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68 PCB007 MAGAZINE I SEPTEMBER 2025 technique for unleashing employee creativity and potential, reducing bureaucracy and costs, and improving service to clients and the community. There is no single theoretical formalization of total quality, but Deming, Juran, and Ishikawa provide the core assumptions, as a '…discipline and phi- losophy of management which institutionalizes planned and continuous… improvement … and assumes that quality is the outcome of all activi- ties that take place within an organization; that all functions and all employees have to participate in the improvement process; that organizations need both quality systems and a quality culture.'" Learning engineering statistics will be the most useful tool in your tool belt. I learned it during my chemical engineering coursework, and it helped me solve problems and get promotions. Later, Hewlett-Packard's Japanese division earned the prestigious Deming Prize, and engineering statis- tics became a major course taught internally to all engineers and techs. PCB007 References 1. CurveExpert Basic 2.0 Released, CurveExpert. 2. "Calculating your PCB Complexity and First- pass Yields," by Happy Holden, PCB007 Magazine, November 2024. 3. "Why Quality Circles Failed but Total Quality Management Might Succeed," by Stephen Hill, British Journal of Industrial Relations, 1991. Happy Holden has worked in printed circuit tech- nology since 1970 with Hewlett-Packard, NanYa Westwood, Merix, Foxconn, and Gentex. He is a contributing technical editor with I-Connect007 and the author of Automation and Advanced Procedures in PCB Fabrication and 24 Essential Skills for Engineers. To read past columns, click here. H A P PY 'S T EC H TA L K # 4 3 The Global Electronics Association announced the July 2025 findings from its North American Printed Circuit Board (PCB) Statistical Program. The book-to- bill ratio stands at 1.00. Total North American PCB shipments in July 2025 were up 20.7% compared to the same month last year. Compared to the preceding month, July ship- ments were up 11.3%. July's year-to-date (YTD) ship- ments increased by 7.6% year-over-year (YOY). PCB bookings in July were up 22.2% compared to the same month last year. July bookings were down 5.5% compared to the preceding month. July's YTD bookings increased 17.2% compared to the same pe- riod last year. "North American PCB activity firmed in July," said Shawn DuBravac, Global Electronics Association's chief economist. "A pickup in shipments brought the book-to-bill into balance, indicating output is keeping pace with demand and demand remains strong." Companies that participate in the Global Electron- ics Association's North American PCB Sta- tistical Program have access to detailed find- ings on rigid PCB and flexible circuit sales and orders, including separate rigid and flex book-to-bill ratios, growth trends by product types and company size tiers, demand for prototypes, sales growth to military and medi- cal markets, and other timely data. (Source: Global Electronics Association) North American PCB Industry Shipments Up 20.7% in July