By Bjorn Dahle   There is much talk these days about the need for factories to transform themselves into smart factories that use intelligent machines to build intelligent products, all interconnected via the Internet of Things (IoT). That is easy to understand on a conceptual basis, but what does it really mean in practical terms?
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By Mike Jones, MicroCare Corporation, with Sally Stone   Critical cleaning processes are found in many industries from electronics to telecommunications to aerospace and medical devices, and they all require different degrees of ‘clean’.  But one common characteristic that defines “critical cleaning” is the recognition that if the cleaning is not done properly the product
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By W. Scott Fillebrown, Chief Technology Officer of Libra Industries, Scott.Fillebrown@LibraInd.com   Vias are interesting little creatures. They are so simple, yet they can be so complex at the same time. Designed properly, they complete a circuit. However, a poorly designed via can be a reliability nightmare. The bottom line is that, in many ways,
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NEO Tech is a premier EMS provider headquartered in Chatsworth, CA. The company is less than two years old but is quickly establishing a reputation as being a quality services provider who goes the extra mile. We recently caught up with David Brakenwagen, the company’s Chief Sales and Marketing Officer, to find out more about
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Alistair Little, Technical Director of Electrolube’s global resins business, describes the different types of circuit and component encapsulating resins, providing some background on their properties and applications, with examples from Electrolube’s own product portfolio, which will be showcased at this year’s Electronica show. Resins are widely used for potting and encapsulation in the electronics and
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Jeff, we recently read the announcement of your new role as Head of Business Development at SMS, congratulations. Talk to me a little about your strategic direction, as someone charged to grow the business in this space. Having been in Electronic Manufacturing Services for more than twenty years, I have seen a lot of changes
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Car manufacturing – the birthplace of mass production – is now at the forefront of progress towards greater individualisation, and similar changes are affecting other consumer and industrial sectors. Electronics manufacturing practices, in particular, are changing to handle an increasing number of product programs per line. The Automotive Industry and High-Volume Manufacturing Today’s sophisticated mass
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Electrolube’s Indian subsidiary solves an LED lighting unit potting problem, following consultations with the company’s UK based technical division. The resin encapsulation was causing an unacceptable colour shift in the light from an LED strip luminaire, and the UK technical team had little more than 24 hours to come up with a solution. The Indian
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See accompanying video: https://youtu.be/_xkT2DNxCAo   Intertronics’ customer BPR Medical, based in Mansfield, Nottingham, is a perfect example of a small British company which combines expertise, creativity and entrepreneurialism to design, develop and manufacture world-beating products for export worldwide and use in the United Kingdom, for which it was rewarded in 2012 with a Queen’s Award
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By W. Scott Fillebrown, Chief Technology Officer of Libra Industries, Scott.Fillebrown@LibraInd.com   In this day of governmental regulation, litigation and cost control, it is surprising how few EMS companies have implemented full traceability in their facilities. On the other hand, if you consider how few OEMs require traceability, and understand its importance, maybe it’s not
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