I-Connect007 Editor’s Choice: Five Must-Reads for the Week

Reading time ( words)

If you’re in the United States like I am, and if you celebrated with a traditional Thanksgiving dinner, like my family did, then you just might have fallen asleep sitting up in a chair (or in my case, stretched out on the couch) and missed some of the highlights in the news this week. Never fear, I woke up early to bring the top five news items you should know for this week. 

We have industry bookings and sales news from IPC, some news from the flex sector, an explanation of induction lamination from Happy Holden, and two different takes on “sustainability.” 

North American PCB Industry Sales Up 6% in October 
Published November 24 

“PCB orders fell slightly in October but remain well above 2020 levels and are 2.3 percent higher than 2019 levels,” said Shawn DuBravac, IPC’s chief economist.  Check out the rest of the numbers here. 

All Flex Discusses Merger and New Medical Applications 
Published November 19 

Jamin Taylor sat down with I-Connect007 at a recent technical conference to discuss the All Flex/Printed Circuits merger, as well as some new creative flex applications. 

Happy's Tech Talk #2: Induction Lamination 
Published November 23     

If you thought the lamination process could never change, then think again. In Happy Holden’s second installment of the Tech Talk series, Happy details the induction lamination process. Read on to learn all about this new technology. 

Foxconn Shared the Best Practices of Green Chemistry 
Published November 22 

With the business formula “Sustainability=EPS+ESG,” Foxconn begins to implement the U.N.’s SDGs (sustainable development goals), with an end goal of "responsible production.” Read more about how Foxconn is prioritizing sustainability. 

Happy 99th Birthday to Harvey Miller! 
Published November 23

Still active in the industry at 99 years old, the I-Connect007 staff is looking forward to the possibility that we’ll see Harvey in San Diego come January. Click through to find our 2016 interiew with Harvey, titled “What a Long, Strange Trip it’s Been—and It’s a Long Way from Being Over.”

03/24/2023 | Nolan Johnson, I-Connect007

It’s almost as if upheaval is the new normal. We often describe slow-moving but unstoppable change as moving in “geologic time.” But occasionally–like an earthquake–geology shifts suddenly. Here in my office, tracking the news of the industry, things are moving faster than geologic time, but more slowly than the jolt of an earthquake. The wave seems almost surfable, where before it seemed overwhelming. In this week’s list, we bring news from five different, high-vibration areas in our industry. If you read nothing else this week, these five items will keep you informed.

03/21/2023 | Christopher Bonsell, Chemcut

This year, I had the great opportunity to come to IPC APEX EXPO in San Diego as a contributing member in Chemcut’s booth. Being an exhibitor is always interesting because you never know what you will learn or who you will meet. Truly, it seems that every IPC APEX EXPO is an eye-opening experience. This was the second show I attended, and last year I was amazed to see how in-depth and interconnected the electronics industry is. Seeing how many different companies contribute to manufacturing today’s core technology never fails to impress me.

03/21/2023 | Nolan Johnson, I-Connect007

Investments, staffing, cybersecurity, and a peek into his crystal ball—John Vaughan, vice president of strategic markets at Summit Interconnect, sits down with Nolan Johnson to talk about it all. Business is good, by the way, thanks to Summit’s portfolio of military contracts, and he has sound advice to offer for smaller shops in the United States, and their real ability to make a difference in PCB fabrication.