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Blind vias aren’t just for HDI PCBs, they are also used in standard builds with mechanical drilling and no thin outer layers or build-up film layers. These designs find their home in many different systems, and for me this is most common in high-speed designs or RF designs that require terminated holes for press-fit pins or threaded pins. No matter what the application is, the presence of these holes drives a multiple lamination process to drill...

Negotiation misjudgments are often more crucial than brilliant strategies. Like the infamous Seven Deadly Sins, there are key mistakes that can doom you. Are you guilty of making any of these fatal errors? 1. Pride - Failing to Adapt Your Style Why It's a Sin: Pride in your own approach can prevent you from adapting to different negotiation scenarios and counterparts. When you rigidly stick to one style, you may fail to see that each...

You know you're in procurement when you hear "cost reduction" more often than "good morning." Each quarter, you face a new set of cost-cutting goals from the CFO, often disconnected from the realities of sourcing and supply chain complexities. It's like being in a never-ending episode of "The Price Is Right," except nobody's winning. Let's talk about how to change the script. Understanding the CFO's Perspective (Yes, They Have Challenges Too)...

Picture a football team where players run different playbooks. Chaos, right? Yet this scenario mirrors how many electronics companies manage their product development, with teams working in isolation from conflicting requirements. Hardware engineers craft specifications in spreadsheets, software teams track user stories in agile tools, and quality teams maintain test cases in separate systems. The result? A discordant product development process...

A printed circuit board (PCB) design review is a practice to review the design of a board for possible errors and issues at various stages of product development. It can range from a formal checklist with official sign-offs to a more free-form inspection of schematic drawings and PCB layouts. Some companies do it completely in-house, while others get help from design firms and contractors. In many cases, they involve their contract manufacturers...

Navigating the complexities of electronic product design demands a discerning eye on unseen factors inflating costs and hindering efficiency. One such elusive factor is the fragmented feedback loop in PCB design and testing. It is where seemingly minor communication gaps or delays turn into significant financial burdens, inflating project budgets and timelines. Reinforcing this assertion, a study by Lifecycle Insights reveals that companies...

In the electronic components industry, efficient and resilient supply chain management requires precision and advanced strategies. Digitalization has revolutionized this field, underscoring the importance of data-driven decision-making to improve visibility, agility, and optimization. Discover how supply chain data integration can elevate your supply chain performance through real-time insights, enhanced transparency, and enriched component data...

If components stayed competitive forever, your smartphone would run on vacuum tubes. Component obsolescence is an essential part of electronics. Although it is incremental, it represents an advance in technology. However, component obsolescence can also create pain points for PCB designers, especially when they don't use the right components and obsolescence management tools. PCB designers often lack the supply chain visibility essential for...

Are you struggling with your manual assembly process? Would you like to speed it up and improve component placement accuracy? Read the story of XVP Photonics, a company that specializes in photonics optoelectronics and process automation engineering. With Assembly Assistant, they improved the component placement time by 25%. Discover how!  Altium: Where the World Designs Electronics One of the biggest challenges of electronic product...