FlexTrades Marketing Team, Author at FlexTrades

The art of metal casting — melting metal, pouring it into molds, and shaping it into usable forms — is as old as civilization itself. Archeologists have uncovered metal casting relics from as early as 300 BC, possibly even older, depending on who you ask.

Most of the oldest artifacts come from Mesopotamia, where early craftspeople used clay molds and fire pits to cast copper, gold, and silver. It was here that the first alloy — bronze, a mix of copper and tin — was born. That single innovation sparked a new era of metal tools, weapons, and technology.

But like every great invention, metal casting has evolved. And the reasons are as much about human progress as they are about science.

Why Metal Casting Changed Over Time

Two major shifts drove the evolution of foundries:

Humans stopped migrating and started settling, giving rise to cities, economies, and steady production
Mining technology improved, giving us access to more raw material in less time

The result? Foundries got bigger, smarter, and more influential — shaping everything from warfare to water systems.

Foundry Highlights from the 19th Century

By the 1800s, metal casting was more than craft. It was an industry. The 19th century brought several major advancements:

Open-hearth furnaces for higher-quality steel
Sandblasting to clean castings faster and more effectively
Gear-tilted ladles to pour molten metal more safely

This era helped drive the industrialization of the United States, with foundries fueling the construction of railroad tracks, ironclad warships, and even America’s first submarine, launched in 1881.

Breakthroughs in the 20th Century

The 1900s ushered in a wave of innovation:

The coreless electric induction furnace changed how we melt metal
Low-carbon stainless steel opened up new use cases
Foundries began serving defense, aerospace, HVAC, and automotive sectors

This century saw foundries expand rapidly across North America. They became central to U.S. manufacturing.

Fun Fact:
The American Foundry Society (AFS) first met in 1896, but its first student chapter wasn’t launched until 1907 — in Minnesota. That same year, a patent was issued for high-pressure die casting machinery, a technology still used today.

The Foundry Industry Today

Metal casting remains a cornerstone of manufacturing — just more advanced than ever.

Today, the U.S. foundry industry is worth over $33 billion, with close to 1,900 active foundries and nearly 200,000 workers. Metal castings are found in 90% of durable goods, from clean water systems and farm equipment to energy infrastructure and transportation components.

And the modern foundry? It’s high-tech.

Many now use:

CAD software for design
3D printing for mold creation
Robotics and automation for efficiency
Casting analysis to improve quality and reduce waste

Foundries have never been more precise — or more important.

See It for Yourself

Want a closer look? Revisit our article on how steel is made and check out this factory tour of the St. Paul Foundry. You’ll see molten metal in action and the incredible technology that brings modern castings to life.

After that, look around. From the water pipes beneath your feet to the machine parts running your factory — metal castings are everywhere.

The National Institute for Occupational Safety & Health (NIOSH) defines Personal Protective Equipment (PPE) as the last line of defense in preventing workplace injuries, illnesses, and fatalities.

That means PPE doesn’t replace smart design or safer processes — but when a hazard slips through the cracks, PPE protects the individual. It can be the difference between a close call and a serious injury.

Here at FlexTrades, we believe safety starts with knowledge. So we’ve put together a quick breakdown of essential PPE and how to use it.

The Four Basic Categories of PPE

While each job site is different, PPE typically falls into one of four categories:

Face and Eye Protection
Respiratory Protection
Skin and Body Protection
Hearing Protection

A hazard assessment will help you determine which equipment is necessary. Below, we break down each category and offer practical tips to help you get it right.

Face and Eye Protection

This type of PPE shields you from sprays, splashes, flying objects, and high-heat tasks like welding.

Common examples include:

Goggles
Safety glasses
Face shields
Welding visors

Pro Tip: Always make sure your eyewear meets ANSI Z87.1 standards. Inspect lenses regularly for cracks or wear.

Respiratory Protection

Respiratory PPE is essential when you’re exposed to dust, fumes, gases, or biological hazards. It protects your lungs, airways, and internal organs.

Examples include:

Full-face respirators
Self-contained breathing apparatus (SCBA)
Gas masks
N95 masks and surgical masks

Pro Tip: Always fit test respirators and replace filters regularly to maintain effectiveness.

Skin and Body Protection

This category is broad — it includes anything designed to protect your skin or body from burns, cuts, impact, chemical exposure, or falls.

Key areas of protection:

Head – Hard hats, bump caps
Body – Safety vests, flame-resistant suits
Hands – Cut-resistant gloves, heat shields
Feet – Steel-toe boots, anti-slip soles
Fall – Harnesses, lanyards, and anchor points

Pro Tip: If gear is damaged or contaminated, replace it immediately. Compromised PPE isn’t PPE at all.

Hearing Protection

Loud environments can lead to long-term hearing damage if proper protection isn’t used.

Options include:

Earmuffs
Earplugs
Ear caps

Pro Tip: Hearing protection is only effective if it fits properly. Dirty or worn equipment should always be discarded.

Your PPE Checklist Starts Here

If you’re not sure where to begin, use this guide as a PPE checklist to support your next hazard assessment. Improving your understanding of safety gear is a simple but powerful way to strengthen your facility’s safety culture.

Want to go further? Revisit our Every Technician’s Toolbox blog to learn more about PPE and other essential safety practices.

And if you already know your way around all this gear, you might be ready for your next opportunity in manufacturing. Send your resume to retoolrecruiting@flextrades.com and let’s see where you belong.

At FlexTrades, we believe in supporting American manufacturing from every angle — not just by providing workforce solutions, but by advocating for the skilled trades and the technical education that fuels them.

That’s why we’re kicking off this year’s Monthly Manufacturing Calendar Highlight with a reminder: CTE Month® begins February 1st.

This is your chance to celebrate, support, and elevate the future of the skilled trades. Let’s talk about what CTE Month is and how you can get involved.

What Is CTE Month?

Career and Technical Education (CTE) helps students of all ages prepare for high-wage, high-demand careers. And we’re not just talking about students in high school — adult learners, returning workers, and veterans are part of the movement, too.

CTE Month happens every February as a nationwide campaign to:

Raise awareness about CTE’s role in workforce development
Celebrate CTE programs and their achievements
Encourage partnerships between educators, employers, and policymakers

You may have even seen it featured during events like the Super Bowl — like this commercial from Oklahoma Career Tech.

How Can You Celebrate CTE Month?

Whether you’re an educator, employer, or just someone who believes in the power of skilled trades, there are plenty of ways to get involved:

Instructors / Educators: Host a tour or open house. Let the community see what CTE looks like up close.
Businesses / Employers: Partner with local schools or host a job fair. Share success stories about CTE graduates on your team.
Graduates / Technicians: Speak up. Share your story publicly. The Skills Gap grows wider when people don’t understand the value of your experience.
Everyone Else: Download a CTE Month Zoom background and use it during virtual meetings to show your support — no speech required.
No matter your role, there’s a way to advocate for CTE this month. Sometimes, all it takes is showing up and being visible.

What’s Next?

February is just the start. Manufacturing advocacy doesn’t stop with CTE Month. In fact, October and MFG Day will be here before you know it.

So get involved. Be loud. Share your story. Support the people and programs building the future of American manufacturing.

And if you know of an industry event worth highlighting, email our Writing Team — we’d love to feature it in the months ahead.

Manufacturing sits at the intersection of science, technology, engineering, and math. It’s where ideas become tangible and precision meets production. But behind the machinery and the measurements is a set of principles that most of us first encountered in a middle school science class.

So today, let’s talk about something that sounds simple but plays a massive role in manufacturing: static electricity.

What Is an Atom, and Why Does It Matter?

To understand static electricity, we have to go all the way down to the atomic level.

Everything you can touch, build, or break is made of atoms. These atoms are made up of particles — protons, electrons, and neutrons — centered around a nucleus. Here’s the shorthand:

Protons have a positive charge
Electrons have a negative charge
Neutrons are, as the name suggests, neutral

In most materials, the number of protons and electrons is equal, so the object carries no electrical charge. But rub two materials together — especially ones with different conductive properties — and you disrupt that balance. Electrons jump from one surface to another, leaving one object more negative and the other more positive.

That imbalance? That’s static electricity.

Want to dig deeper into atomic structure? Start here.

Conductors vs. Insulators

Not all materials behave the same. Some let electrons move freely. Others don’t.

Conductors (like water and metal) have loosely bound electrons, making them ideal for electron transfer
Insulators (like rubber and plastic) hold electrons tightly, limiting their movement

This difference is critical in understanding how static electricity forms — and how it affects real-world environments.

The Balloon & Hair Trick

It’s a classic. You rub a balloon on your head and your hair starts to rise. But why?

Rubber is an insulator, so it doesn’t let electrons move easily across its surface. Hair, on the other hand, acts more like a conductor. When you rub the balloon on your head, electrons from your hair transfer to the balloon. The balloon now has more electrons (and becomes negatively charged), while your hair has fewer electrons (becoming relatively positive).

That difference in charge is static electricity. And it’s strong enough to pull your hair toward the balloon.

Fun? Sure. But in a manufacturing setting, it’s a different story.

Static Electricity in Manufacturing

Static electricity can be dangerous in a production environment. It’s not just an annoying zap. It’s a legitimate safety and quality risk.

Electrostatic discharge (ESD) — that tiny shock you sometimes feel when touching a doorknob — can do real damage. In manufacturing, ESD can:

Ignite flammable gases or vapors
Destroy sensitive electronic components
Attract dust and particles in cleanrooms
Cause materials to stick together or misalign

That’s why manufacturers go to great lengths to manage it.

How Manufacturers Manage Static Electricity

To minimize the risks of ESD, many facilities use specialized tools and processes, including:

ESD-safe clothing to reduce charge buildup
Antistatic wrist straps and grounding bracelets to safely redirect charges
ESD mats to neutralize static underfoot
Zero-charge hand lotions and cleaners to reduce friction on skin
Controlled humidity to reduce airborne electron movement

In highly controlled environments — especially in electronics manufacturing — these precautions aren’t optional. They’re essential.

Want to Learn More?

FlexTrades has a growing library of How It’s Made content that explores the science behind the trades. Check out more on our blog and see what else goes into the work behind the work.

If you’ve felt like the phrase “supply chain” is everywhere lately, you’re not wrong. It’s become part of our daily language — in business meetings, in news reports, in casual conversations. And for good reason.

The supply chain affects everything. What we buy. What we can’t find. What costs more than it used to. But where did it come from? And how did it become one of the most essential forces behind modern manufacturing?

Let’s take a step back.

What It Was

Before the first industrial revolution, supply chains were simple. Life was local. People relied on what was grown, built, or traded nearby. Long-distance transportation wasn’t yet a part of life, and production was limited by geography.

That changed quickly with the arrival of industry. Each industrial revolution brought new tools, new technologies, and a dramatic increase in production — which meant we needed better ways to move and manage all those goods.

Transportation was the turning point.

Where It Went

Without transportation, there is no modern supply chain. The railroad changed everything. But it was the internal combustion engine that transformed it.

In the late 19th century, diesel engines and the invention of the semi-truck gave businesses new ways to move product. Around the same time, new tools for handling goods — including hand trucks and early forklift concepts — started to take shape.

As goods began moving more freely across long distances, we needed places to store them. Warehouses evolved. Storage buildings expanded. Pallets made vertical storage more efficient. And the forklift? It became the workhorse of the warehouse.

Simple as it sounds, these were major innovations that made modern logistics possible.

What Took It Further

World War II marked a shift.

Military supply needs drove innovation. We weren’t just managing goods anymore — we were engineering full-scale systems to track, deliver, and replenish materials across the globe.

From the 1930s through the 1970s, some of the most important supply chain advancements emerged:

New pallet systems and storage innovations
The invention of the shipping container in the 1950s
A growing shift from rail to trucks in the 1960s
IBM’s creation of a computerized inventory system in 1967
Real-time warehouse management systems (WMS), barcodes, and scanners in the 1970s

By the 1980s and 1990s, supply chain systems became more connected, more digital, and more global. In 1983, the term Supply Chain Management was officially born.

Computers, spreadsheets, networked distribution models — all of it came together to shape the supply chain into something far bigger than anyone expected. Suddenly, the world was within reach.

What’s Next

Today, the global supply chain is a living, breathing system. Goods are sourced from everywhere. Operations are monitored in real time. And artificial intelligence is used to forecast demand, manage orders, and analyze performance with a level of speed and precision that would’ve seemed impossible just a few decades ago.

This is the Internet of Things (IoT) era — and supply chains are more interconnected than ever.

What comes next? More innovation. More complexity. And more opportunity to solve hard problems with smart systems.

And that’s exactly the kind of work we do every day at FlexTrades.

PCBs are the beating heart of modern electronics. From your phone and your car to medical devices and defense systems, if it runs on electricity, it probably runs on a PCB.

The global printed circuit board market is projected to reach nearly $68.5 billion by 2025 with a 6.7% compound annual growth rate. That’s impressive growth, especially after the supply chain setbacks caused by COVID-19. So, how are these essential pieces of tech actually made?

Let’s walk through it.

What Are Printed Circuit Boards?

A Printed Circuit Board (PCB) is a board that connects and supports electronic components. But unlike older tech, PCBs do this without using traditional wires.

Instead, they rely on an organized system of pads, traces, capacitors, resistors, and more to move and regulate electrical current. It’s a clean, compact, and efficient way to bring electronics to life.

Before PCBs, electronics relied on point-to-point wiring. It worked, but it was bulky, unreliable, and prone to failure as insulation aged. The rise of cheaper, smaller electronics led directly to the widespread use of printed circuit boards.

Common PCB Components

Batteries – supply voltage to the circuit
Resistors – regulate electrical current
Capacitors – store electrical charge
Connectors – link devices together
Diodes – allow current to travel in only one direction
LEDs – diodes that emit light
Relays / Switches – control circuit flow
Transistors – amplify electric signals
Inductors – oppose sudden changes in current

PCB Terminology to Know

Pads – exposed metal areas where components are soldered
Paste Stencil – thin sheet that applies solder paste in exact spots
Surface Mount – components soldered directly onto the surface (today’s standard)
Through Hole – components with leads passed through drilled holes
Traces – copper paths that carry current
Solder – metal used to bond components and conduct electricity

Layers of a PCB

PCBs are made up of layers, each with a unique purpose. Together, they create a durable, functional platform for electronics.

Layer 1: Base Material – usually fiberglass, gives the board structure
Layer 2: Copper – laminated foil forms the conductive pathways
Layer 3: Solder Mask – protective green coating that insulates copper
Silkscreen – text and symbols printed for easier identification

Single-sided boards have one copper layer. Double-sided boards have two. Multi-layer boards can include many layers for more complex devices.

How PCBs Are Made

Here’s a high-level breakdown of the process:

Create the fiberglass base
Laminate copper layers
Etch away excess copper to leave traces
Apply the solder mask for insulation
Add silkscreen for labeling
You now have a blank board — time to populate it

How PCB Components Are Added

There are two main ways to populate a PCB:

Hand Soldering

Technicians work from labeled prints and kits
Each component is placed and soldered by hand
Great for prototypes and small production runs
Here’s a look at hand soldering in action

SMT (Surface Mount Technology) Machine Operations

Boards move along a conveyor through multiple machines
Components are placed, soldered, inspected, and packaged
Ideal for large-scale production of less complex boards
See SMT machines at work here

Examples of PCBs

Blank Board – a clean, component-free circuit board, ready for population
Populated Board – a finished PCB with components mounted and soldered

For a visual of the full PCB manufacturing process, the team at FlexTrades recommends this industry resource and encourages you to dig deeper.

At FlexTrades, we’re in the business of solving problems. That means we ask a lot of questions — and we answer a lot of them, too.

One of the most common questions we get from clients, technicians, and new recruits is about IPC standards. What are they? Why do they matter? And what do all those numbers and letters mean?

Let’s clear it up.

What Is IPC?

When most people say IPC, they’re referring to IPC International, Inc. But that wasn’t always the name.

Back in 1957, six printed circuit board manufacturers came together to form the Institute of Printed Circuits. Their mission? To set shared standards, push industry innovation, and eliminate the kinds of supply chain headaches still common today.

As the industry grew beyond PCBs, so did IPC. In 1999, the group expanded to include all of electronics manufacturing. That expansion came with a name change — The Institute for Interconnecting and Packaging Electronic Circuits. Eventually, that mouthful became IPC International, Inc.

Today, IPC is the organization responsible for setting the standards that govern electronics manufacturing. That includes the way PCBs are developed, tested, inspected, and assembled. And that’s where J-STD-001 and IPC-A-610 come in.

What Is J-STD-001?

You’ll often hear this called J-Standard for short. The official name is IPC J-STD-001H, and it’s a critical global standard in electronics manufacturing.

It outlines the process requirements for soldered electrical and electronic assemblies, including everything from the materials used to how assemblies are tested and inspected. The standard emphasizes process control — meaning it’s not just about the end product, but how you get there.

If you’re working in PCB assembly, soldering, or inspection, you’ll likely need J-STD-001 certification. It verifies that your processes meet industry expectations for quality and repeatability.

What Is IPC-A-610?

This one is often shortened to IPC-610, but the full name is IPC-A-610 Acceptability of Electronic Assemblies.

Where J-STD-001 focuses on how electronics are built, IPC-610 focuses on how they’re judged. It defines what an acceptable finished product looks like and qualifies people to perform that final inspection.

If you’re certified to IPC-A-610 standards, you’re trained to assess the quality and acceptability of PCBs based on IPC-defined criteria.

Together, IPC-610 and J-STD-001 create a comprehensive system: build to the standard, inspect to the standard, certify to the standard.

Want to Learn More?

There are dozens of additional IPC standards, far too many to cover here. But if you’re interested, you can explore the full list to learn more about each certification and what it covers.

Are You Certified in J-STD-001 or IPC-610?

FlexTrades is always looking for experienced technicians with IPC certifications. If you’ve got the credentials, join our Talent Network and get connected with projects that match your skills.

Got a Question We Haven’t Covered Yet?

We want to hear it. Send your questions to writingteam@flextrades.com and we just might answer it in a future blog post.

Steel is everywhere. Look around.

Buildings. Bridges. Safety rails. Brackets. Cars. Trains. Sinks. Surgical tools. Jewelry. Even the scissors in your kitchen drawer.

It’s one of the most widely used materials on the planet, yet few people ever stop to ask the obvious question — where does steel actually come from?

Let’s walk through it.

Step 1: Turn Raw Materials into Molten Metal

It starts with iron ore, mined from the ground.

But iron ore on its own isn’t enough. It needs to be reduced, and that’s where coke comes in. Coke is created by crushing coal, then carburizing it at high temperatures in a furnace without oxygen. What you get is a carbon-rich, rock-like material that looks like small black chunks.

Add the coke, the iron ore, and some limestone to a blast furnace. That’s where the transformation happens.

Superheated air is blown into the base of the furnace, igniting a combustion reaction. The result? Molten pig iron. (Fun fact: it takes about 1.5 tons of iron ore to make just 1 ton of steel.)

The limestone helps remove impurities like silicon dioxide — the stuff you’d find in sand and rock.

Technically, pig iron isn’t quite iron or steel. But it’s the bridge between the two.

Step 2: Convert Pig Iron to Steel

Once the pig iron is molten, it’s transferred by ladle to another furnace.

There, it’s combined with scrap steel in one of two systems:

Basic oxygen furnaces, which blast high-pressure oxygen into the metal to burn off impurities
Electric arc furnaces (EAFs), which melt scrap instead of ore — a more sustainable method, though it can yield lower-grade steel

By this point, the transformation is complete. Molten steel is born.

Step 3: Shape It with Continuous Casting

Ladles transfer the molten steel into tundishes, which feed into a continuous caster.

The caster shapes the metal as it cools, forming it into things like:

Ingots
Blooms
Billets
Slabs

These are all known as semi-finished products — not ready for use, but ready for what comes next.

Step 4: Roll It Out

Next, the steel passes through rolling mills, where it’s processed into usable forms:

Steel plates
Coils
Rods
Bars

If the steel is rolled while hot, it’s called hot rolled steel. If it’s done after cooling, you get cold rolled steel, which is stronger and has a smoother finish.

Step 5: Final Touches

The last step is finishing.

Depending on the end use, that might include:

Pickling
Coating
Tinning
Annealing
Tempering
Cutting
Slitting
Coiling
Packing

Each of these changes the performance or appearance of the steel before it heads off to do its job in the world.

Want to see how it all works? Check out this video and article from the American Iron and Steel Institute.

Bonus Resources

If this kind of thing sparks your interest, FlexTrades has a whole archive of How It’s Made content. It’s worth the scroll.

Manufacturing has evolved through four industrial revolutions, and with each shift, machines have played a central role in shaping how things get made. Among them, the metal working mill has quietly remained a constant.

It doesn’t get as much historical attention as the lathe, but the mill has earned its place — not just in factories, but in the foundation of modern production itself.

Eli Whitney and the Birth of the Mill

The story of the mill begins in the late 1700s, when clockmakers used crude versions to cut balance wheels. But it wasn’t until 1818 that the United States could truly call the milling machine its own. That credit goes to Eli Whitney.

You probably know Whitney as the inventor of the cotton gin. What you might not know is what came next.

Facing the threat of war with France, the U.S. government began offering contracts for mass musket production. At the time, muskets were handmade, and that meant each one was slightly different. No interchangeable parts. No inventory system. No consistency. Whitney saw the flaw. And he saw the fix.

He began designing machine tools that could create musket components with identical size, shape, and function. These tools would allow parts to be mass-produced, stored, and swapped. That vision led to the milling machine — and, more importantly, to the production system we still rely on today.

In 1801, he presented this system to President-elect Thomas Jefferson. Jefferson was impressed. And with that vote of confidence, Whitney began manufacturing arms with his new technology, eventually passing the business to his son in Hamden, Connecticut.

Evolution Through the Revolutions

Milling machines didn’t stop evolving with Eli Whitney.

In 1867, American engineer Joseph R. Brown debuted a universal milling machine at the Paris Exhibition. It was a leap forward in precision and capability. Then in 1936, Rudolph Bannow improved the design even further. He believed mills should offer more movement and access — allowing tools to approach a part from multiple angles with less manual repositioning.

Bannow’s invention became the Bridgeport milling machine. It was revolutionary. And even now, many U.S. manufacturers still use Bridgeports in their shops.

But as game-changing as the Bridgeport was, it’s still manual. And with the rise of automation, software, and digital control systems, milling machines have taken another leap — this time into CNC.

But that’s a story for another day.

FlexTrades exists to solve problems for American manufacturers. That’s our purpose. But solving real problems means asking hard questions. And sometimes, answering them.

One of the questions we hear most often from job seekers and clients alike is this:

What is ITAR, and why should I care?

Let’s break it down.

Understanding ITAR

ITAR stands for International Traffic in Arms Regulations. These are federal laws enforced by the U.S. government. They exist to protect national security by controlling who has access to defense-related products, data, and services.

If you build, supply, or support anything tied to military use — directly or indirectly — you’re in ITAR territory. That includes primary manufacturers, vendors, and even subcontractors in the supply chain.

Being ITAR compliant isn’t just a title. It means implementing safeguards to restrict access to sensitive materials and systems. It means following strict rules to prevent foreign nationals from accessing defense-related information. It means recertifying every year.

And if your company operates across borders? It means navigating some serious complexity — across documentation, digital access, hiring practices, and more.

What ITAR Means for Job Seekers

If you’re applying for a position at an ITAR-compliant company, there’s one thing you’ll need: proof of ITAR eligibility.

That usually includes two forms of government-issued ID, with at least one containing your photo. Requirements vary, but the company will tell you exactly what to provide. If you’re curious, here’s an example list of acceptable documents used for defense conference access.

This isn’t red tape. It’s law. And it’s important.

Still Curious About ITAR?

Want a deeper dive? The U.S. government offers detailed guidance on ITAR — who it applies to, what it regulates, and how compliance is maintained.

And if you’re new to the FlexTrades blog, stick around. We’ve got more answers where this came from.

Want to Work With Us?

If you’re a recent tech school graduate, consider the FlexTrades ReTool Program. It’s designed to help people like you get real-world experience that leads to a real career.

Already have experience? Join our Talent Network to see current opportunities and get matched with the right projects.

Got a Question of Your Own?

We want to hear it. Send your questions to writingteam@flextrades.com. Who knows — maybe your question will inspire our next blog post.

Why Metal Casting Changed Over Time

Foundry Highlights from the 19th Century

Breakthroughs in the 20th Century

The Foundry Industry Today

See It for Yourself

The Four Basic Categories of PPE

Face and Eye Protection

Respiratory Protection

Skin and Body Protection

Hearing Protection

Your PPE Checklist Starts Here

What Is CTE Month?

How Can You Celebrate CTE Month?

What’s Next?

What Is an Atom, and Why Does It Matter?

Conductors vs. Insulators

The Balloon & Hair Trick

Static Electricity in Manufacturing

How Manufacturers Manage Static Electricity

Want to Learn More?

What It Was

Where It Went

What Took It Further

What’s Next

What Are Printed Circuit Boards?

Common PCB Components

PCB Terminology to Know

Layers of a PCB

How PCBs Are Made

How PCB Components Are Added

Hand Soldering

SMT (Surface Mount Technology) Machine Operations

Examples of PCBs

What Is IPC?

What Is J-STD-001?

What Is IPC-A-610?

Want to Learn More?

Are You Certified in J-STD-001 or IPC-610?

Got a Question We Haven’t Covered Yet?

Step 1: Turn Raw Materials into Molten Metal

Step 2: Convert Pig Iron to Steel

Step 3: Shape It with Continuous Casting

Step 4: Roll It Out

Step 5: Final Touches

Bonus Resources

Eli Whitney and the Birth of the Mill

Evolution Through the Revolutions

What is ITAR, and why should I care?

Understanding ITAR

What ITAR Means for Job Seekers

Still Curious About ITAR?

Want to Work With Us?

Got a Question of Your Own?

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