June 2018
Artificial intelligence: the long road ahead
Artificial Intelligence (AI), everybody is talking about it but few really understand what it stands for and what it will mean for our future. At this moment we are only beginning to see the possibilities of AI, and the end is nowhere in sight. In this article we will be exploring what AI is, what machine learning is and what [...]
Employees used to be proud and loyal, but how about now?
Things used to be different back in the day. This is certainly true for one particular development: the time that employees stay with one and the same company. Employees used to start working for a company at a very early age and they would go up the ladder over the years, building the company as they went along. Pride in [...]
May 2018
Highlight at the 2018 SMT
PIEK and IPC would be delighted to welcome you at this year’s SMT Hybrid Packaging Fair in Nuremberg. Please visit our stand no. 400 in Hall 4 and find the experts in the electronic interconnect industry there. Exchanging experiences, getting to know each other and entering the hand-soldering competition are the main things to go for. Invitation to the IPC [...]
Less should be more in the future
This article will focus on energy consumption. Though this is not a new theme, it is a major one impacting the electronics industry more and more and leading to ever greater challenges. Electronic devices are essential parts of our lives. In Germany alone 1.8 million tonnes of electronic equipment are sold every year. It is not so important that each [...]
April 2018
Upheaval in the transport sector
Autonomously driving lorries with sensors on board, containers with sensors and cranes equipped with artificial intelligence can all communicate with each other. It sounds like science fiction, but it is no longer so. It is the beginning of dramatic changes in the transport sector. Professions such as a lorry driver, a taxi driver and a package deliveryman may not have [...]
Concentration of industries in Europe
Various researchers have looked into the reasons why there is a concentration of industries in certain geographical areas and not in others. Their research nearly always indicates that there is a connection between the clustering of industries and the characteristics of geographical areas. There are three factors at play, namely the presence of goods, people and ideas. The extent to [...]
Smart trees make street lighting redundant
Imagine a world in which street lighting is superfluous. No extra energy would be needed to power street lamps, because trees and shrubs already light the streets. It could be a horror scenario for energy suppliers and for producers of street lamps and lighting equipment, since it would endanger their business model. For the European Union and its 20-20-20 objectives, [...]
March 2018
4D printing is hot, 3D printing is not
Many people will not know this, but 3D printing has been around for 30 years. The technology is used with various every-day products, such as toys, household gadgets and technical tools. 3D printing technology is also used in the automotive industry, aviation and aerospace, the medical world and the building sector. Particularly in the medical world 3D printing technology has [...]
Sensors, the new human eyes
Sensor technology is making rapid progress, opening up many options for innovations. The autonomously driving car is one of these, and in the maritime world sensor technology has also become a key technology. The technology used there for years is now trickling through in the automotive industry. A good example is the new LIDAR systems (Light Detection And Ranging or [...]
One-stop shopping Now Available!
It is becoming much more common in the retail business, having just the one place to which you can turn for all your shopping. Marketeers call this phenomenon one-stop shopping. In the technical interconnect industry there is also one organisation to which this concept applies. It is PIEK. The family-run business PIEK is a household name in the technical interconnect [...]
February 2018
Industry 4.0, the road to success
Last year we informed you in an article about the rise of and the milestones in industry 4.0. In this article we would like to proceed with the impact that industry 4.0 will have on industry, especially the technical interconnect industry. What we are seeing today is four trends that will further impact the industrial world in the course of [...]
Big Brother is watching you drive
Drinking alcohol and driving do not mix. It is an age-old truth that we are also reminded of in government campaigns. Alcohol is at the root of nearly 11% of fatal car accidents across the world. These days, however, something else is ousting alcohol from its first place. You have guessed it. It is our mobile phone. In the USA [...]
Agriculture and horticulture are high tech
High-tech companies such as Sharp, Panasonic, Fujitsu, and Toshiba are rapidly expanding into agricultural and horticultural products, using their technical expertise. Japanese agriculture and horticulture has been facing extremely keen competition from abroad for years. This is why the Japanese government has developed incentives enabling tech firms to invest in agriculture and horticulture. It has worked wonders. The use of [...]
Learning and exploring
There are many educational institutes in the market of the electronic inter-connect industry. When compared with PIEK, some are less expensive, have more branches or have a more limited course offer. Are the costs of certification or re-certification actually justified? Have the employees been trained in relevant aspects that they can apply in practice afterwards? Do certification and re-certification have [...]
January 2018
Customisation is the standard at PIEK
Companies in the electronic interconnect industry are continually subject to changes, innovations and trends. The one thing that they have in common is the set of worldwide guidelines for the electronic inter-connect industry, the so-called IPC certifications. These certifications and re-certifications are the standards for the electronic inter-connect industry, ensuring that the IPC regulations and guidelines are taught worldwide and [...]
Ultimate responsibility in the automotive industry
Dieselgate has led to many recall actions worldwide. Not only Volkswagen was hurt by things that were incorrect in their products, but other car manufacturers also suffered alongside: Mercedes with its Arcos lorry, Toyota with the Akata airbag, Mitsubishi with its lorries and plenty of others. How about the responsibility in these matters? Ultimate responsibility in the automotive industry is [...]
