November 2015 • The PCB Magazine 85
5
AT&S Highlights the Future
of PCB Industry
miniaturisation and performance enhancement
are leading trends not only for mobile devices
such as smartphones; applications in the automo-
tive sector and in medical technology are also get-
ting progressively smaller, more efficient and more
powerful.
6
n.A. PCB Book-to-Bill ratio
reaches Five-year High
in August
total north american PcB shipments increased
1.5% in august 2015 compared to august 2014.
Year-to-date shipment growth stood at -0.1, re-
flecting the negative sales growth rates seen ear-
lier this year. compared to the previous month,
PcB shipments were up 3.6%.
7
Final Surface Finishes
for Automotive:
no one-Size-Fits-All Solution
regardless of whether your application is automo-
tive, medical or military, there are many factors to
consider when selecting a final surface finish. cost,
lead or lead-free requirements, end environment,
shelf life, fine-pitch components, rF applications,
probe-ability, thermal resistance and shock and
drop resistance, to name a few. there is not a one-
size-fits-all finish. understanding the advantages
and disadvantages of each surface finish allows
the designer to select the finish that best fits each
particular application.
8
Becoming an Automotive
Supplier—Proceed with
Caution
Possibly further fueling a growing desire in our
industry towards participating in the automotive
electronics sector have been further technology
advancements in automobiles, as well as a tear in
tesla's stock price and headlines.
9
All Flex now offers High
Temp Flexible Circuits
& Heaters
all Flex, manufacturer of flexible printed circuits
and heaters, has developed a polyimide-based ma-
terial set specifically targeting the market for high
temperature flexible circuits and flexible heaters.
Increasing demands for high temperature applica-
tions have driven the development process at all
Flex over the past 18 months.
J
Testing Flexible Circuits,
Part 2: raw Materials
and Components
even though the raw materials may individually
meet certain specifications, it is important to de-
termine if the final product configuration meets
those specs, which means that testing done at the
finished circuit level is also needed.
For the latest PCB news and
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November 2015 • The PCB Magazine 85
