that commercial businesses lead the way and governments are reacting both to the years-long industry impetus and the post-Covid realization that supply chains are not secure. (For more on that, see our interview with David Schild of the Printed Circuit Board Association of America in this issue.)

Read more: Supply Chain Security Costs Money. Is Industry Willing to Pay?

As anyone who has visited Acapulco knows, it is picturesque, with the serene mountain scape overlooking the half-moon bay.

Pictures, as we also know, can be deceiving.

For the better part of the decade, the once-classic vacation spot has been overrun with drug gangs, and the former wave of tourists has diminished to a trickle. And that was before Hurricane Otis hit last month.

As 2023 draws near its end, we are reminded of how much uncertainty lies ahead. Whether man-made, like the regional conflicts in Europe, the Middle East, Africa and the Pacific Rim; or natural disasters, such as those experienced in Mexico, Turkey and the US, we seem awash in challenges and obstacles.

And then there are the completely self-inflicted wounds.

Read more: Why is China Provoking Foxconn?

What role will artificial intelligence truly play in electronics design, and what will the impact be on hardware engineers?

Zuken took a step toward answering that question with its announcement at PCB West of a new AI-based tool for printed circuit place-and-route. Yet the first public mention of AIPR for CR-8000 – the actual rollout will come in the first quarter next year – poses not only a dramatic vision for a highly automated future of design but a host of new questions as well.

The new tool itself is an extension of Design Force, Zuken's layout, routing and verification tool within the CR-8000 platform. Its AI, explained Kyle Miller, Ph.D., who architected the engine, involves all three basic types of machine learning: supervised, unsupervised and reinforcement. AIPR stands for Autonomous Intelligent Place and Route, and like previously announced AI-based CAD tools, it starts with routing. The "Basic Brain" performs so-called smart routing by means of exposure to Zuken's database of PCB designs built in CR-8000. Over time, it mimics human routing, with channels organized in logical ways. Smart placement is next, at an undisclosed time.

According to Bob Potock, vice president of sales and marketing, Zuken will add IPC-2581 capability as part of the next-generation Dynamic Brain, allowing designs from other ECAD systems to be incorporated and learned.

Read more: New AI Tools Offer Look, and Questions, for Future

The ink was barely dry on the lawsuit filed by Lordstown Motors against would-be savior Foxconn when the next round of news hit: the world's largest ODM/EMS company is pulling out of Wisconsin.

If we go back to 2019, we will recall Lordstown opening the doors of its plant, formerly owned by GM and seen as critical to its hometown's economic future, to Foxconn, which came bearing (the promise of) much-needed cash. In return, the ODM was to obtain access to Lordstown's electric vehicle technology, which Foxconn sought as it reportedly focuses on building electronics and other products for what is seen as the future platform for individual and fleet transportation.

That dream ended in a crash, unfortunately but unsurprisingly. The investment never really materialized, Lordstown went bankrupt, and the winners will be the lawyers.

Current Issue

Supply Chain Security Costs Money. Is Industry Willing to Pay?

Why is China Provoking Foxconn?

New AI Tools Offer Look, and Questions, for Future

Add Wisconsin to the List of Failed Foxconn Bettors

Subcategories

The Route 63

Abstracts 1

Added Up 2

Best Practices 12

Board Buying 34

Caveat Lector 112

Defect of the Month 27

Designer’s Notebook 115

Final Finishes 1

Flexperts 59

Focus on Business 61

Getting Lean 19

Forefront 21

Global Sourcing 7

Material Gains 62

InFlex 2

Material Matters 23

PCB Guided Insights 11

ROI 137

Signal Integrity Insights 1

The Smart Factory 1

Tech Tips 29

Test and Inspection 13

Seeing is Believing 6

Jernberg PI 8

Smart Engineering 3

What's Old is New 3

Roughly Speaking 7

For Good Measure 1

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