The robot is not a new invention. George Devol applied for the first patents in 1954, and they were widely used in manufacturing to carry out repetitive tasks as early as the 1970s. However, although they have clearly been very much a part of our past, as John Johnson, NPI Director, Chemigraphic highlights, they are also key to the future.

Following the conclusion of the BBC’s CCTV and surveillance thriller The Capture, John Johnston, Sales and NPI Director at Chemigraphic, a design-led electronics manufacturing services provider, has asked if it is time to question the march of technology.

In 1880 the first movie cameras were developed by Thomas Edison and William Dickson. The seed for video surveillance had been planted. During World War 2, miniature portable cameras appeared, making covert surveillance possible for the military. Shortly after, Closed Circuit Television (CCTV) was first used in Germany to monitor the launch of V2 rockets. And the rest, as they say, is history. But the history of surveillance is...

  The high-tech world of electronic manufacturing has changed our daily lives and enhanced the capabilities of sectors such as medical, defence, manufacturing and aerospace. 

Chemigraphic has announced that it has received £7m investment from NVM Private Equity (NVM), from its Vintage III fund. The investment will help to accelerate Chemigraphic’s international growth and drive continued development of its technology and expertise, particularly in the fast-growing med-tech sector.

There has been a sea-change in electronic manufacturing markets. And conditions are now ideal for disruptive start-ups looking to achieve volume at a pace never before possible. Here, John Johnston, NPI Director of Chemigraphic discusses how your EMS can help you manage rapid growth effectively.

Digital technology and innovative electronic devices are transforming our railway network. And it’s about time. Here John Johnston, NPI Director delves into the signaling future, and in particular the challenges when it comes to electronics at the heart of Network Rail’s digital transformation.

It’s been nearly 20 years since the Fieldbus war ended. A 'Memorandum of Understanding”, the closest thing industrial automation has ever come to an Entente Cordiale, was signed July 16, 1999, by some of the loudest voices in the debate including Siemens, Rockwell Automation and Fisher-Rosemount, putting an end to years of fighting over who’s version of Fieldbus should be adopted in the draft IEC 61158 standard - the European st...

They say that from small acorns mighty oak trees grow. In electronics it’s on blank PCB boards that the grandest of designs are etched – and components mounted – to create the mightiest of devices. In this review, John Johnston, NPI Director, Chemigraphic is going to talk you through the options you have when you source blank boards for your electronic PCB assembly.

The potential uses for 3D printing were widely misunderstood when it first appeared on the scene. Tech pundits and futurologists joined forces to proclaim that 3D print would usher in a consumer revolution, as individuals took control of the means of production for themselves. But the benefits of 3D printing are now actually reshaping the manufacturing sector, rather than making it redundant.

Let's start from the begining, the earliest PCBs were very much works of art. Etched by hand, they owed more to technology from artwork reproduction than to high tech. To create these circuits copper-clad boards were used. The artwork was hand-drawn, and once the track layout was defined, it was printed onto the board as an etch-resist mask. Acid was next used to etch away the exposed copper before another chemical removed the etch...

Apple’s announcement in November 2018 that it was to cease the reporting of iPhone sales volumes really worried investors. A flattening of sales, combined with doubts over Apple’s projected innovation, impacted on its stock price. Around the same time, Chinese tech giant, Huawei, beat it into third place on smartphone sales and even set their sights on surpassing the leader, Samsung, with promises of foldable screens and artificial in...

First the industry talked about miniature electronics, now it’s ultra-miniature and nano (effectively nearly invisible). Soon the buzz will be around molecular electronics, where the device components exist as individual molecules with the potential to form their own systems! The aim for improved technology is driven by speed and size: the smaller it is, the quicker the signal passes from one point to another, and the more applications...

Global Electronics Manufacturing Services (EMS) specialist Chemigraphic has successfully transitioned to the new 2016 version of the medical device manufacturing standard, ISO 13485.  This transition reflects Chemigraphic’s strong standing within the medical arena, where it works with world-leading medical OEMs such as Varian and Elekta.

We live in a connected world. The Internet of Things (IoT), the ubiquity of data and the Fourth Industrial Revolution deliver gains in productivity and efficiency through connections across the manufacturing sector. Yet the same connections that strengthen us could also weaken us: as our shared data becomes more powerful it could prove to be our Achilles heel, and it’s the weak link in the chain that hackers are increasingly keen to ex...

The manufacturing and product development division of Electronics Manufacturing Services (EMS) provider Chemigraphic was part of a year-long process in supporting Elekta, with bringing their newest cancer treatment system to market. Elekta Unity received CE mark in June and is the first of its kind, a high-field MRI-guided linear accelerator (linac) system that enables magnetic resonance radiation therapy (MR/RT), a new approach to cancer treatme...

Working closely with its supplier network and customers, Chemigraphic is trying to combat an industry-wide delay on the manufacture and delivery of passive electronic components. Lead times for MLCC SMD Capacitors and SMD Resistors have been experiencing extended lead times or allocation times for the last few quarters, and in some cases lead times are now exceeding 50 weeks.  

Electronics manufacturer, Chemigraphic is making its first entry into China by opening a brand new sourcing office in Shenzhen, from which it can directly procure quality bespoke parts at competitive regional prices for its global customers. Shenzhen, in China’s Guangdong Province in the South-East of the country, is a major financial, business and electronics centre, linking Hong Kong to the Chinese mainland.

  Electronics manufacturer Chemigraphic has launched a dedicated design centre, investing significant engineering resource into optimising customers’ designs at the proposals stage.