Hardware Podcasts

Why A Healthy Prototype Pipeline Signals A Strong Future For Manufacturing with Eurociruits' Dirk Stans

EMS@C-LEVEL · 24 Feb 2026 · 7m

AI in practice: one real use of AI described

What this episode covers

Dirk Stans, Managing Partner at Eurocircuits, explains how a healthy prototype pipeline serves as a leading indicator for production volume in Europe's electronics industry. He details the company's strategy of investing in digitization and production engineering rather than physical capacity, leveraging a custom optical inspection system that uses AI to handle high-mix, low-volume manufacturing. Stans highlights that adding 51,000 new parts to their library annually allows them to refine rules and improve first-pass yields, turning messy design data into reliable builds.

AI in practice

Where this conversation describes AI being used to build or deliver a product. Part of the AI in practice tracker.

Quality & test

AI is used in a custom optical inspection system to handle thousands of unfamiliar components, reducing false calls and catching real defects in prototype PCBs.

“the the the optical inspection system that we created ourselves for our prototype uh inspection, their AI plays a very important role, but completely different than uh it would be in a traditional AOI machine because again, we are dealing with many, many, many new components that we see every day.”

SPEAKER_00 · Hear it at 5:22

Most relevant to

companies scaling up

Topics

Mentioned

Companies
Eurocircuits, Koh Young, Global Electronics Association
Also
Productronica 2025

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