About Author

Lawrence Romine

EDA industry thought-leader and veteran expert at Altium, Lawrence is a firm believer that unified solutions are not just nice, but essential.

Recent Articles

thermal prototyping PCB

Why You Should Use Thermal Prototyping Instead of Simulations Of all the potential problems with a design, thermal challenges are often the most difficult to predict. It's also the case that you don't notice a thermal management problem until you have already created prototypes and started testing. At that point, the mechanical team has to modify an enclosure, include any cooling mechanisms, and they may need to change many specs in a product. It's too late in the game to start changing specifications after Read Article

reduce bom cost

PCB Part Swaps That Can Reduce BOM Cost Want to reduce BOM cost for your PCB build? Here are the part swaps that can significantly reduce your total parts cost. Read Article

Semiconductor Foundry Capacity

Semiconductor Foundry Capacity: Who, Where, and How Much Semiconductor foundry capacity is increasing, but the capacity level depends on where you look. Read Article

Volume in Your First PCB Manufacturing Run

Volume in Your First PCB Manufacturing Run Your first PCB manufacturing run at scale should use the right volume or follow the LRIP concept. Here's what you should use for your first production run. Read Article

Old Electronic Components

How to Spot Old Electronic Components Brokers and resellers sometimes deal in reclaimed or old electronic components. Here’s how you can spot problems with these parts. Read Article

PCB Procurement

Navigating PCB Procurement: Key Tips for PCB Designers Read this blog to learn the best practices for procuring printed circuit boards (PCBs). Adhere to design guidelines, communicate effectively, and prioritize quality in collaborative prototyping. Evaluate costs in conjunction with quality, considering future scalability for a well-informed decision on cost-effective, reliable PCBs. Read Article

How PCB Manufacturer BayaTronics Uses Octopart

How PCB Manufacturer BayaTronics Uses Octopart PCB manufacturer and contract manufacturers like BayaTronics use Octopart to manage the electronics supply chain for their customers. Read Article

PCBs Are Just One Part of Product Design

PCBs Are Just One Part of Product Design Physical electronic products require a lot more than just a PCB. Building these products requires collaboration across disciplines and multiple components. Read Article

Flex Cable or Custom Harness: Which Should You Use?

Flex Cable or Custom Harness: Which Should You Use? Flex ribbons offer a simple alternative to cabling, but do they have an advantage over custom harnesses? Read Article

RoHS 3, REACH, and PFAS in Electronics

RoHS 3, REACH, and PFAS in Electronics The electronics industry is no stranger to compliance with environmental restrictions and regulations. These regulations are necessary for the health of end users, and it’s the responsibility of designers, component manufacturers, and materials manufacturers to ensure their products can comply with environmental regulations. Today, the major environmental challenge which companies are starting to address is the persistence of PFAS in many Read Article

The Biggest Technology Trends to Watch in 2023

The Biggest Technology Trends to Watch in 2023 February 24, 2023 ONTRACK BI-WEEKLY Some industry groups have been forecasting muddy waters for the PCB manufacturing industry in 2023, but that isn’t stopping development of new technology. 2022 saw record growth in production and NPI, and the first half of 2023 may see a pause. But the 2nd half of 2023 could see rebounds just in time to deliver new products focused on some of the most impactful technology trends. Leading Insights TPCA Sees Read Article

Electronics Industry Insights for PCB Designers and Engineers

Electronics Industry Insights for PCB Designers and Engineers February 10, 2023 ONTRACK BI-WEEKLY As the electronic industry conference season rolls on, companies are grappling with a shifting supply chain landscape and disruptive technologies in AI, energy, and wireless. Leading Insights Apple Takes Greater Control of its Supply Chain Apple will be the first to revolutionize its supply chain by incorporating more of their in-house built chipsets into new products. Will other tech companies follow suit Read Article

Electronics Industry Insights for PCB Designers and Engineers

Electronics Industry Insights for PCB Designers and Engineers January 27, 2023 ONTRACK BI-WEEKLY The start of 2023 kicked off with CES, and now the industry is full speed ahead on developing hardware for the most advanced technologies of our time. The industry will start to see greater development in energy technologies, renewed push into 5G deployments, more companies operating in space, and AI systems tying it all together. Leading Insights Say Goodbye to 3G The beginning of 2023 marked the official end Read Article

Focus on Embedded Development for PCB Designers

Focus on Embedded Development for PCB Designers January 13, 2023 ONTRACK BI-WEEKLY As we look forward to 2023, major players in the industry are looking closer at integrating advanced technologies like edge computing, 5G, and AI into product ecosystems. As devices get smarter, embedded developers need to work closer with PCB layout engineers to ensure designs are solvable while also being functional. Here are some of the newest developments in the embedded space. Leading Insights What’s Next Read Article

Product Design Features in Altium Designer 23

Product Design in Altium Designer 23 December 9, 2022 ONTRACK BI-WEEKLY Product Design Features in Altium Designer 23 When you work on a product, you don’t just build boards . PCB designers have to work as part of a team to bring advanced products to market. The newest set of features in the upcoming release of Altium Designer 23 focuses on product design, spanning from ECAD to MCAD in multi-board systems with harnesses. New harness design tools - It is now possible to develop full Read Article

Altium Designer 23 Focuses on Product Design

Altium Designer 23 Focuses on Product Design November 25, 2022 ONTRACK BI-WEEKLY Coming Soon in Altium Designer 23 Experience more advanced design tools, product design features, and expanded collaboration in the upcoming release of Altium Designer 23. Product Design Features - The upgraded multi-board design features include harness creation, multi-board support in CoDesigner , placement of cloud components in multi-board projects, and multi-board support in the Altium 365 viewer. Greater Read Article

Come See the New Power Analyzer by Keysight in Altium Designer 22.9

Come See the New Power Analyzer by Keysight in Altium Designer 22.9 October 28, 2022 ONTRACK BI-WEEKLY Announcing Power Analyzer for Altium Designer, by Keysight Technologies Keysight Technologies and Altium have teamed up to bring you a new Altium Designer Extension for DC power integrity analysis. Power Analyzer by Keysight brings sophisticated DC power analysis to the PCB editor in Altium Designer without the need for expensive prototypes, complicated tools or specialized skills. Analyze your power network Read Article