Method for making an electronic component having an organic substrate

A method for packaging an integrated circuit begins by providing an organic substrate (310) having at least one device site (312). Within each device site, one or more electronic devices (532) is mounted. Around the device site, slots (316) and corner holes (318) are formed. In one embodiment, a negative feature, such as a notch (326), is formed in the substrate along the inner edge (315) of the slots. After the electronic device is mounted and encapsulated in a plastic package body (320), the device is excised from the substrate by punching corner regions of a final package perimeter (317). The placement of the slots, corner holes, and notches results in a punch periphery that is free from burrs, provides maximum active interconnect area, and minimizes surface and/or edge damage during the punch operation. Instead of forming notches, a positive feature, such as a protrusion (426) can be incorporated into a punching tool segment (428) to provide the same benefits.