106 DESIGN007 MAGAZINE I AUGUST 2019
address a specific challenge. It is always help-
ful to bring samples to pass around and show
different features. Usually, looking at a sample
will spark an idea and the comment, "I won-
der if we could do something like this." From
there, the brainstorming begins.
AT&S Marks 20
th
Anniversary of IPO E
AT&S has just achieved two significant mile-
stones: On the one hand, the company is the
globally leading supplier of high-end PCBs, ac-
cording to the figures of the industry expert
Prismark for 2018. On the other hand, AT&S is
celebrating its successful IPO 20 years ago and
its equally positive development over two de-
cades.
The Big Picture: Globalization—
What Happened? E
Cheap products and services from places like
China and India are good, but giving up the
position of being the top dog doesn't sit well
with most people—especially when you have
leaders around the world reminiscing about
the past and wanting to make XYZ great again
or something similar.
NCAB Group Denmark Names New
Managing Director E
Jan Kronholm Thomsen takes the role as new
managing director for Denmark. Jan was pre-
viously the managing director of Multiprint,
that NCAB acquired in January 2019.
Aismalibar Increases Manufacturing
Capabilities in Barcelona Facility E
Aismalibar recently updated its Barcelona fa-
cility with three new pieces of equipment to
assure their continued leadership in the ther-
mal management laminate market.
26 Meters of Flex! E
Barry Matties spoke with Philip Johnston,
managing director of Trackwise Designs, about
the company's patented length-unlimited mul-
tilayer printed circuits aimed at replacing con-
ventional wire harnesses.
EPTE Newsletter:
JPCA Show 2019, Part 2 E
Many new technologies and products related
to flexible circuits were introduced by mid-
sized manufacturers at the JPCA Show 2019.
Dissecting the IPC Regional Survey on
PCB Technology Trends E
Sharon Starr, Denny Fritz, and Mike Cara-
no talk about the global 2018 IPC Technolo-
gy Trends Report released early this year—the
size of the survey, how it was conducted, the
general findings, and regional differences.
The PCB Norsemen: From Wooden Huts
to Homemade Go-karts—It All Starts
With Design! E
Whether building the coolest go-kart or the
most sophisticated electronic hardware, the
story is the same: It starts with design. And for
designers and manufacturers, early involve-
ment and commitment between all the in-
volved parties in a product development pro-
cess diminish the risk for mistakes and misun-
derstandings.
Flex Talk: Spark an Idea E
One of the favorite parts of Tara Dunn's job
is the days when she meets with a group of
engineers and designers to talk about flex and
rigid-flex. They might do a "lunch and learn"
with a general overview of the technology or
