# OnTrack PCB Design Podcast 2025 Year in Review

- Show: [OnTrack](https://hardwarepodcasts.com/podcast/ontrack)
- Published: 2025-12-30
- Length: 22m
- Episode: 328
- Page: https://hardwarepodcasts.com/podcast/ontrack/2025-12-30-ontrack-pcb-design-podcast-2025-year-in-review
- Listen: https://podcast.altium.com/e/ontrack-pcb-design-podcast-2025-year-in-review/

## Summary

Host Zach Peterson reviews 2025 industry trends, highlighting how tariffs reshaped global supply chains and spurred UHDI manufacturing expansion in the US. Guests including David Schild, Tyler Richards, and Greg Papandrew discuss the economic realities of reshoring, the technical challenges of high-layer count and rigid-flex PCBs, and the specific innovations in solder paste and substrate materials. The episode also examines the practical application of AI in embedded development and supply chain management, noting both its utility in automating coding tasks and its current limitations in deterministic engineering optimization.

## Chapters

- [0:03](https://hardwarepodcasts.com/podcast/ontrack/2025-12-30-ontrack-pcb-design-podcast-2025-year-in-review#t=3) Introduction: 2025 Tariffs and Reshoring Overview
- [0:37](https://hardwarepodcasts.com/podcast/ontrack/2025-12-30-ontrack-pcb-design-podcast-2025-year-in-review#t=37) Supply Chain Economics: Reshoring Costs and UHDI Equipment
- [2:31](https://hardwarepodcasts.com/podcast/ontrack/2025-12-30-ontrack-pcb-design-podcast-2025-year-in-review#t=151) Strategic Reshoring: Reducing Dependency vs. Global Trade
- [3:20](https://hardwarepodcasts.com/podcast/ontrack/2025-12-30-ontrack-pcb-design-podcast-2025-year-in-review#t=200) High-Volume Manufacturing: High-Layer Count and Rigid-Flex Processes
- [4:57](https://hardwarepodcasts.com/podcast/ontrack/2025-12-30-ontrack-pcb-design-podcast-2025-year-in-review#t=297) US Market Share: The Reality of Domestic PCB Production
- [6:10](https://hardwarepodcasts.com/podcast/ontrack/2025-12-30-ontrack-pcb-design-podcast-2025-year-in-review#t=370) Supply Chain Management Software and Supplier Relationships
- [8:21](https://hardwarepodcasts.com/podcast/ontrack/2025-12-30-ontrack-pcb-design-podcast-2025-year-in-review#t=501) Sustainability Tools: Balancing Carbon Emissions and Cost
- [9:36](https://hardwarepodcasts.com/podcast/ontrack/2025-12-30-ontrack-pcb-design-podcast-2025-year-in-review#t=576) Electronics-Specific Supply Chain Platforms and Engineer Collaboration
- [11:06](https://hardwarepodcasts.com/podcast/ontrack/2025-12-30-ontrack-pcb-design-podcast-2025-year-in-review#t=666) AI in Supply Chain: PDF Processing and Cable Assemblies
- [12:20](https://hardwarepodcasts.com/podcast/ontrack/2025-12-30-ontrack-pcb-design-podcast-2025-year-in-review#t=740) AI in Embedded Development: Coding, Debugging, and Iteration
- [16:39](https://hardwarepodcasts.com/podcast/ontrack/2025-12-30-ontrack-pcb-design-podcast-2025-year-in-review#t=999) AI Limitations: Deterministic Tools vs. LLM Optimization
- [18:09](https://hardwarepodcasts.com/podcast/ontrack/2025-12-30-ontrack-pcb-design-podcast-2025-year-in-review#t=1089) UHDI Expansion: Solder Paste Innovations and US Facility Growth

## Topics

- [Sourcing & supply chain](https://hardwarepodcasts.com/topic/sourcing-and-supply-chain)
- [AI & machine learning](https://hardwarepodcasts.com/topic/ai-and-machine-learning)
- [Manufacturing partners & offshoring](https://hardwarepodcasts.com/topic/manufacturing-partners)
- [Materials & manufacturing processes](https://hardwarepodcasts.com/topic/materials-and-processes)
- [Embedded firmware](https://hardwarepodcasts.com/topic/embedded-firmware)

## Most relevant to

early-stage companies, companies scaling up, large enterprises

## Mentioned

- Zach Peterson (other)
- Chaliumet (company)
- DuPont (company)
- Pyralux (product)
- SpaceX (company)
- Green Source (company)
- TTM (company)
- Intel (company)
- Arduino (product)
- Arduino Uno R4 (product)
- Digiki (other)
- Bradboard (company)
- T-Set (company)
- ACS (company)
- Calumet (company)

## Related episodes from other shows

- [Dotty Ernest Annty Frost](https://hardwarepodcasts.com/podcast/the-amp-hour/2019-09-09-dotty-ernest-annty-frost) (The Amp Hour)
- [Navigating Tariffs, Talent, and Technology: Parting Insights from IPC APEX 2025](https://hardwarepodcasts.com/podcast/ems-c-level/2025-03-21-navigating-tariffs-talent-and-technology-parting-insights-from-ipc-apex-2025) (EMS@C-LEVEL)
- [Navigating Industry Change with Out of the Box Manufacturing's Allison Budvarson](https://hardwarepodcasts.com/podcast/ems-c-level/2025-06-13-navigating-industry-change-with-out-of-the-box-manufacturings-allison-budvarson) (EMS@C-LEVEL)
- [Down at the Doctor's with Dr. Bill Cardoso and Dr. Eric Miscoll: AI Curiosity, Tariff Turmoil, Economic Uncertainty, and Much More](https://hardwarepodcasts.com/podcast/ems-c-level/2025-03-25-down-at-the-doctors-with-dr-bill-cardoso-and-dr-eric-miscoll-ai-curiosity-tariff) (EMS@C-LEVEL)
- [Beware of the Overachievers](https://hardwarepodcasts.com/podcast/the-amp-hour/2025-08-07-beware-of-the-overachievers) (The Amp Hour)

## Citing this page

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