Steven Adamson, Market Specialist, Nordson ASYMTEK
Gary Goldberg, President and CEO, PROMATION, Inc.
Edward Zamborsky, Regional Sales Manager, OK International Inc.
Leo Lambert, Vice President, Technical Director, EPTAC Corporation
Jack Crawford, Director - Certification & Assembly Technology, IPC
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I think the standard naming should be updated to CWC "Circuit Wiring Carrier". This would include rigid, rigid-flex, flex, and any other exotic of the like, and would also be inclusive of all process technologies that would yield the same general commodity as the end result. Any kind of common sense update would be refreshing!
M.C., PHO-TRONICS, USA
Another consideration - although "PCB" was the most commonly used term years ago, during the 1970's and 80's there was a lot of negative publicity about polychlorinated biphenyls (aka PCBs) as carcinogenic environmental pollutants, and the circuit board industry in the U.S. turned to favor "PWB" to avoid any confusion or association with those pollutants.
Karl Wengenroth, Enthone, Inc., USA
I have been in this industry for well over 35 years, and what we are talking about have always been referred to as PCBs. There was actually something we called a printed wire board that was literally wires laid down on a board with a coating of resin covering it to keep the wires in place. At the time there weren't multilayer boards, so high density could be achieved this way. It was sort of like wire wrap, but the wires were "welded" to the pads instead of wrapped.
Jeff L Sorensen, Teridian Semiconductor, USA
Printed circuit boards is the modern term for the bare board, also called the fabricated board. Circuit Card Assembly (CCA) is the term used to describe the finished assembly, not PWA.
Richard Stadem, General Dynamics AIS
Looking at Mr. Leo Lambert's comment, the different between the two terms is mainly in having the printed components or not. What are "Printed components"? Does this refer to legend printing or component mark printing?
Thomas Ip, Newsmart International Limited
The boards in question essentially provide a substrate with interconnect traces and pads. Some have embedded components but are NOT a functional circuit by any stretch of the imagination.
I seem to recall that in the 1970s the board industry agreed that PCB was incorrect and that PWB accurately reflected the functionality. Some old timers, who resist change, clung to the inaccurate PCB term. Apparently, laziness has prevailed for man but PWB is frequently used now.
If you think about it, using lithography, today's SoCs (systems on a chip) are the only true "printed circuits", requiring only power.
Terrence Thompson, WDPI
We have been a manufacturer of printed circuit boards for 37 years now, our UL Card says Printed Wiring Board. But most people say PCB or Circuit Board.
The FlexSolder W510 Selective Soldering System is a low cost, lead-free compatible, superior-quality system, offering high flexibility. Juki Automation Systems
Sunstone Circuits, has released the newest version of their design software, PCB123. Bottom line, the design process just got easier. Sunstone Circuits
Experience the Blackfox difference! Schedule your IPC Training and Certification with Blackfox at one of our many certification sites, or we'll come to you. Find the schedule... Blackfox Training Institute
Solve manufacturing challenges while networking with hundreds of exhibitors and thousands of peers focused on design, manufacture, assembly and test. Keynote by William Shatner. IPC — Association Connecting Electronics Industries
Engineering changes are a reality that need to be dealt with. Do you have qualified rework technicians to do the job efficiently and reliably? Circuit Technology Center
There's simply no reason to scrap circuit boards when they have contacts contaminated with solder. Restore them using the Gold Contact Plating Kit. CircuitMedic
IPC — Association Connecting Electronics Industries 3000 Lakeside Drive, 309 S, Bannockburn, IL 60015 Phone: 978-478-5112 | Fax: 843-682-4255
Sandy Gentry, Editor | Kim Sterling, Publisher
Use the form below to submit a comment.
M.C., PHO-TRONICS, USA
Karl Wengenroth, Enthone, Inc., USA
Jeff L Sorensen, Teridian Semiconductor, USA
Richard Stadem, General Dynamics AIS
Thomas Ip, Newsmart International Limited
I seem to recall that in the 1970s the board industry agreed that PCB was incorrect and that PWB accurately reflected the functionality. Some old timers, who resist change, clung to the inaccurate PCB term. Apparently, laziness has prevailed for man but PWB is frequently used now.
If you think about it, using lithography, today's SoCs (systems on a chip) are the only true "printed circuits", requiring only power.
Terrence Thompson, WDPI
Richard Kincaid