46 The PCB Design Magazine • October 2016
theory. This went well with my B.S. in chemical
engineering as I specialized in process control and
IC manufacturing.
Printed Circuits, Inc. Hires Ed Andrews
as Director of Quality Systems
Rigid-flex circuit board manufacturer Printed Cir-
cuits Inc. has hired Ed Andrews as their director of
quality systems.
Happy's Essential Skills:
CIM and Automation Planning,
Part 2—Six Principles of Automation
In Part 1 of this column, I discussed the founda-
tion of CIM and the principles of automation plan-
ning. In Part 2, we will assume that all the nec-
essary preparations in strategy and tactics have
been completed. How does it all fit together for
successful implementation? This problem affects
large, wealthy companies as well as the smallest
job shop.
Standard of Excellence:
Communication Breeds Success
We all need to talk to one another. You need to
work closely with your customers. And we all need
to work with the new generation of PCB designers
and design engineers, many of whom have never
set foot in a board shop. Fortunately, they make
up for their lack of DFM knowledge with their
hunger for information.
Sunstone Circuits Announces
RF/Microwave Capabilities
Sunstone Circuits has announced the addition of
RF/microwave materials (high speed/low loss) for
1- and 2-layer boards.
Continuous Roll-process Technology
for Transferring and Packaging Flexible
Large-scale Integrated Circuits
A research team led by Professor Keon Jae Lee
from KAIST and by Dr. Jae-Hyun Kim from KIMM
has jointly developed a continuous roll-processing
technology that transfers and packages flexible
large-scale integrated circuits.
Weiner's World
People in the printed circuit and electronic pack-
aging industries often ask me about re-shoring.
My response generally is that re-shoring is a
myth. It seems that whenever I try to contact
someone by email I get an automated response
stating, "I am currently in China and will return
to my office on…"
Happy's Essential Skills:
Computer-Aided-Manufacturing,
Part 1—Automation Protocols
I have addressed automation planning previously
in this series, so I hope by now you realize the dif-
ference between automation and mechanization.
In printed circuit fabrication and assembly, most of
what is advertised is mechanization. But when you
get to assembly test, then you begin to see true
automated solutions.
All About Flex: FAQ on RoHS
for Flex Circuits
In 2003, the European Union (EU) adopted RoHS,
which restricts the use of certain materials in elec-
tronic products and electronic equipment. The
intent is to reduce the environmental impact
of known hazardous materials and has driven
changes in manufacturing processes and materi-
als used to manufacture a wide array of electronic
products.
EPTE Newsletter: Sony Sells Battery
Division to Murata
Large electronics companies in Japan continue to
lose market share in the global arena. This erosion
of market share has had a ripple effect on Japanese
printed circuit manufacturers that supplied these
electronic companies; when they sneeze, printed
circuit manufacturers catch cold.
Happy's Essential Skills:
CIM and Automation Planning, Part 1
There is a lot of talk and information about auto-
mation, but I find that there is very little available
on automation planning. This is one of my special-
ties. I started by getting a master's in EE in control
PCB007
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