Pick, Place, Podcast

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 host on Hackaday Chat! Join him on Wednesd...

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 feel like they are valued. pickplacepodcast.com

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 related) facts about Chinese New Year Inform...

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 2019 Talk - Your Manufacturer is Stupid The...

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 articles and prototypes, examples of how us...

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 more!  pickplacepodcast.com

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-they-useful If you are already using fiducials i...

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.com

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 Chris' love for Australia Lots of...

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 these other great episodes with Dave! The PCB C...

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/2014/12/29/what-are-fiducials-and-why-are...

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 views when moving over to the assembly side, how to ta...

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 - S2761-46R -  https://www.digikey.com/en/products...

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, and what value adds the provide in addition...

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.  pic...

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

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 en...

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 type...

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...

 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 s...

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 e...

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. AFR...

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 bre...

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-footprin...