In this slightly random catchup episode Chris and Melissa discuss Chris' recent trip to California where he attended IPC APEX EXPO and hosted out first Pick, Place, Podcast meetup! Huge thanks to everyone who was able to come say hi, the wonderful conversations and show suggestions! pickplacepodcast.com…

In this episode, we uncover the multifaceted persona of IPC President and CEO, Dr. John Mitchell, from his educational background to his Ironman pursuits. Learn about IPC alongside insights into John's acclaimed book, Fire Your Hiring Habits. John also talks about the history behind the IPC Apex Expo and what you can expect at the even if you parti…

In this episode we're happy to welcome back Brett Babilonia, who we spoke to way back in episode 3 and 4 on the show. In addition to purchasing, Brett also handles a lot of quoting at Worthington. We often get asked how we quote boards, is there a magical formula, and figured Brett is the perfect person to speak on this topic. pickplacepodcast.com…

Parts packaged in tubes are awful and Chris has had enough. He's starting a movement to end the use of tubes once and for all. Why do they still exist? If anybody has an answer PLEASE write in to let us know. Join us on this hour long rant as we discuss all the reasons why tubes suck including their effect on the environment and how inefficient the…

Welcome to the first episode of 2024 (which was recorded in 2023)! In today's show we're joined by AIM Solder's Content Marketing Specialist, Gayle Towell. AIM is a leading global manufacturer of solder assembly materials for the electronics industry with manufacturing, distribution, and support facilities located throughout North and South America…

We like to talk to interesting people on this show so when Praxie reached out to us wondering if their CEO, Michael Lynch could come on the show we knew it would be a fun conversation. Michael is the former head of Internet of Things at SAP software and now CEO of Praxie (and believe it or not, former lead in Les Miserables on Broadway prior to tha…

Why would we dedicate an entire episode to conveyers, you ask? Because it just so happens to be Chris' favorite topic! Chris has an addiction to progress and conveyers are one of the best ways in a factory setting to achieve that (both literally and figuratively). We get an overview of the different types of conveyers typically used in a factory se…

At the end of our episodes we've been asking you to send in any questions you had...and we're finally answering them. In this grab bag episode we discuss topics like what happens to excess parts, the ISO certification process, the shrinking size of resistors, and more! In honor of spooky season, we also share some scary stories from production. pic…

In this episode we welcome back NCAB Group Field Application Engineer Ryan Miller. The first time we had him on the show he gave us a lesson on what impedance control is, in what situations is it necessary, and more. This time we recorded a video demo going through how he would create a stackup the requires controlled impedance. In order for this e…

What's been going on at the factory while we've been away? Chris catches up Melissa and all of you listeners on all of the new people, machines, and processes that have been introduced during our break. pickplacepodcast.comBy CircuitHub and Worthington

After a LONG hiatus, we're back! Our break was for a very good reason though. Listen to find out why! In this episode, we welcome SelecTech CEO and co-founder Tom Ricciardelli. Tom is a technical flooring expert on static control or ESD flooring. He is also chairman of the committee formed by the ESD Association (www.esda.org). His company, SelecTe…

This week we're joined by fellow podcast host Aaron Moncur who runs the Being an Engineer Podcast and is also the founder of Pipeline Design and Engineering. We had a fun discussion on the soft skills of engineering, including how to have systems in place that align with/support your goals, time management, and productivity hacks you might find use…

How do smaller manufacturers like Worthington and CircuitHub manage larger volume orders? Recently we've seen a big increase in these types of orders so it only seemed fitting to have a discussion about it. We briefly touch on the financial and negotiation side of things before getting to the logistics of how we handle large-volume orders. This inc…

We're back after a bit of a break! In this episode, we're excited to welcome David Shield from the Printed Circuit Board Associated of America (PCBAA) to talk about how their work is influencing the US Congress to bring electronics manufacturing back to America. The Printed Circuit Board Association of America is the sole association of U.S. domest…

We're very excited to have Mike Konrad, founder of Aqueous Technologies as well as host of his own podcast, Reliability Matters, back on the show. We first had Mike on the show to discuss the history of board cleaning, the electronics the industry's transition to primarily using no-clean flux, and why more and more companies are reintroducing board…

This week we are joined by Valentina Ratner and Kyle Dumont, co-founders of AllSpice.io. Valentina and Kyle met while doing an MBA program at Harvard and realized they both shared a common frustration - the lack of asynchronous design review tools available for electrical engineers despite such tools being readily available for other engineering fi…

CircuitHub CAM engineer, Dave Wilcox is back on the show to teach us more about the PCB fabrication process. In our last episode with Dave, we went into the fine details of drilling a PCB. Today we move on to the next step Outer Layer Imaging. pickplacepodcast.com

We apologize for our extended break! Chris has been hard at work from morning til late at night every day setting up Worthington's two new Fuji pick and place machines. Now that some of the dust has settled we hope to get back on a more regular recording schedule. We've had several requests from our listeners to have an episode on on impedance cont…

In episode 19, we focused on the different types of depanelization methods that can be used during assembly. In this episode, we take a deeper dive into panelization, how we decide what panelization methods and sizes to use, and how this informs depanelization. pickplacepodcast.comBy CircuitHub and Worthington

In this episode, which might just be our nerdiest one yet, we are joined by Sam Feller, aka The Awkward Engineer. First and foremost he would like everyone to know that he is the awkward one, the engineering is top notch. Sam is a long time Worthington/CircuitHub customer, product manager at Tulip, former engineer at Amazon, and founder of the Awkw…

We're back! In this episode we talk about what we were busy doing on our "break", the different types and formats that solder comes in, and some unfortunate consequences that sometimes occur while eating chips. pickplacepodcast.comBy CircuitHub and Worthington

Last week Chris was a guest on the Coriolis Effect, a podcast hosted by Bil Herd and Ben Jordan. Since we are still on hiatus (and because the episode was so great) we decided to repost the conversation. Don't worry, we expect to be back next episode with some new, fun and content and plenty of pet peeves! pickplacepodcast.com…

Sometimes things are difficult to build....enter the help of custom tooling! In this episode, we highlight some of the applications for which we might order custom tooling, how they can help us assemble boards more efficiently and accurately, and some things you might want to do if you'd like to avoid custom tooling becoming necesesary. Show Links:…

Intrusive soldering, also known as pin-in-paste, is a method that uses solder paste to solder the thru-hole leads instead of hand soldering, wave soldering, or selective soldering. If designed properly, it's a great way to save time and money during pcb assembly. In this episode, we discuss how intrusive soldering is done, challenges associated wit…

Flux is friend. Not foe. To create a solder joint, you have a lot working against you. Boards, parts, the air...it’s all very cold compared to the melting point of solder. Those are easily overcome with a good heat source in the way of a soldering iron, wave solder, or selective solder. However, none of this will do you a lick of good without flux …

It's a fact of life that defects and failed boards will sometimes occur, which is why it's so important to have a debugging procedure prepared to help your CM know how to move forward. In this episode, we talk about best practices on how to work with your CM when these problems arise. pickplacepodcast.com…

We've finally managed to convince CircuitHub CAM Engineer, Dave Wilcox, to come back on the show to continue our series about the intricacies of PCB fabrication. If you're just tuning in, we recommend you listen to our episodes about Inner Layer Production and PCB Drilling Basics before this one. In this episode, we cover some of the finer details …

Similar to our discussion on ESD a few episodes back, moisture is also a "silent killer" for many electronic components. In this episode, we talk about what kind of damage moisture can cause in components, what precautions we take in the factory when working with moisture-sensitive devices, the different levels of moisture sensitivity, and measures…

IPC is a global trade organization whose goal is to help OEMs, EMS, PCB manufacturers, and suppliers build electronics better. They provide numerous standards covering the electronics manufacturing supply chain as well as engineering education and training. We're very grateful to have IPC employees Teresa Rowe, Sr. Director, Assembly & Standards Te…

In today's episode, we are joined by Darren Beckwith, CTO of Barnacle Systems. Barnacle Systems is a startup based in Victoria, Canada which provides security and monitoring products for boats and yachts. We chat with Darren about his many years working at Carmanah Technologies where he worked as a firmware engineer along with a larger engineering …

ESD (Electro Static Discharge) is an invisible, silent killer for PCBs. Protecting your boards from ESD damage while they're in the factory and being shipped to you is something we take very seriously. In today's episode we talk about what ESD is,how it damages your boards, and measures that should be taken to prevent this damage from occurring inc…

Consigned material is material purchased and sent to the CM by you, the customer. From your CMs point of view, managing consigned material can sometimes be tricky, especially if the material does not arrive how they were expecting it to. Here are our recommendations on how you can send your consigned material that will make the process go as smooth…

In this episode, we are joined by Duncan Lowder and Joe Selvik, co-founders of FixturFab, to learn about how to develop a PCBA functional test system. FixturFab is a software design platform that uses generative Computer-Aided Design (CAD) technologies to automate the design process of PCBA Functional Test Fixtures. They can assist with Mechanical …

In today's episode, Chris teaches us about different categories of components that don't use a traditional surface mount or through-hole mounting methods. Think epoxy mounting, press-fit, mechanical assembly, swaging hardware, snap sockets, dome switches, hot bar soldering wires and cables, adhesive tape, and RTV. Exciting news, Chris is a guest ho…

We talk a lot about equipment and techniques used to assembly PCBs, but wanted to dedicate an episode to focus on the people who are actually getting the work done. In this episode, we talk to Worthington employee, David Mulherin, about how to keep work output high in a high-stress manufacturing environment while also making sure factory workers fe…

Chinese New Year (aka Lunar New Year or Spring Festival) is a welcome and well-deserved break for Chinese workers. However, it is also a notoriously stressful time for the global manufacturing industry. In today's episode, we give you a manufacturer's perspective of why it is usually such a disruptive period. Links: Some fun (non-manufacturing rela…

We love it when PCB orders run through the assembly line smooth as butter. Inevitably, however, sometimes things do get delayed. On today's episode, we sat down with CircuitHub Production Manager, Rob OConnell, on the biggest showstoppers that cause orders to run late and some things customers can do to prevent this from happening. Chris' KiCon 201…

First articles, also known as batch run or first-run amongst other terms, is when a customer requests the first several finished PCBAs from a production run be delivered for inspection before the entire quantity is built. In this episode we go over when it's appropriate to request first articles (and when it's not), the difference between first art…

Worthington is in the process of upgrading its pick and place machinery. In order to do that requires a long process of evaluating potential new suppliers. Chris walks us through what that journey is like, why a contract manufacturer may need to upgrade its equipment, his recent in-person visit to one of the suppliers they've narrowed down to, and …

This episode is dedicated to fiducials which, for those who are unfamiliar with the term, are the small copper dots you may have seen on your bare PCB. We get into the details of what they are, where and why are they are used, and how you can use them in your design. https://www.worthingtonassembly.com/blog/2014/12/29/what-are-fiducials-and-why-are…

To celebrate reaching 10,000 downloads of the podcast, Chris and Melissa mix things up and interview each other so that you can get to know your hosts better! We talk about what we were doing before joining CircuitHub and Worthington, our journeys towards getting there, imposter syndrome, our love affair with Grape Nuts, and more! pickplacepodcast.…

We're very excited to be joined on this episode by Ben Jordan. Ben, who was previously at Altium for many years, now works at Autodesk as a Senior Product Manager for the Fusion 360 Electronics product. We chat about: Why we call them DuPont headers Machine pin headers are awesome A brief history of Altium's founding in Australia as Protel Systems …

As a continuation of last week's episode with CircuitHub CAM Engineer, Dave Wilcox, we discuss the basics of what happens during the PCB drilling process. We also drill into some fun topics including the confusing inconsistencies regarding the recommended tolerance on JST connectors and why NC drill data is so difficult to interpret. Listen to thes…

We're joined again by CircuitHub CAM Engineer Dave Wilcox to talk more about bare circuit board manufacturing. In this episode we Dave teaches us what happens during the inner layer production process. Check out more episodes with Dave! The PCB CAM Process Bare PCB Materials An Overview of Bare PCB Fabrication pickplacepodcast.com…

In today's episode Chris, a self proclaimed novice engineer, touches on the layout process and how small decisions can have a significant impact on assembly. We provide some on advice on the best proximity of vias with adjacent pads and plated thru-holes, edge clearance, fiducials, and more. Useful articles: https://www.worthingtonassembly.com/blog…

Although we like to keep our episodes targeted towards anyone who is interested in PCB assembly as a whole, we know that many of our listeners are CircuitHub customers. In this episode we sat down with John Jacquinet, who is an Account Manager at CircuitHub. We talk to John about how his work experience as en electrical engineer influenced his view…

When are through hole components recommended over surface mount components, and vice versa? The answer is not always straightforward. In this episode we break down the cost, reliability and application implications of using SMT vs through hole parts in your design. Bare board destacker: https://youtu.be/b94-3rr_BHg Test Point Part Numbers Harwin - …

In this episode we continue our conversation with Mike Rankins and Gary Shanahan, supply chain specialists at Digi-Key. (If you haven't listened to the first half about the global electronics parts shortage, we definitely recommend it). In the second half we take a broader look at what electronics distributors like Digikey are, what role they play,…

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…

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 th…