Issue link: https://iconnect007.uberflip.com/i/1539960
OCTOBER 2025 I SMT007 MAGAZINE 7 They say it will make it very difficult to maintain the working relationships we've all cultivated over the last 40 years. Once Indian producers have new customers, will they wish to return to their U.S. rela- tionships? Once U.S. companies have rebuilt their supply chains under these restrictions, will they be motivated to switch back? Based on what I'm see- ing, India is not waiting to see if the Trump adminis- tration changes its mind. Copper isn't immune either, with a 50% global tariff on copper by the U.S. There are exclusions depending upon the form the copper takes, but copper foil is not an excluded item, and copper is already a major raw material cost for PCB fabrica- tion. For example, a typical FR-4 PCB has about 20% of its cost tied up in copper; heavy copper boards can be closer to 40%. The Global Electronics Asso- ciation estimates that this will translate to a COGS increase ranging from 6–30% depending on how much copper is required. To learn more about the effect these global tariffs will have on the electron- ics industry, I recommend reading the Association's report, "Copper Tariffs and the Hidden Costs to U.S. Electronics Manufacturing." In our podcast series, "On the Line with...," we've discussed emerging fabrication technologies such as semi-additive and additive PCB fabrication with company representatives from MKS and American Standard Circuits. ASC is leading the way in using UHDI in the open market, and MKS' "Optimize the Interconnect" concept showcases how to squeeze reliability out of cutting-edge PCB designs. Until this year, the key market drivers for additive manufacturing—and the advent of ultra HDI manu- facturing—have been component sizes and circuit density requirements, along with high signal integrity and related performance requirements. Could these tariffs also contribute to the accelerated adoption of additive fabrication, with its much-reduced appetite for copper up front? That remains to be seen, and I encourage you to follow the podcasts and subscribe to PCB007 Magazine to keep informed. In SMT007 Magazine this month, we investi- gate business operations software, and how best to achieve the necessary integrations. This is not a simple task. Some MES and ERP software under- stand the uniqueness of electronics assembly more or less out of the box, but to be fully functional, many will require significant customization and API work. A new report from the Global Electronics Associ- ation on operations software addresses the tools EMS companies are using, what they are moving to, and the challenges of completing that move. Our interview with Industry Intelligence Director Thiago Guimaraes sheds additional light on the process and insights in the report. His work begs the question: How can integra- tion headaches be minimized or avoided? For more insight, we turned to Cogiscan and Critical Manu- facturing to provide their perspectives. Both firms specialize in electronics manufacturing and share their best advice for a successful integration, and we are providing an excerpt from Cogiscan's book on data analysis, The Printed Circuit Assembler's Guide to... Factory Analytics. The Association's survey report also highlights quoting and sales support software as some of the highest-return-on-investment tools. That sent me on a research dive into sales software tools, and you'll find my report in this issue as well. Stan Rak continues his series on EV technolo- gies and trends, Akrometrix's Neil Hubble talks about pushing boundaries in measuring board warpage, and we introduce Sanjeev Mane with an article on sensors. Our columnists this month include Dr. Jennie Hwang, discussing the founda- tions of artificial intelligence, and Nash Bell gets detailed about BGA reballing. We're always looking for new topics to help move forward the conversation in the industry, and the best topics always come from conversations with you. What are your struggles and successes? Let us know what's up. SMT007 Nolan Johnson is managing editor of SMT007 Magazine. Nolan brings 30 years of career experience focused almost entirely on electron- ics design and man- ufacturing. To contact Johnson, click here. N O L A N 'S N OT ES