46 The PCB Design Magazine • February 2017
On Location at HKPCA: IPC's Mitchell
and Carmichael on Asia, the Global
Industry Outlook, and Trump
While in Shenzhen, China, recently, with the PCB
industry's biggest trade show as a backdrop,
Publisher Barry Matties sat down once again to
interview IPC President John Mitchell and IPC
Asia President Phil Carmichael. This time they
discussed trends they're seeing in the Asia-Pacific
region and what a Trump presidency means to
the industry.
Top 10 Most-Read PCB News Stories
of 2016
As the year ends, look back at the industry's highs
and lows. The editors at I-Connect007 have com-
piled a list of the top 10 most-read news stories
from the pages of PCB007. Join us for a look back
at the most popular news highlights of 2016.
Punching Out! Types of Company
Buyers in the PCB and EMS Sectors
Mergers and acquisitions in the U.S. PCB sector
have been in the news recently, with at least 12
deals completed over the past year, and several
more in the works. In contrast, the EMS sector has
been relatively quiet, but that may change now
that the presidential election is over.
PCB Maker Unimicron Developing
SLP Products
Unimicron Technology has set aside a capex bud-
get of NT$4.946 billion ($153.19 million) for 2017
to finance the development of substrate-like PCB
(SLP) products and ramp up the production ca-
pacity of HDI boards and automobile boards.
All About Flex: Are Manufacturing
Companies Susceptible to Ransomware?
Every business (and every individual) needs to
pay attention to cyber security. There are many
sophisticated hackers throughout the world look-
ing for ways to access or corrupt systems. While
manufacturing companies have not been a com-
mon target, there are certainly risks that need to
be considered.
CES 2017: Disruptive Technologies
Those of you that have read my previous columns
covering CES 2017 know that at recent CES shows
I have seen many drones, autonomous cars, IoT
devices, robots, and other items ranging from ro-
bots who stand in for your doctor to smart trash
cans who tell you via Alexa, Google, or soon, Cor-
tana, on your own computer, that since you have
thrown away two empty milk cartons in the last
few days it may be time to order more milk.
CES 2017: Press Day, Launch.It and
Showstoppers
Before the show opens, CES provides two days and
evenings not open to the general attendees, to en-
able companies, large and small, an opportunity
to present their new offerings to the press. These
opportunities range from small meetings with indi-
vidual members of the trade press to huge events.
Flex Talk: A Glimpse into PCB Sales
Summarizing the feedback from both customers
and manufacturers, the most successful PCB sales-
people are organized, take a genuine interest in
their customers' needs and business challenges,
and have a better than average understanding of
the PCB industry.
Weiner's World
Here are a few thoughts for the New Year and be-
yond from a long-term colleague and friend of the
past half century, Harvey Miller, electronics market
researcher, consultant and founder of Fabfile On-
line.
Emmy Ross Discusses the New
I-Connect007 E-Book Series
One thing that is long overdue in our industry is
a series of guidebooks focused on helping com-
panies with all their needs, from qualifications
like AS9100 and Mil-P-31032 to various tech-
nologies, heavy copper, rigid-flex and microvias.
I-Connect007 is now providing our industry with
an entire series of these guidebooks, starting with
the first, "The Printed Circuits Buyers Guide to…
AS9100 Certification."
PCB007
Highlights
