Elmatica’s SA seminars on PCB design a success
29 May 2020
News
During March, just weeks before COVID-19 resulted in South Africa going into lockdown, Elmatica held several seminars in the country, to get closer to and educate the local industry on printed circuit board (PCB) design and manufacturing.
Rather than being a sales pitch for Elmatica, a leading Norway-based PCB broker, the events were highly technical and practical in nature, organised in such a way as to encourage interaction with delegates. One of the company’s senior technical managers, John Steinar Johnsen, who has more than 35 years’ experience, shared his knowledge on PCB trends, technologies, specifications, design for manufacturing, design rules and other topics.

John Steinar Johnsen.
According to Elmatica’s South African country manager, Mikael Jansson, the idea was all about creating a forum for sharing knowledge and experience with the goal to create more reliable products and educate attendees around design, free of charge.
“This seminar concept was all about sharing the knowledge Elmatica has gained since its inception in 1971 and our philosophy of getting involved in customers’ design from the beginning stages in order to help them develop optimised products,” Jansson explained. “This fits perfectly with our company culture of openness, assistance and transparency. Over and above the seminars, we are also making every effort to assist our customers with personal customer visits.”
As to the effects of COVID-19, which were only beginning to make themselves known at the time of the seminars, Jansson says it helps that Elmatica has a global mindset and “hedges its bets by not putting all its eggs in one basket, but offers manufacturers in Asia, the US and Europe.” This allows the company to continue sourcing from qualified PCB manufacturing facilities around the world as lockdown measures vary from region to region.

Mikael Jansson.
Based on how well the seminars were received, Elmatica plans to hold more in the future, hopefully sooner than later as the coronavirus situation allows. Until then, its focus is on high-quality webinars on PCB design-related topics, defence regulations and PCB standards.
Further reading:
Electronic News Digest
News
A brief synopsis of current global news relating to the electronic engineering fields with regards to company finances, general company news, and engineering technologies.
Read more...
4000 A containerised DB for power project
News
Power Process Systems has successfully completed the design, fabrication, and commissioning of a 4000 A containerised distribution board for a wind/PV solar hybrid renewable energy project.
Read more...
Datacentrix Industrial Indaba 2025
News
Datacentrix recently hosted its inaugural Industrial Indaba 2025, where industry leaders explored how digitalisation, resilience, security and compliance are shaping the future of sustainable industrial operations in Africa.
Read more...
RS brings solar light to 150 000 people
RS South Africa
News
The company’s three-year partnership with SolarAid aims to raise £1 million through corporate donations, matched funding, product contributions, and fundraising to accelerate access to safe, sustainable energy.
Read more...
Microchip and AVIVA Links collaboration
Altron Arrow
News
Microchip and AVIVA Links have achieved groundbreaking ASA-ML interoperability, accelerating the shift to open standards for automotive connectivity.
Read more...
World’s leading supplier of grid automation products
News
Hitachi Energy was recognised as the global market share leader in grid automation for electric power transmission and distribution utilities by ARC Advisory Group.
Read more...
Vivashan Muthan appointed as head of export sales and operations at RS South Africa
RS South Africa
News
With a career spanning engineering, business development, and sales leadership across sub-Saharan Africa, Vivashan Muthan brings a wealth of expertise to his new role as head of export sales and operations.
Read more...
Google equips university students across Africa with free access to advanced AI tools
News
A 12-month Google AI Pro plan has been launched for students in Ghana, Kenya, Nigeria, Rwanda, South Africa, and Zimbabwe to build foundational AI skills.
Read more...
Africa’s space economy projected to be worth $22,6 billion in 2026
News
South Africa is gearing up to be at the forefront of the growth in the space industry, creating thousands of jobs, driving innovation, and boosting the national economy.
Read more...
Distribution partnership with MacDermid Alpha
Testerion
News
MacDermid Alpha Electronics Solutions India Private Limited has announced that as of 01 September 2025 Testerion will be the sole importer and distributor of their products to the South African market.
Read more...