56 The PCB Design Magazine • December 2017
date and perspective on what's happening in the
industry. And guess what? It's good news!
The Right Approach: Steve's Particular
Set of Skills (to become a World-Class
Quality Manager)
Being a quality professional today is nothing like
it was 20 or 25 years ago; on a personal level, I
can attest to this fact. It is no longer adequate
to appoint a quality manager simply based on a
person's command of acceptance criteria and in-
dustry specifications; in the 21st century, a truly
hybrid executive is needed.
Planning a PCB: Signal Integrity and
Controlled Impedance Considerations
Knowledge and experience are the two key ele-
ments when planning a PCB. Today's PCB design-
ers must have far more knowledge and under-
standing of the PCB production process than in
the past. This is especially important when they
plan and how they plan the stackup, via span,
routing and power distribution.
PCB/PCBA M&A Top 10 FAQs
We frequently talk with owners about the possible
sale of their businesses. Here are the top 10 ques-
tions asked by PCB/PCBA shop owners about the
process.
Ladle on Manufacturing: Fabricating
for Signal Integrity
Signal integrity! In a world which is increasingly
high-speed and digital, the chemical-dependent
and mainly analogue-controlled world of PCB
manufacturing is not always a comfortable partner.
New I-Connect007 Team Members
Tour American Standard Circuits
Recently, Anaya Vardya, CEO of American Stan-
dard Circuits, invited two of I-Connect007's new-
est team members, IT coordinator Jonathan Zin-
ski and Editor Kiersten Rohde, to tour his facility
in West Chicago, Illinois. Happy Holden, resident
PCB expert, also joined the newbies on their field
trip to ASC. In the following articles, Jonathan and
Kiersten describe their experience touring ASC.
It's Only Common Sense:
A Frustrated PCB Customer Vents
I recently received an e-mail from a good friend at
a top mil/aero company. Here's just one snippet:
"Why do I have to call and ask, 'Where is my stuff?'
If it were just one board shop, I would say good
riddance and move on. But it is almost universal
among our supplier base that late deliveries only
get discovered when we ask…"
Rex Rozario's Next Big Thing, Part 1
Barry Matties joins Rex Rozario at Lympstone Man-
or, one of Rex's investments outside of the elec-
tronics industry. The property, once an old country
house in the Exeter countryside, has been trans-
formed into a splendid hotel and restaurant.
RTW SMTAI: NCAB's Perspectives on
HDI and Miniaturization
John Piccirilli of NCAB Group discusses the trends
in HDI and miniaturization he's seeing around the
world. He also talks about other interesting tech-
nologies such as metal-backed PCBs and stretch-
able materials.
All Flex Hires Experienced CFO and
Sales Manager
All Flex has hired two key individuals to bolster the
management and expansion of its high-perform-
ing business areas.
Walt Custer's Annual Update from
productronica 2017
Industry consultant Walt Custer of Custer Consult-
ing sat down with me at productronica 2017 to
once again inform our readers with his yearly up-
PCB007
Highlights
