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18 SMT007 MAGAZINE I JANUARY 2026 view of the project. If a vendor can deliver a truly integrated, system-design software workflow sup- porting simultaneous electrical, thermal, and man- ufacturability optimization, then they will set the industry's next benchmark. Sustainability, Circular Electronics, and Regulatory Pressure As reported throughout 2025 in Commu- nity Magazine, environmental regulation is tighten- ing, and the electronics sector is in the crosshairs. The European Union's Ecodesign for Sustainable Products Regulation and the EPA's 2024 electron- ics-waste framework are already pushing OEMs to demand deeper material traceability, more trans- parent carbon accounting, and verifiable end-of- life pathways. Those demands will flow down into the manufacturing chain. On the design side, designers will soon expect the ability to model carbon impact, recyclability, and material lifecycle directly within their software environment. And why wouldn't they? Design- ers are expected to deliver electronic products that are higher yield in manufacture, more robust in the field, faster, smaller, more affordable, and less wasteful. These are not the types of perfor- mance constraints CAD tools typically model. Com- bine this lack of modeling with a general trend toward younger, less experienced designers, and the need for this type of tool becomes even more stark. Eco-aware scoring and repairability metrics are already becoming part of the early-stage deci- sion process for eco-conscious OEMs, and calcu- lating these metrics as a part of the CAD tool is as necessary today as circuit simulation. PCB fabricators face their own sustainabil- ity pressures. Closed-loop plating, micro-etch recovery, and low-impact material processes will become mainstream as sustainability reporting grows more sophisticated. Fabricators quantify- ing their environmental impact are more likely to get preferred supplier status in automotive, aero- space, and medical technology markets. Waste- water treatment, copper reclamation, and chemi- cal management requirements are all increasing. Companies such as Smart Factory Design have demonstrated in recent years that zero-waste facil- ities need not be prohibitively expensive, but fund- ing these systems requires the OEM's willingness to pay premiums for environmentally responsible production.⁷ With all this momentum upstream in the supply chain, EMS providers should view sustainability as a key performance metric, not merely a marketing tagline. OEM customers increasingly require car- bon-footprint reporting, supported by data. This trend is true, Wolfe shares, in the large EMS com- panies, and is motivated by their larger, publicly traded OEM customer. EMS organizations of any size that can show consistent year-over-year car- bon reductions will enjoy a competitive advantage with customers. However, this type of reporting requires new internal capabilities, including digi- tized material tracking, automated environmental data collection, and determining through analytics whether rework or scrap of a particular product is the more sustainable choice. High-speed Design, and the RF/EV Boom PCB fabricators have seen an increase in demand for advanced materials, driven by the need for data centers, mobile devices, and AI applications. Eco-friendly materials and compo- nents must also be high-performance. PTFE, LCP, and advanced copper foils are gaining traction as designers push for higher frequencies and lower signal attenuation. The EV sector compounds these demands by emphasizing thermal manage- ment, heavy-copper builds, and reliability at scale in the most extreme operating conditions. EMS providers must prepare their production lines to handle both increasingly small compo- nents—often 01005 packages or smaller—and massive BGAs measuring 100+ mm on a side, while maintaining the placement accuracy and thermal controls these assemblies require. Test strategies have become more sophisticated, pre- cise, and thorough, extending well beyond tradi- tional ICT or functional tests. Successful EMS com- panies are utilizing multidisciplinary engineering support as a means to capture emerging business opportunities, particularly in communications infra- structure, advanced automotive platforms, and next-generation consumer devices. The high-speed systems, RF architectures, and EV-related electronics all demand extraordinary precision in both design and manufacturing. 5 4