Issue link: https://iconnect007.uberflip.com/i/1530610
24 PCB007 MAGAZINE I DECEMBER 2024 Feature Interview by Marcy LaRont I-CONNECT007 Andrew Kelley is CTO of XACT PCB, a company founded by engineers with firsthand experience in PCB fabricators. XACT PCB has developed a cutting-edge system to mon- itor and predict the registration of inner lay- ers through advanced registration control sys- tems. By leveraging data collected from vari- ous production stages, XACT PCB's GX tool enhances precision. It minimizes errors, ensur- ing that the final products meet their custom- ers' exact specifications while eliminating the need for costly pilot lots. Marcy LaRont: Andrew, tell me about XACT PCB. Andrew Kelley: We provide registration con- trol systems for PCB manufacturers, but we all started in PCB manufacturing. Our engi- neers were making printed circuit boards, liv- ing with the manufacturing problems day in and day out. Our soware product was a solu- tion we spun into a commercial product many years ago. Since then, we've been installing it worldwide. e system monitors the registra- tion of the inner layers at various points in the process. It learns from the information it picks up and combines that with information about the materials and processes used, enabling it to make predictions for future designs. It will pre- dict how the different layers will move during Data Paints a Picture—Can You See It?