Recently I've read that a sluggish economy marks the perfect time to expand a business. Now I-Connnect007 will get a chance to find out firsthand. 

SMT Magazine has joined the I-Connnect007 family. I'd like to welcome all of our SMT readers to the I-Connect007 family and PCBDesign007.

This is still new to us, and every day I discover useful features on the pages of SMT. For instance, be sure to check out SMT's Image Library of Defects, which you can access by clicking here. A library of defects is a great idea, and we're going to work to expand it in the future.

With the merger, we have "inherited" a great group of SMT columnists: Evelyn A. Baldwin, sales manager of 3M Electronics; William E. Coleman, VP of technology at Photo Stencil; Dennis Derfiny, principal program manager at Motorola; Craig Hunter, director of global Internet marketing at Vishay Intertechnology; Michael Konrad, president of Aqueous Technologies; Ray Prasad of Ray Prasad Consultancy; Dr. S. Manian Ramkumar of the Rochester Institute of Technology; Rob Rowland, supplier engineering manager at RadiSys Corporation; Gary A. Tanel, president of the Dallas Chapter of SMTA and VP of the Associate Equity Group; Dr. Laura J. Turbini, chemistry lab manager and principal scientist at RIM; Dr. Harald Wack, president of Zestron; and Dr. Jennie Hwang, who has written over 300 publications and been involved with surface-mount manufacturing since the beginning.

That's a lot of talent.

And on the design front, we'd like to welcome Vern Solberg of Solberg Technical Consulting, who will continue writing his column "PCB Designers Notebook" for PCBDesign007

Vern is an industry veteran with several packaging patents to his name. He's been speaking at technical conferences and writing technical articles for years, and he led the IPC task group that developed IPC-7094, "Design and Assembly Process Implementation for Flip Chip and Die Size Components." Vern is also the author of Design Guidelines for Surface Mount and Fine-Pitch Technology.

For years, designers have preached against the old way of "throwing the design over the wall." Thanks to the industry's increased focus on DFM practices, the designer-fabricator communication link is stronger than ever.

But the design-assembly relationship may be in need of counseling. Designers and assemblers often have little understanding of each other's job functions.

It was the advent of lead-free solder and surface finishes that put design for assembly in the spotlight. Some design engineers didn't think the RoHS Directive would have much effect on their jobs; now they're having trouble locating the tin-lead termination devices required by high-reliability applications.

DFA is a hot topic. As our frequent contributor Jack Olson has pointed out, good DFA habits can save you serious money, and vice-versa. Proper component placement is critical, especially if you're designing boards for production volume.

Designers must be intimately familiar with what happens to their boards downstream, whether they're prototypes populated nearby or production volumes being assembled in a different hemisphere. And at volume, the potential for trouble rises exponentially.

The merger of SMT and I-Connect007 opens up plenty of avenues for us to provide solid DFA content. So, if you're an I-Connect007 regular, check out SMT. And to our SMT readers, take I-Connect007 out for a spin.

Don't forget to let us know what you think.

When the recession finally ends, the industry will no doubt be leaner than ever before. There will be fewer players in the electronics manufacturing field, and margins will be tight. Timely industry news and technical information will be at a premium.

And you can rely on I-Connect007, SMT and PCBDesign007 to keep you informed, day in and day out.