Component Management

Franklin Electric has faced a difficult challenge when tasked with optimising dispensing processes at their Czech production site. The objective was to reduce the waste of UV curing material during the application process. Dispensing equipment previously used by Franklin Electric had been very inaccurate, creating unnecessary waste, high material costs and additional cleaning efforts.

We are in contact with textiles for up to 98% of our lives, and they are starting to become intelligent. Part of this revolution includes the integration of electronics and textiles. Electronic textiles (e-textiles) have been in development for decades, but have begun to achieve some commercial successes in the last 20 years.

A new material developed by CU Boulder engineers can transform into complex, pre-programmed shapes via light and temperature stimuli, allowing a literal square peg to morph and fit into a round hole before fully reverting to its original form. The controllable shape-shifting material, described today in the journal Science Advances, could have broad applications for manufacturing, robotics, biomedical devices and artificial muscles.

IPC has announced the July 2018 findings from its North American Printed Circuit Board (PCB) Statistical Program. Year-over-year growth continued for industry sales and orders. The book-to-bill ratio for July held steady at 1.05. Total North American PCB shipments in July 2018 were up 10.8% compared to the same month last year. This year to date, shipments are 10.5% above the same period last year. Compared to the preceding month, ...

  Altus Group is supporting its long standing pre-eminent supplier, Rehm Thermal Systems, as the company collaborates with Electrolube to provide coating systems and lacquers to guarantee optimum results during jetting, dispensing, spraying or curtain coating.

When manufacturing components from metals there are numerous options available to design engineers, some traditional, some relatively new and innovative. However, when component characteristics are very precise, complex, and high degrees of accuracy are required, the number of viable production manufacturing processes is greatly reduced.

  MicroCare has extended its portfolio even further with the launch of new and progressive products which will be showcased at this year’s SMTA International in Chicago, Illinois, US from 14th-18th October, which includes a new series of flux remover pens.

WACKER ELASTOSIL N9111 from Intertronics is a tin-free single part RTV silicone adhesive sealant, with a neutral cure chemistry, producing a non-corrosive seal that does not inhibit other materials such as platinum cure silicones. This, along with its UL94 V-0 rating, makes it a strong candidate for electronics manufacturing, especially for gap filling, component ruggedisation, and form-in-place gasketing. It is stocked in depth at Intertronics f...

Engineers have developed printable metal tags that could be attached to everyday objects and turn them into 'smart' IoT devices. The metal tags are made from patterns of copper foil printed onto thin, flexible, paper-like substrates and are made to reflect WiFi signals. The tags work essentially like 'mirrors' that reflect radio signals from a WiFi router. When a user’s finger touches these mirrors, it disturbs the reflected WiFi signa...

If you’re new to the prototyping world, the words and phases assemblers use might not make sense. Here are the PCB assembly process definitions as we see them. By Duane Benson, Chief Technology Champion at Screaming Circuits.