The current global electronics parts shortage is affecting all of us in this industry. We had the pleasure of chatting with Mike Rankins and Gary Shanahan, supply chain specialists at Digi-Key , to break down the details of the shortage from their perspective. We discuss how this parts shortage is different than those in the past, what is causing it, how Digi-Key is navigating it, and more. pickplacepodcast.com
May 24, 2021•47 min•Ep. 25
In the second half of our conversation with Mike Konrad of Aqueous Technologies we talk all about how to implement a board cleaning process. If you're just tuning in we recommend that you listen to the first half of our conversation with Mike where we learn about the history of board cleaning and why board cleaning is useful, before listening to this one. pickplacepodcast.com...
May 10, 2021•1 hr 25 min•Ep. 24
In this episode we are joined by Mike Konrad to chat about board cleaning. Mike founded Aqueous Technologies in 1992 in response to the Montreal Protocol and the resulting international treaty banning most popular cleaning/defluxing solvents. Their board cleaning equipment assists manufacturers with increasing product reliability while saving both water and energy, reducing the industry's environmental impact. In addition to being the president of Aqueous Tech, he is also a fellow podcaster and ...
Apr 26, 2021•44 min•Ep. 23
On this episode we are joined by Nicole Poirier who works in the receiving and shipping department at Worthington. She walks us through how we prepare the boards to leave our facility on their end journey to your doorstep. Although it might not seem like the most glamorous step of pcb assembly, we cover a lot of important topics including: Importance of using ESD packing materials. Different types of filler material Importance of packing slips Dealing with international shipments and customs Pac...
Apr 05, 2021•53 min•Ep. 22
On this episode we have CircuitHub CAM engineer, Dave Wilcox, back on the show to walk us through the CAM process. -What is the CAM process all about? What is its purpose? -Dave briefly discusses how CAM used to be done "back in the day" -We go through the main steps of the CAM process. 1. Silkscreen 2. Soldermask 3. Copper 4. Drill 6. Route Have a pet peeve you'd like to get off your chest? We'd love to include it in the show! Want to get in touch? Email us at contact@pickplacepodcast.com or tw...
Mar 29, 2021•1 hr 33 min•Ep. 21
What does a NASA JPL underwater vehicle that monitors methane bubbles in the arctic, robots that kill invasive species of starfish, and a robotics swan light show have in common? They are all examples that have used marine robotics components created by Blue Robotics. We're so excited to have CircuitHub customer, Rusty Jehangir, on the show. He shares his story of how an idea to send a solar powered robotic surfboard from Los Angeles to Hawaii transformed into a company that provides the world's...
Mar 16, 2021•56 min•Ep. 20
PCB Depaneling is the process of breaking the individual PCBs out of the panel that is used to assemble the boards and is typically one of the very last steps assembled circuit boards go through before they are shipped. Show Notes: First, what are panels and why do we use them? What factors dictate which panelization and breakout method is used? What types of depaneling methods can be used? What else happens during this step? Guide to V-Scoring Recommendations Consider how your product fits into...
Mar 01, 2021•39 min
Everyone deserves to live in an environment free of pollutants. This is something that today's guest is especially passionate about. On this episode we're joined by Jack McLeans to discuss sensors.AFRICA , a pan-African citizen science initiative that uses low-cost sensors to monitor air, water and sound pollution to give citizens actionable information about their cities. sensors.AFRICA is a project under Code for Africa, which is Africa’s Largest Civic Technology + Open Data + Data Journalism ...
Feb 15, 2021•50 min•Ep. 18
In this episode Dave Wilcox, CAM engineer at CircuitHub , joins us again to educate us on bare printed circuit board materials....think prepreg, laminate etc. Show Notes: -FR4 is the most common, widely available PCB material. It is a woven glass cloth filled with epoxy resin the is bonded together to form sheets of prepreg and laminate -If a circuit board were a sandwich, the laminate is the bread and the prepreg is the filling. -We discuss differences in FR4 used for lead vs lead free process....
Feb 01, 2021•1 hr 12 min•Ep. 17
On today's episode we continue on with our technical subseries about the assembly process. We delve into selective soldering, which is used to solder through hold components onto boards. Show notes: -We answer a question from a listener about tomb stoning, why it is no longer as prevalent in pcb assembly today, and how to prevent it - https://www.worthingtonassembly.com/perfect-0201-footprint - https://www.worthingtonassembly.com/perfect-0402-footprint -Worthington uses selective soldering machi...
Jan 18, 2021•58 min•Ep. 16
Welcome to the new year! This episode is a continuation of our conversation with Eli Hughes of Tzero . If you haven't checked out the first part , we recommend you do so first before listening to this episode. Show notes: - Without first building relationships, trust can't be established. -Even though engineers are dealing with highly technical problems, most have underpinning problems that aren't technical in nature. -Eli's episode on the Amp Hour . -Opinion: American chocolate is so much bette...
Jan 04, 2021•54 min•Ep. 15
On this episode, we chat with a CircuitHub customer, Eli Hughes. He tells about how his work at the Penn State Applied Research Laboratory and background in acoustics led to the founding of Tzero Labs. We also have a great conversation with him about the importance of building strong relationships with both your teammates and suppliers. The trust that comes out of it will ultimately help everyone work through the mistakes that inevitably pop up during the manufacturing process. Show notes: -Chri...
Dec 14, 2020•1 hr 8 min•Ep. 14
In this episode we delve into the process of Automated Optical Inspection (AOI). We cover what details of the circuit board AOI looks at, what kinds of defects can be checked during AOI, and the differences and benefits of 2D AOI vs 3D AOI. Chris also goes into some misconceptions regarding AOI and how you can design your CircuitHub to make it go through the AOI process more seamlessly. pickplacepodcast.com
Nov 30, 2020•59 min•Ep. 13
Even though we talk a lot about PCB assembly on this show, one aspect of the process still remains a bit of a mystery to Chris and Melissa - the ins and out of the PCB fabrication process. On this episode are joined by Dave Wilcox, a CAM engineer at CircuitHub who has been working with PCBs for 32 years. Dave gives us a 10,000 ft level overview of the PCB fab process, using a simple, standard 1.6mm thick, 2-layer board as an example. He breaks it down into all the steps that have to take place i...
Nov 16, 2020•1 hr 6 min•Ep. 12
Welcome to another week! This episode Chris and Melissa discuss reflow soldering - the high volume soldering method that melts all of the solder at the same time and sets it to the circuit board. Even though it's a relatively simple process, it's a step that is really important to get right. We go over the following: -What is reflow soldering? -Why is it important and why are we dedicating an episode to talking about it? -Types of reflow ovens: Vapor Phase IR Convection -What is a Reflow Profile...
Nov 02, 2020•42 min•Ep. 11
Welcome to our 10th episode of the podcast! Not only is this our 10th full episode, but we also have recently surpassed 1,000 episode downloads. As a thank you to all our listeners we're giving away $100 of credit to ten people that can be used on PCB assembly of any future CircuitHub order. Rules: Send us a tweet (or a LinkedIn post if you don't have Twitter) letting us know something that you've enjoyed or learned from the show so far. Make sure to mention both @CircuitHub and @WAssembly. The ...
Oct 20, 2020•1 hr 22 min•Ep. 10
We think one of the best ways to understand what goes into PCB assembly is to speak to the experts themselves, those who spend day in and day out building your stuff! On this week's episode we speak to Beata Laskowski, a quality control inspector at Worthington. Originally from Poland, Beata has been working in the electronics manufacturing industry for over thirteen years, seven and a half of which have been at Worthington. If you're a CircuitHub customer, it's possible you've had some back and...
Oct 05, 2020•56 min•Ep. 9
What happens to your bag of trash after you throw it in the dumpster? Most of us probably don't want to think in depth about this, but it's a problem that is constantly on the mind of this week's guest. We had the pleasure of chatting with Matthew Laderer, Director of Engineering and Product Development at Loci Controls. Loci Controls' automated landfill gas collection platform increases landfill gas collection by 20% or more, ensures less methane is being released into the atmosphere, and reduc...
Sep 21, 2020•1 hr 16 min•Ep. 8
On this week's episode we talk about something that at first glance might seem mundane, but is actually one of the most important steps and literally the foundation in pcb assembly: past printing. In fact, approximately 65% of all assembly defects come from this process. Chris breaks down all of the components that are a part of the often misunderstood process and provides some design tips on how to make it go smoother. Show notes: -Chris will be speaking at the upcoming virtual Altium Live conf...
Sep 07, 2020•1 hr 10 min•Ep. 7
This week we are joined by Dugan Karnazes, CEO of design firm Velocity Research and Nadim Conti, System & Electronic Designer at the Italian National Institute for Nuclear Physics and Collaboration Member at CERN to talk about about their involvement with the Open Source Ventilator (OSV) Project. We discuss how COVID-19 disrupted their normal work lives, how OSV evolved, the importance of the project being open source, and more. Official website for the Open Source Ventilator project: https:...
Aug 24, 2020•1 hr 10 min•Ep. 6
On this week's episode we talk about the pick and place assembly process (which also served as the inspiration for our show name) - the process of placing parts onto circuit boards using automated machines. We recap on how we've been adjusting in the factory amidst the continuing pandemic and how we're dealing with some of the growing pains as business starts to boom again. We discuss the steps after the parts are kitted that have to be done to get the board ready to be assembled: The parts have...
Aug 10, 2020•1 hr 2 min•Ep. 5
In part 2 of our episode about parts purchasing with Brett and Magnus from Worthington, we talk about things we think customers should know about the process of purchasing parts and also the topic of parts consignments. If you’re just tuning it, make sure to listen to part 1 first! In part 1 we discussed what Magnus and Brett do for Worthington and CircuitHub, questions customers frequently ask us about parts and purchasing, and recommendations we have for customers. This week we’re talking abou...
Jul 27, 2020•45 min•Ep. 4
This week we are joined by Brett and Magnus from Worthington to talk about parts and parts purchasing. They answer frequent questions customers ask us about parts and provide a few part related recommendations. Intro Brett and Magnus give us a brief overview of what they do at Worthington and what they did before joining Worthington. We reflect on a twelve pound circuit board we are making and some of the challenges that come along with building something so big! Brett and Magnus discuss the dif...
Jul 13, 2020•1 hr 1 min•Ep. 3
On episode 2 of the Pick, Place, Podcast, Chris Denney gives us an overview of the pcb assembly process - everything that happens after you place an order until when your boards are shipped. Show outline: We discuss the difference between placing an order at Worthington vs CircuitHub . The three first steps happen in conjunction: Gerber data is submitted to begin board fab, the BOM is verified and purchased, the Gerber data and XY data is used to program the machines that will be assembling the ...
Jun 29, 2020•47 min•Ep. 2
Join hosts Chris Denney and Melissa Hough as they discuss their involvement with CircuitHub and Worthington. Find out what you can expect to learn on the Pick, Place, Podcast. pickplacepodcast.com
Jun 12, 2020•13 min0
