Circuits Assembly - November 2008 by UP Media Group

Broadband Printing Suggestions, pg. 22

NOVEMBER 2008

circuitsassembly.com

It’s What’s

Inside That Counts How the RoHS transition is driving better process traceability, even for medical devices

Celestica Gets Small Why ‘Small-Sized’ Doesn’t Have to Mean ‘No Service’ Shrink Holes Covers_CA-0811.indd C1

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340°C. V-0 Halogen-Free Flame Resistance. Now that’s hot. Ticona enables eco-friendly innovation... Today. Ticona Engineering Polymers, the global leader in LCP for connectors, knows high-performance E/E components and what it takes to help you meet the ever-increasing demands of the electronics market.

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Navigating the Green Landscape We focus the full power of our world-class engineering polymers, global reach, deep technical knowledge, and design and application development experience to help you navigate the green landscape.

To learn more: www.ticona.com/halogenfree or call: 1.800.833.4882 Ticona Engineering Polymers, 8040 Dixie Highway, Florence, KY USA 41042 © 2008 Ticona. Except as otherwise noted, trademarks are owned by Ticona or its afﬁliates. Fortron is a registered trademark of Fortron Industries LLC. Ticona is a business of Celanese Corporation.

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NOVEMBER 2008

circuitsassembly.com

It’s What’s

Inside That Counts

Cover illustration by Max Delson

Broadband Printing Suggestions, pg. 22

How the RoHS transition is driving better process traceability, even for medical devices

NOVEMBER 2008 – Vol. 19 No. 11 Celestica Gets Small Why ‘Small-Sized’ Doesn’t Have to Mean ‘No Service’

FIRST PERSON 6 Caveat Lector Fakes get high-tech. Mike Buetow

Shrink Holes

FEATURES

16 Talking Heads Celestica’s Dave Ellison and Peter Tomaiuolo. Mike Buetow

COVER STORY

Defining the service package. Susan Mucha

Value-Add Service

22 Screen Printing Broadband printing suggestions. Dr. Rita Mohanty

25 Better Manufacturing 38 Tech Tips Wirebonder pattern recognition. American Competitiveness Institute

39 Wave Soldering Don’t shrink from these holes. Ursula Marquez de Tino

40 Process Doctor Applications of FTIR. Terry Munson

42 Pb-Free Lessons Learned A mystery no longer. Chrys Shea

NEW! 43 The Defects Database Defect analysis, online and interactive. Dr. Davide Di Maio

Supporting Full-Service Customer Requirements at the Regional EMS Level OEMs, especially in medical, automotive, avionics and defense, want greater levels of valueadded support from EMS providers. And the transition to RoHS manufacturing is driving a need for better process traceability to support OEM studies of the impact of new processes on longterm product reliability. This article discusses typical OEM process traceability requirements; strategies for automating process monitoring and real-time corrective action throughout the SMT process; benefits of the Process Window Index (PWI) in a multi-customer manufacturing environment; and examples of ways OEMs can team with EMS firms to translate improved process visibility to improved product quality. By Jeff Roberts

R&D not on P/L. E. Jan Vardaman

The education foundation. Peter Grundy

RoHS Conversion for Medical Devices Product marketing and component supply chain concerns are pushing many medical companies to assess RoHS conversion. Either way, companies face risks. The risks and considerations to take into account include tin whisker mitigation, analysis and criteria / rating methods; design changes and verification; material availability and cost; and component obsolescence and sourcing. By Kim Sharpe

MONEY MATTERS 18 Focus on Business TECH TALK 20 On the Forefront

ON THE COVER: As RoHS spreads its reach, implantable medical devices will eventually need to go Pb-free too.

Milwaukee Electronics Co.

Speed Thrills MEC is distinct for its extreme use of Lean at all points within the facilities; the depth of consideration to the roadblocks–not just to process flow, but to customer deliverables; and a startling emphasis on understanding the role marketing plays in customers’ strategies. By Mike Buetow

This month at PCDandF.com PCB West Review: An Interview with NBS Design President Craig Arcuri talks about the company credo: passion, quality and speed that translates into end-product perfection. By Kathy Nargi-Toth

The Influence of Final Finish on Lead-Free Assembly Reliability Understanding a PCB’s intended end-use is critical in solderable final finish selection for Pb-free applications. By Mohammad Hossain, Nikhil Lakhkar, Puligandla Viswanadham and Dereje Agonafer

44 Getting Lean “Wave” goodbye. By Chris Munroe

45 Materials World Phase change materials. Dr. Renzhe Zhao

48 Technical Abstracts

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DEPARTMENTS 8 Industry News 14 Market Watch 46 Product Spotlight

46 Ad Index 47 Assembly Insider

10/17/08 11:24:21 AM

EI puts BIG ideas in small packages

circuitsassembly.com Editorial Office Circuits Assembly 2400 Lake Park Drive, Ste. 440, Smyrna, GA 30080 678-589-8800

Redesigning PWBA’s into a SiP…

Editor-in-Chief: Mike Buetow (617) 327-4702, mbuetow@upmediagroup.com

• Improves electrical performance

Senior Editor: Chelsey Drysdale (678) 589-8846, cdrysdale@upmediagroup.com

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Director of Audience Development: Jennifer Schuler Special Projects Manager: Ronda Faries Publisher: Pete Waddell

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Sales Associate: Krista Fabian (678) 589-8840, kfabian@upmediagroup.com

EI fabricates & assembles highly advanced SiP solutions

Asia (except Korea): Susan Jones, Tech Search International (404) 822-8900, sjones@upmediagroup.com Korea: Young Media 82 2 756 4819, ymedia@ymedia.co.kr Circulation Inquiries: email: jschuler@upmediagroup.com fax: (918) 496-9465

www.endicottinterconnect.com

Reprints: Electronic: ca_reprints@upmediagroup.com Print: Edward Kane, FosteReprints 866-879-9144 ext 131; fax: 219-561-2009 ekane@fostereprints.com List Rental: Jennifer Schuler, (918) 496-1476; fax (918) 496-9465 Editorial Advisory Board: John D. Borneman, Delphi Delco Electronics Heather McCormick, Celestica Curt Williams, Morey Corp. Chrys Shea, Shea Engineering UP Media Group, Inc. President: Pete Waddell

December 2-4, 2008 Holiday Inn International Drive Resort Orlando, FL www.pcbshows.com/orlando

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Vice President, Sales and Marketing: Frances Stewart Vice President, Editorial and Production: Mike Buetow PCB Show Group: (678) 589-8800 Subscription Policy Circuits Assembly (ISSN 1054-0407/GST124513185/Agreement #1419676) is distributed without charge to qualified subscribers. To all others in the USA and Canada: US$80 per year. Other countries: US$145 per year (air service included, payment required in advance). Single copies US$8.50. Send requests for qualification forms and changes of address (include old label) to: CIRCUITS ASSEMBLY, P.O. Box 35621, Tulsa, OK 74153-0621, email: jschuler@upmediagroup.com, fax (918) 496-9465. Periodicals postage paid at Atlanta, GA 30339 and additional mailing offices. Reproduction of text and illustrations is not allowed without express written permission. Authorization to photocopy items for internal or personal use, or the internal or personal use of specific clients, is granted by UP Media Group, Inc. for libraries and other users registered with the Copyright Clearance Center (CCC) Transactional Reporting Service, provided that the base fee of $2.00 per copy, plus $0.25 per page is paid directly to CCC, 21 Congress St., Salem, MA 01970. 0009-7306/86, $2.00 + $0.25. 16mm microfilm, 35mm microfilm, 105mm microfiche and article and issue photocopies are available from University Microfilms International, 300 N. Zeeb Rd., Ann Arbor, MI 48106 (313) 761-4700. Canadian GST Permit 124513185. Opinions expressed by authors are not necessarily those of the publisher, and this publication can accept no responsibility in connection with any liability that might develop as a result of articles published. Circuits Assembly is published monthly by UP Media Group, Inc., 2400 Lake Park Drive, Suite 440, Smyrna, GA 30080. POSTMASTER: Please send changes of address to CIRCUITS ASSEMBLY, P.O. Box 35646, Tulsa, OK 74153-0646.

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Caveat Lector

Fakes Out

or some time, we’ve been writing about problems related to counterfeit components. Mainly, the issue was one of gray market parts, whereby obsolete assemblies were shipped as e-waste to third-world or emerging nations that were more than happy to take large checks from the West in exchange for accepting boatloads of our trash. The used PCBs were then chopped up, generally by hand, with the parts removed, cleaned (occasionally), and sold in buckets in outdoor market stalls across southern China. By hook or crook, they would make their way back into the supply chain, where some unwitting or unscrupulous dealer would procure and resell them to a likewise unwitting or unscrupulous user. The path by which these parts are returned to the mainstream has traditionally been low budget, labor-intensive transactions. But somewhere along the line, someone recognized the potential to go big-time with the scam. As has been disclosed to Circuits Assembly by persons who have visited these sites, some manufacturers now operate the “fourth-shift,” whereby counterfeit parts are produced in the same factories as legitimate ones. These vendors, it seems, operate lines in one room producing parts for big-name component suppliers, while simultaneously running other lines that produce almost-impossible-to-detect knockoffs. The problem has evolved from one of hustlers trying to make a buck into a systemic, industry-wide contagion. The local pot farmer has become a narcotics dealer with a worldwide distribution channel. Again, the best solution for now is to trust no one. As Benchmark Electronics’ Kim Sharpe explains in this month’s cover story (starting on pg. 26), use of XRF can mitigate concerns at several places in production. He suggests its use “at a minimum, at incoming inspection, during process monitoring (soldering materials) and in shipping.” These problems, unfortunately, don’t stop at the component level. Some two years ago, we noted in these pages how pick-and-place users were beginning to get burned by fake feeders. As with their component brethren, the knockoff artists are taking their cons to new heights (lows?). Certain Asian factories – in some cases, the same ones that produce legitimate lines – are being used to roll out cheap copies. And users looking to save a few bucks are unknowingly snapping up those copies, only to experience jarring blowback in the factory. I have heard of one assembler that was burned to the tune of tens of thousands of dollars in damage to a placement machine caused by a counterfeit feeder that malfunctioned. I don’t think they are alone. At other sites, fake nozzles, robotics and other spare parts are turning up. In some cases, the 6

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Circuits Assembly NOVEMBER 2008

fakes are marketed as factory-made replacements, not copies. Mispicks, components sticking to nozzles, and a rash of other defects are being recorded. Insofar as I am aware, the warranties of every major placement equipment machine are voided should the customer fail to comply with the user documentation. That includes the use of unapproved replacement parts. In a down economy, companies will want to cut corners. And yes, feeders are expensive. But no more so than the cost of replacing a line whose warranty has been voided by use of an illegitimate feeder. Buyers beware, and stick to authorized distributors or reps. Virtual a reality. More than 2,400 registrants from all over the world signed up for The followup show February’s debut Virtual PCB, the industry’s first online trade show and conference for the PCB design, fabrication and assembly markets. The followup show takes place next February. This time around, we are working with the SMTA to provide more Webinars and other technical programming to complement the vendors showing their equipment, materials and software. Registration is open for the fully interactive, Web-based event at virtual-pcb.com. Please check it out. Goodbye, Sean. I’ve known Sean McShefferty less than a year. I feel like I’ve known him my whole life. Upon our first meeting, Sean spent a solid 60 minutes – unprompted and uninterrupted – delineating the entire story of his battle with cancer, intertwined with stories of his kids, people he had met, surfing, and various other escapades. That the rest of us were nearly falling off our chairs from red wine and fatigue didn’t matter. He had something to share and he was going to share it. That was Sean: Always sharing. The next day, and the next several times I saw him, he apologized for his monologue. That was Sean, too: Considerate, sensitive and sincere. As my friend (and Sean’s colleague) Tom Forsythe said to me, “Sean lived the saying, ‘A stranger is a friend you’ve never met.’ ” And did he have friends. Sean had a knack for inspiring blind trust from those he met. His sincerity carried him a long, long way. Sean never publicly complained about his bad luck. In fact, I suspect he never looked at the hand he was dealt as bad luck at all. It was just one of God’s challenges, and he was going to face it. I’m sorry Sean is gone. I’m sorry for his family, for his colleagues at Kyzen and in the industry, and for his friends. But I’m also sorry for all those strangers who never had the chance to become his friends.

Mike Buetow, Editor-in-Chief mbuetow@upmediagroup.com

circuitsassembly.com

10/17/08 4:04:33 PM

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Industry

NEWS

REACH Update: 300 Chemicals on SIN List

In Brief Digi-Key Corp. (digikey.com) will distribute Altium’s (altium.com) Desktop NanoBoard, including a 12-month timed Altium Designer License. Digi-Key also plans to carry Altium’s NanoBoard plug-in peripheral and FPGA daughter boards. Also, DigiKey signed a global agreement to distribute Cree’s (cree.com) LED portfolio. Key Tronic Corp. (keytronicems.com) expects to begin a new EMS program with Kaz Inc. (kaz.com) that could be worth more than $25 million in annual revenue. The program, which wasn’t disclosed, should begin in December and could lead to other deals. Production would be conducted at Key Tronic’s manufacturing facility in Juarez, Mexico. MTI Electronics’ (mtielectronics.com) Menomonee Falls, WI, EMS facility recently received ISO13485 (medical) and AS9100 (aerospace) quality certifications. Asymtek (asymtek. com) expanded its facility in Singapore to include a modern lab with a full range of dispensing and coating equipment. The company is colocated in the facility with parent Nordson and fellow subsidiary EFD (efd-inc.com). Asymtek offers equipment service, product demonstrations and the latest technical data on dispensing at the site. DKL Metals (dklmetals.co.uk), the UK’s largest solder manufacturer, announced its products are now available for purchase in smaller quantities via the Surclean (surclean. co.uk) Web shop. Circuit Technology Center (circuitrework.com) acquired a Dage (dage. com) XD7600 XiDat X-ray system. Reed Exhibitions reported a record 25,912 attendees for its 14th annual Nepcon/EMT South China trade show (nepconchina.com) held in September. Next year’s

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Edited by Mike Buetow

BRUSSELS – The EU environmental NGOs, via The International Chemical Secretariat (chemsec.org) has introduced a list of some 300 chemical substances considered of “very high concern” and suitable for disclosing, says Design Chain Associates (designchainassociates.com). The substances are compiled in the SIN (Substitute It Now) list (chemsec.org/documents/080917_reach_sin_list.pdf), introduced in mid September. NGOs believe these 300 chemical substances should be considered candidates for Substances of Very High Concern in REACH legislation, according to DCA. And DCA says this list should be taken seriously, as “serious scientists” compiled it. Previously, the European Chemicals Agency published a proposed list (http://echa.europa.eu/ consultations/authorisation/svhc/svhc_cons_en.asp) of 16 substances. If all goes according to plan, the first candidate list is expected to be approved – barring dissent – on Oct. 22, according to Geert Dancet, head of ECHA. According to article 33 of REACH, after that date, a manufacturer must disclose to customers if any of these 16 substances are contained in a product in an amount over 0.1% weightby-weight, also providing safe use information. Dancet indicated the expectation that the candidate list would be updated annually, but was somewhat noncommittal, says DCA. – Chelsey Drysdale

IPC Rebuts Proposed RoHS Revisions BANNOCKBURN, IL – Calling certain proposed recommendations to the RoHS Directive “arbitrary and lack(ing) a sound scientific basis,” IPC (ipc.org) in September issued a point-by-point rebuttal to the German non-profit firm that devised them. The trade group summarized its stance in a white paper, “The Electronic Interconnection Industry Supply Chain’s Response to the Öko-Institut Recommendations for Proposed Revisions to the RoHS Directive,” a culmination of industry concerns voiced during a June meeting in Brussels. “The white paper has a long title for what is essentially a point-by-point summary of technical issues not considered by the Öko-Institut in their report,” explained Fern Abrams, IPC’s director of government relations and environmental policy. “It is important the commissioners understand the Öko-Institut recommendations are arbitrary, lack a sound scientific basis and would have a significant negative impact on our members and the industry.” Earlier this year, the Öko-Institut (oeko.de) proposed to expand the RoHS substance restrictions. The Öko-Institut (Institute for Applied Ecology) is a non-governmental, non-profit environmental research firm. Previously, the group recommended the restriction of Tetrabromobisphenol A (TBBPA), the flame retardant used to protect more than 80% of PCBs, despite that TBBPA was found to be safe by a comprehensive European Union risk assessment, IPC said. In addition, Hexabromocylcododecanes (HBCDDs), several phthalate plasticizers, and all organic compounds containing chlorine and bromine are identified in a report as suggested bans. IPC will share the white paper with EU commissioners and other key decision makers; it is available for free download at ipc.org/ehs. – Chelsey Drysdale

WKK Opening Factory in Ganzhou SHENZHEN – Wong’s Kong King International’s (wkkintl.com) EMS division, WKK Technology, is building a factory in Ganzhou, Jiangxi, about five hours north of Shenzhen, a move designed to mitigate lower profits. Chairman Senta Wong said wage inflation and regulations in Guangdong Province and the exodus of companies to Vietnam, India and inland China are behind the move. “We have to make a move (in order) to compete,” he said. The company will maintain its factory in Dongguan, where it will handle high-mix parts. The new factory will produce higher volume product. The company's electronics manufacturing services unit reported HK$2.4 billion ($308 million) in sales in 2007. 2008 has been a difficult year, Wong said, and the first three quarters of 2009 will also be difficult. The coming year “will depend on the US economy and Europe, which is not in good shape right now.” – Mike Buetow

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Page 1

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Industry

NEWS CIRCUITS ASSEMBLY’s NPI Award Registration Now Open

In Brief show takes place Aug. 31-Sept. 2 at the Shenzhen Convention and Exhibition Centre. Eagle Test Systems (eagletest.com) has begun using Camstar Systems’ (camstar.com) Electronics Suite for visibility and traceability in manufacturing. TTI Inc. (tti-inc.com) acquired the Mateleco Group, a connector distributor with six European locations. YESTech (yestech.com) will provide F1 series AOI, and YTX-3000 and X3 AXI to Catalyst Manufacturing Services (catalystems.com) at its three North American plants. Dot Hill Systems (dothill.com) will outsource manufacturing, assembly and test to Foxconn Technology Group (fihfoxconn.com) in China. Trace Laboratories (tracelabs.com) has opened a testing laboratory in Shanghai. The lab supports material analysis, functionality, design validation, dimensional measurements and process validation testing. Trace sees the new facility as an “important step in assisting customers with their product validation in a timely fashion.”

People Cookson Electronics’ Assembly Materials(heidenGroup Heidenhain promoted Rick Ertmann hain.com) chose Valor’s to president, (valor.com) DFMresponsible (Design for for its Alpha and SemiconManufacturability) software ductor Packaging units. Ertfor design verification. mann has been with Cookson’s AMG unit since 1987, and has run its Americas, European and Asian regional businesses. Sypris Solutions appointed Brian A. Lutes vice president and chief financial officer. He was previously with General Electric and MAG Industrial Automation Systems.

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SMYRNA, GA – CirCuits Assembly will accept entries for its 2009 New Product Introduction Award for electronics assembly equipment, materials and software suppliers beginning Nov. 3. The 2d annual NPI Award recognizes the leading new products for electronics assembly during the past 12 months. Awards are selected by an independent panel of practicing industry engineers, and are presented NEW PRODUCT INTRODUCTION AWARD by CirCuits Assembly. The 2008 winners included Inovaxe, Aqueous, Kyzen, Siemens, Europlacer, BPM Microsystems, Ovation, Polyonics, Nihon Superior, ECD, R&D Technical Services, ICON, Optimal, DEK, Juki, Balver-Zinn, DKL, FCT, EVS International, VJ Electronix, Everett Charles Technologies, Mirtec and Henkel. Entrants must submit a single registration form for each product and category entered to Chelsey Drysdale at cdrysdale@upmediagroup.com. All entries must include a 250-word (maximum) statement describing the product in terms of its innovation, compatibility, cost-effectiveness, design, speed/ throughput improvements, ease of use, and maintainability and reparability; a PDF or Word file of corresponding technical product literature and/or product specifications, and a high-resolution (266 dpi or greater) digital image (.jpg, .tif or .eps). The entry fee is $500 per product. Online registration forms will be available Nov. 3. To be eligible, entries must have been introduced to market (any region) no earlier than April 1, 2008.

Assembléon to Cut 29% of Workforce EINDHOVEN, NETHERLANDS – Assembléon (assembleon.com) will reduce its worldwide headcount by 210 positions, or 29%, in response to the downturn in the global economy and the placement equipment market, the company said in October. The proposed plans would drop the company’s global workforce to 510, from its current 720. Included in the cuts would be 135 positions in the Netherlands, where the company currently employs 390 workers. Assembléon has asked its Works Council for advice on the proposed head-count reductions and will help affected employees find new positions, the company said in a press release. The moves are being made to help the firm become “structurally profitable while maintaining its technology leadership.” – Mike Buetow

Delphi Tax Abatement Could Save 3,000 Jobs

S C co

KOKOMO, IN – In hopes of enticing Delphi Electronics & Safety (delphi.com) to keep some 3,000 jobs here, city councilors have reportedly approved a $160 million tax abatement for the company. The Common Council will hold a public hearing on the recommended abatement, a precursor to final approval, on Oct. 13. Monies from the tax abatement would go toward the purchase of new electronics manufacturing equipment, with a reported $100 million earmarked for new equipment at the Kokomo operations. – Mike Buetow

A e “s

Economy the Talk at IPC Midwest

SCHAUMBURG, IL – The IPC Midwest trade show played to modest attendance and plenty of concern over the economy. The second-year event attracted modest traffic, aided by the ongoing technical conference and standards writing meetings. Very little in the way of equipment or materials was introduced at the show. That freed plenty of time to discuss the economy, particularly the massive financial markets meltdown, which have most parties convinced will take at least two quarters to dig out from under. Some expressed concerns over the ability of customers to obtain loans for necessary capital improvements. The trade group IPC gave out more than 70 awards during the week, primarily to individuals for

Circuits Assembly NOVEMBER 2008

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Industry

NEWS their contributions to standards writing. Among the recipients were Nancy Chism of Flextronics, Barry Morris and Debbie Wade of Advanced Rework Technology, Norma Moss of L-3 Communications, Zenaida Valianu of Celestica, Daniel Foster of STI Electronics and Teresa Rowe of AAI Corp. for contributions to the IPC-7711/7721B Training and Certification Program; Dudi Amir and Dr. Raiyomand Aspandiar of Intel, Werner Engelmaier of Engelmaier Associates, Michael Green and Karen McConnell of Lockheed Martin, George Oxx of Flextronics, Rob Rowland of RadiSys, Vern Solberg of Solberg Technical Consulting, Kristen Troxel of Hewlett-Packard and Bob Willis of The SMART Group for contributions to IPC-7095B, Design and Assembly Process Implementation for BGAs. â&#x20AC;&#x201C; Mike Buetow

Stadium Captures Fox HARTLEPOOL,Â ENGLAND â&#x20AC;&#x201C; The Stadium GroupÂ (thestadiumgroup.com) has acquired Fox IndustriesÂ for ÂŁ100,000, theÂ electronics manufacturer said in October.Â Fox, whichÂ designs andÂ sells power supplies and other components for high-reliability applications, has reported annual sales of ÂŁ300,000. Fox owner Roger Barrett will beÂ named business development director of Stadium Power. In September, StadiumÂ reported pretaxÂ earnings rose 13% to ÂŁ1.4 million.Â Chief executive Nigel Rogers saidÂ the company is continuing to look forÂ other potential acquisitions in power and electronics. â&#x20AC;&#x201C; Mike Buetow

Essemtec Opens Suzhou Demo Center SUZHOU â&#x20AC;&#x201C; SMT equipment OEM Essemtec (essemtec.com) has opened a customer training and demo center here. The site, which opened earlier this year, is equipped with multiple lines of production equipment and is operated by Essemtecâ&#x20AC;&#x2122;s local distributor Smart Technology Ltd. Equipment on hand includes semiautomatic stencil printers and automatic and semiautomatic pick-and-place machines. â&#x20AC;&#x201C; Chelsey Drysdale

Essemtecâ&#x20AC;&#x2122;s new demo center

More Expansion for Morey Corp. WOODRIDGE, IL â&#x20AC;&#x201C; The Morey Corp. (moreycorp.com) has broken ground on a major expansion of manufacturing capacity at its headquarters, with completion projected for next June. The expansion will nearly double the existing facilityâ&#x20AC;&#x2122;s manufacturing space, which, coupled with planned factory automation upgrades, will improve capacity by an estimated 280%. Under the expansion plans, an 82,000 sq. ft. addition will be built on Moreyâ&#x20AC;&#x2122;s factory, bringing it to 134,000 sq. ft. The plans call for 45,000 sq. ft. of manufacturing, 29,000 sq. ft. of warehousing, and an additional support area. In making the announcement, President Scott Morey said, â&#x20AC;&#x153;This is a significant milestone, which not only fulfills a need driven by our continuing growth, but also an investment in anticipated volume.â&#x20AC;? Morey cited the companyâ&#x20AC;&#x2122;s growth in the integration and hardening of telematics as a driver for the expansion. The firm is also adding a fourth fully automated double-sided SMT line; two more selective soldering stations (for a total of five); a double-sided conformal coating line (its second), plus additional AOI and ICT. The new lines are expected to be operational by the start of the fourth quarter, and constitute a 35% increase in production capacity. It marks the second expansion in two years for Morey, a $100 million EMS company. Last year, Morey opened a state-of-the-art, 26,300-sq. ft. technical research and design facility next to the EMS companyâ&#x20AC;&#x2122;s headquarters. â&#x20AC;&#x201C; Mike Buetow

Circuits Assembly NOVEMBER 2008

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10/17/08 4:04:50 PM

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CA-0809.indb 13

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10/17/08 4:04:50 PM

Market

WATCH

Edited by Chelsey Drysdale

Semis Tank Trends in the U.S. electronics equipment market (shipments only). ------------- % Change -------------June

Julyr

Aug*

Computers and electronics products

-3.6

6.0

-5.1

0.7

Computers

-3.3

-2.5

-3.3

-4.2 -4.7

YTD

Storage devices

2.1

-1.6

-9.5

Other peripheral equipment

-2.2

-11.2

2.1

0.9

Nondefense communications equipment

5.7

-3.0

-7.3

-0.9

Defense communications equipment

2.8

11.1

-13.9

25.0

A/V equipment

-5.8

-3.2

-7.7

-14.0

Semiconductors

-14.3

38.9

-17.1

-6.9

Components1

-0.7

-1.9

-0.4

-1.9

Nondefense search and navigation equipment

3.7

-5.4

0.9

0.3

Defense search and navigation equipment

-8.0

-3.6

1.8

3.4

Medical, measurement and control

-5.4

13.4

-1.2

11.3

rRevised.

*Preliminary. 1Includes semiconductors. Seasonally adjusted. Source: U.S. Department of Commerce Census Bureau, October 2, 2008

September Fall for Production TEMPE, AZ – The manufacturing sector in September dropped to its lowest level since October 2001 – the month following the terrorist attacks on New York City and Washington – the Institute for Supply Management (ism.ws) reported. Computer and Electronic Products was among the six sectors showing growth, however. The overall economy grew for the 83d consecutive month. The Manufacturing PMI was 43.5%, the lowest mark since October 2001’s 40.8%. A reading above 50% indicates expansion in manufacturing. ISM spokesman Norbert J. Ore said, “The PMI indicates a significantly faster rate of decline in manufacturing during September, marking a departure from the 2008 trend toward negligible growth or contraction each month. The Prices Index fell to the lowest level in 21 months. The New Orders index was 38.8%, down 9.5 points sequentially. A reading above 51.6%, over time, is generally consistent with a rise in the Census Bureau’s manufacturing orders figures.

PMI

May

June

July

Aug.

Sept.

49.6

50.2

50.0

49.9

43.5

New orders

49.7

49.6

45.0

48.3

38.8

Production

51.2

51.5

52.9

52.1

40.8

Inventories

48.0

51.2

45.0

49.3

43.4

Customer inventories

47.0

55.0

47.0

54.5

53.5

Backlogs

46.0

47.5

43.0

43.5

35.0

US Tech Exports Down 3%, Imports Up 3% in 2007 WASHINGTON, DC – US high-tech exports totaled $214 billion in 2007, down 3% compared to 2006, according to AeA (aeanet.org). High tech is the single largest merchandise export sector in the US, or 18% of all US exports, says the association. High-tech imports totaled $333 billion last year, up 3%, resulting in a high-tech trade deficit of $118 billion. The largest overseas markets for US high-tech exports were the European Union ($46.6 billion), Canada ($29.4 billion), Mexico ($26 billion), China ($14.5 billion), Japan ($11.9 billion), and Singapore ($9.2 billion). China was the leading importer of high-tech products to the US ($112.3 billion), followed by Mexico ($51.3 billion), the EU ($33.4 billion), Japan ($29.2 billion), and Malaysia ($25.1 billion).

2008 Semi Forecast Downgraded SCOTTSDALE, AZ – IC Insights (icinsights.com) slashed its 2008 semiconductor revenue forecast by $6 billion and revised its yearly growth outlook to 4% this year. In June, the firm predicted 2008 growth of 7% to $250.3 billion. The firm attributed the change to an inventory correction in the logic market and the pricing collapse of the NAND flash market. Overall, IC unit growth is set to increase 8%, with average selling prices down 4% this year. The firm said long-term trends would sustain pricing stability, resulting in a CAGR of 10.6% between 2007 and 2012. Capital spending will decrease 18% this year as a result of leading chipmakers easing up on expansion. For 2009, IC Insights expects semiconductor capital spending to be likely in the 8 to 10% range.

PC Market Refuses to Sputter EL SEGUNDO, CA – Second-quarter worldwide PC unit shipments grew 14.5% year-over-year to reach 70.2 million units. No changes occurred sequentially among the top five OEM rankings, says iSuppli Corp. (isuppli.com).Overall PC shipments came in higher than forecast, said iSuppli, whose latest forecast for the 2008 PC market estimates unit growth of 12.5%.

Source: Institute for Supply Management, October 1, 2008

Metals Index

Industry Market Snapshot

Price Per Lb.

Book-to-bills of various components/equipment. Apr. Semiconductor equipment1

May

June

July

Aug.

0.82

0.79

0.81

0.83r

0.83p

3.82%

4.18%

5.91%

7.11%r

7.04%p

Rigid PCBs3 (North America)

1.01

0.95

0.94

0.95

Flexible PCBs3 (North America)

0.99

1.01

1.02

1.01

0.90

5.21

5.08r

5.25p

Semiconductors2

Computers/electronic

products4

5.16

5.07

Sources: 1SEMI, 2SIA (3-month moving average growth), 3IPC , 4Census Bureau, ppreliminary, rrevised

CA-0809.indb 14

Circuits Assembly NOVEMBER 2008

Date

10/8/07

7/7/08

8/4/08

9/2/08

10/6/08

LME Cash Seller and Settlement for Tin

$6.37

$10.60

$9.84

$8.82

$7.69

LME Cash Seller and Settlement for Lead

$1.75

$0.71

$0.98

$0.88

$0.76

Handy and Harman Silver (COMEX Silver)

$193.85

$262.02

$253.83

$186.68

$160.20

$3.62

$3.88

$3.67

$3.34

$2.70

LME Cash Seller and Settlement for Copper

circuitsassembly.com

10/17/08 4:04:53 PM

CA-0809.indb 15

10/17/08 4:04:54 PM

Talking Heads

Celestica Gets Personal

Peter Tomaiuolo

Dave Ellison

CA-0809.indb 16

hen one thinks of Celestica, hands-on prototyping and lab research with oneman startups doesn’t leap to mind. But according to Dave Ellison, business development manager of the EMS company’s new Performance Innovation group, that’s precisely the type of service the $8 billion firm now provides. During SMTA International in August, he and director, technology department Peter Tomaiuolo laid out to editor-in-chief Mike Buetow how a company with 30 sites around the globe is individualizing its services. CA: Is manufacturing managed globally or locally? PT: Manufacturing sites are managed at a regional level. Some are more focused on one sector than others. A senior manager is in charge of a market segment, with customer-focused staff under them. CA: How is loading handled? DE: A given customer will be slotted into a site based on product type and where that customer needs to be to meet its cost objectives for each market. We’re not seeing any programs moved because of the logistics costs on the board side. Where is the buildto-order done? That’s the bigger thing due to the size and weight of the final product and the order to ship requirements to the end-customer. CA: Are capital equipment decisions driven by customers, or internally? PT: We start with a roadmap, then fill the gaps. We have one for North America, Asia (Thailand and China), and Europe. We get input from customer and corporate teams. There is a vertical and horizontal component to roadmap and customer teams. We have a centralized equipment buying list. If vendor is customer-specified, Celestica will skip AVL and characterization. CA: What measures is Celestica taking to ensure its customers’ IP protection? DE: We sell the assembly process development piece as a service, and customers pay to be able to take it to another EMS provider so they don’t have to pay twice to have it developed. Also, we ask, What is IP to you, the customer? Usually it’s design or component related. Test engineers would be kept to a certain customer set because Circuits Assembly NOVEMBER 2008

of the deep functional knowledge they gain on the customer’s product. From an assembly process standpoint, an engineer would typically shift from customer to customer with no issue. PT: One exception is emerging technologies, optics for instance, where customers don’t want their technology used on competitive programs. We put locked walls around those programs. CA: Are your program managers tied to a market, a customer, or a combination? DE: Some PMs are hired out to a particular customer or service. Technical PMs are completely dynamic. They are not tied to a site, customer or segment. Global PMs are tied to customer accounts and they stick to the same customers. Some program managers are dedicated program transfer PMs. Site program managers are dedicated to specific customer(s). CA: Celestica has turned the corner under CEO Craig Muhlhauser, and now appears to believe size doesn’t matter most. PT: What Muhlhauser has indicated is that we will grow incremental revenue profitably. We’re not going to be the biggest EMS company, but we’re striving to be the best. One emerging area for Celestica is aerospace, defense and industrial. We have established centers of excellence in each region to meet the unique requirements of customers in these sectors – services and capabilities that focus on high-mix, low-volume products. [Ed: Aerospace, defense and industrial now account for 8% of total revenue.] It’s driven by COTS. Celestica is also involved in NASA-JGPP program from a technology standpoint. CA: Lots of EMS companies have the same selling points. Given that, how is your marketing approach attempting to differentiate Celestica? DE: We ask ourselves, What do we have to offer that could benefit existing customers or customers that we don’t have yet? How do we capitalize on former Celestica employees now working elsewhere who know and appreciate our unique capabilities? How can we help companies overcome challenges and identify opportunities to accelerate their success? That’s what the Performance Innovation, or PI, team was created to do: promote Celestica’s efforts to smaller OEMs. We have about 100 customers total. Many based in the Toronto area and that do not use EMS services, but do use Celestica’s PI lab, failure analysis and test development services. PT: We’re trying to show we offer end-to-end solutions. n circuitsassembly.com

10/17/08 4:04:59 PM

CA-0809.indb 17

10/17/08 4:04:59 PM

NC257

Focus on Business

Service Packages and EMS Companies Branding the service package is less important than defining it.

Susan Mucha is president of PowellMucha Consulting Inc.; (smucha@powellmuchaconsulting. com. Her new book, Find It. Book It. Grow It. A Robust Process for Account Acquisition in Electronics Manufacturing Services, is available through barnesandnoble. com, amazon.com, IPC and SMTA.

CA-0809.indb 18

lectronics manufacturing services is both a commodity purchase and a strategic supplier relationship. Those two facets may seem at odds, but the reality is, within a given class of EMS provider, the equipment and processes are almost identical. However, customer requirements and the way teams are structured to meet those requirements may vary widely. In the realm of hard-to-source product, there is often more of a demand for strategic supplier than commodity supplier. Ultimately, an EMS provider’s market or technology expertise and its track record of providing specific solutions are that company’s key point of competitive differentiation. In the absence of a clearly differentiated value proposition of this nature, outsourcing becomes a commodity purchase, and the decision is driven entirely by price because there is no perceived difference between competing suppliers. From an OEM perspective, a commodity purchase driven by price may seem to be the most efficient option. The problem is most outsourcing relationships have cost structures and requirements far beyond the scope of the work outlined in the request for proposal. Selecting a company on unit price alone often results in unanticipated tradeoffs, such as extra charges, price variance after the first engineering change, or service or quality issues. I was once asked, How could an OEM outsourcing team determine when an EMS provider could really deliver the level of service promised in marketing materials? The answer is, the best indicator will always be a track record with projects of similar size and scope. While every EMS customer has unique requirements, often clusters of customers have common service needs. Defining service packages that address these clusters results in clearly identified core processes and deliverables for common customer needs. This makes it easier for outsourcing teams to analyze whether the service is likely to address their issues. It also makes it easier for the EMS provider to refine service packages over time and “up-sell” capabilities in customers not using an applicable service package. Service packages may be an internally defined process with a specialized team or even a separate business unit. Examples of service packages found in the industry include: • New product introduction support. • Quickturn prototyping. • Project launch or transition between facilities. • Obsolescence management. • RoHS conversion. Circuits Assembly NOVEMBER 2008

• High mix, variable demand production (which may be teamed with Lean processes, supply chain management and finished goods kanban). • Design for cost reduction (either through component engineering or DfM/DfT). • Teamed continuous improvement efforts (targeting quality improvements or eliminated non-value added processes at both customer and EMS facilities). • Repair/refurbishment (which may include fulfillment support as well). In some cases, Tier One EMS providers may have specific business units focused on lower volume or higher mix manufacturing. Prototyping and engineering services often make up a segregated or even standalone business unit, even at much smaller companies. In some cases, industry specialization or even service packages may include strategic alliance partners. Ultimately, what makes a good service package isn’t the act of branding it. Instead, it is the act of defining it well enough that an OEM’s outsourcing team can understand whether the EMS provider can walk the talk. Case studies demonstrating how the specific process was used to help a customer achieve desired results are also valuable, particularly to customers with similar issues. Value stream mapping efforts may uncover the best service package candidates in a company. However, it is also important to look at likely customer needs because, in some cases, the services needed to build a strong service package are present in a company, but not viewed as a continuous value chain. One other driver for service packages that is becoming more visible is many long-term employees at EMS companies and OEMs are either retiring or leaving the industry. As they leave, so does much institutional knowledge. Less-experienced OEM sourcing teams benefit from the examples provided by a good service package. Newer EMS employees benefit from the structure provided by well-defined service packages. Longer term, segregating a business into well-defined service packages can help management determine which services generate highest value to the organization, either in terms of margin contribution or revenue growth. There is no question every company is focusing on its bottom line. The better customer requirement clusters are understood, the more robust and value-rich the service package will be. This is a good investment for EMS providers and their customers, and long-term may become a key to survival, rather than simply a competitive edge. n circuitsassembly.com

10/17/08 4:05:01 PM

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10/17/08 4:05:01 PM

On the Forefront

The Future of R&D In the area of basic research, who will play? And who will pay?

s decisions are made for the future of the historic Bell Labs building in Holmdel, NJ, one must ponder where the next major semiconductor R&D breakthroughs will be made. Does basic research matter? Who will step up and fill the gap? Universities? Consortia? Increasingly, basic research is being carried out in universities and national laboratories with federal grants. Will the current financial crisis impact future R&D spending? Played Out. Researchers at AT&T’s Bell Labs belonged to one of the world’s premier research institutes. Six researchers at Bell Labs received the Nobel Prize in physics. Much of the early research in semiconductors traces its origins to Bell Labs, which opened in the late 1940s.1 But Alcatel-Lucent, the parent company of Bell Labs, is pulling out of basic science, material physics, and semiconductor research to focus on more immediately marketable areas such as networking, high-speed electronics, wireless, nanotechnology and software.2 While this may be a good short-term strategy, one has to wonder if whispered warnings from the ghosts of many a researcher of days gone by can be heard down the old hallways in Holmdel. The late Jack Kilbey shared the Nobel Prize for work toward the invention of the integrated circuit in 1958. In January 2007, his benefactor, Texas Instruments, dropped its internal semiconductor research, stopping at the 45-nm node, in favor of foundry-supplied processes.3 TI will depend on Taiwan Semiconductor Manufacturing Co., United Microelectronics Corp., and Semiconductor Manufacturing International Corp., rather than constructing its own leading-edge fabs for digital technology, focusing only on analog R&D. Will these foundries be able to support critical semiconductor R&D needed for nextgeneration production? Can these organizations turn out Nobel quality research to lead us to the next technology? TSMC’s R&D budget in 2007 was $554 million. Without question, TSMC continues to make major contributions in semiconductors, but can it make key contributions in

E. Jan Vardaman is president of TechSearch International, (techsearchinc. com); jan@TechSearch Inc.com. Her column appears bimonthly.

Table 1. 2007 Worldwide Semiconductor R&D Spending Leaders Co.

2007 Sales ($ millions)

2007 R&D ($ millions)

Intel

35,021

5,755

Samsung

19,951

4,263

13,309

2,155

Toshiba

11,850

2,020

AMD

6,013

1,847

STMicroelectronics

9,966

1,802

Renesas

8,001

1,360

Broadcom

3,754

1,349

NXP

6,026

1,344

Qualcomm

5,619

1,215

Source: IC Insights

CA-0809.indb 20

Circuits Assembly NOVEMBER 2008

areas of basic research? Does it matter? What about the other foundries? Do they have the pockets to make much of a contribution? According to analysts at Goldman Sachs, UMC’s financial performance is suffering “due to the recent stock market weakness and discouraging semiconductor demand outlook.” Who can fill the gap? Big Spenders? While some companies are on the decline in R&D spending, others appear to be able to step up to the plate. These companies include IBM, Intel and Samsung (Table 1). The danger is economic conditions could slow some of the R&D spending as well as capital equipment purchases key for future semiconductor expansion. For years, IBM maintained a billion dollar R&D budget. While others have scaled back on research, IBM is said to maintain large investments ($6 billion) in a variety of projects. IBM’s current research team includes five Nobel Prize recipients and more than a dozen National Medals of Science & Technology winners. The company is expected to maintain research projects of both short- and long-term (20 years).4 Intel’s third-quarter reports show R&D spending (plus MG&A) of approximately $2.9 billion. The annual R&D budget is close to $6 billion, nearly equal to the US Government’s budget for the National Science Foundation. This budget, however, must support not just semiconductor research, but also new PCs and future Internet products. Samsung is another R&D powerhouse. The company reported overall R&D spending in 2007 of approximately $5.58 billion. Samsung’s R&D budget supports everything from consumer electronics to semiconductors. Unfortunately, Samsung is trimming its investment plans in memory this year and has postponed capital spending on its US factory because of the worsening global memory chip market. The US financial crisis and potentially slowing global economy may hamper both corporate and government R&D spending. The most endangered expenditure likely is basic research. Will there be cuts to NSF? Universities? National labs? Does this make a difference? Maybe not in the short term, but definitely in the long run. n

References 1. R. Colin Johnson, “Bell Labs Exits Chip Research,” EE Times, Aug. 29, 2008. 2. P. Ganapati, “Bell Labs Kills Fundamental Physics Research,” Wired Blog Network, Aug. 27, 2008. 3. P. Clarke, “Texas Instruments Exits Process Development Race,” Electronics Supply & Manufacturing, Jan. 24, 2007. 4. A. McConnon, “The Issue: Setting IBM’s R&D Agenda,” Business Week, April 16, 2008.

circuitsassembly.com

10/17/08 4:05:06 PM

CA-0809.indb 21

10/17/08 4:05:09 PM

Screen Printing

The ‘Other’ Mixed Technology Miniature parts placed adjacent to “castles” are no printing picnic.

Rita Mohanty, Ph.D., is director advanced development at Speedline Technologies (speedlinetech.com); rmohanty@speedlinetech.com.

CA-0809.indb 22

he surface mount industry has encountered many challenges since its introduction in the 1980s. One recent challenge, of course, has been Pb-free assembly. And just as the industry is getting a good handle on Pb-free assembly, another significant challenge is surfacing. In this case, it is adoption of assembly processes for miniature components. A few years back, the industry was struggling to assemble 0402 parts and doubted components could get any smaller. We proved ourselves wrong. Miniature components used today include everything from 01005- and 0201-sized passives to 0.3 to 0.4 mm CSPs and BGAs. To make matters more interesting, these miniature components are usually located adjacent to larger, castle-like components. What is a board assembler to do? Get busy, of course! One of the first steps in the surface mount process is solder paste printing. Printing has been blamed for 50 to 80% of assembly defects. We may argue over the accuracy of that figure, but everyone can agree printing is critical and highly complex. By itself, miniature components have unique printing challenges. When combined with larger components on the same board, the challenges multiply several-fold. The underlying requirement is a process that satisfies solder paste deposition for small and large components. We call this “dynamic” or “broadband” printing. Broadband printing simply means meeting the solder paste need of larger and smaller components on the same board using existing or new material deposition techniques. Although this is an industry-wide issue, no significant study can be found in the public domain. Nevertheless, both IPC and iNEMI have identified broadband printing as a significant challenge and have programs in place to address it. I have no doubt many OEM and EMS providers are racing the clock to solve this problem, but no simple, readily available solution is on the horizon. Indeed, the approaches are many and include step stencil, overprint of selected components, two-step printing passes, augmented stencil printing, and so on. No single stencil design can meet the needs of all board designs, and each method has advantages and disadvantages. Let’s examine the advantages and disadvantages of each type of approach. Step stencils. Step stencils are not new to SMT. Applications include step-up stencils for ceramic BGA and through-hole components; relief pockets for raised via, glue printing and additive trace; two-print stencils with relief pockets for low profile Circuits Assembly NOVEMBER 2008

components, and so on. This stencil technology, with some modification, can be applied to boards with variable-sized components, with some limitations. One key limitation of step stencils is the keep-out distance as outlined by IPC-7525 standard. If the PCB design meets the recommended keep-out distance between various components, step-up or stepdown stencils may provide a solution. Even though the step stencil is a low-cost solution for broadband printing, it cannot handle a PCB above a certain component density. Also, PCBs with metal shields encircling miniature and fine-pitch components are not good candidates for step stencils. Overprinting. Solder paste overprinting for throughhole intrusive reflow has been practiced for years. In this technique, an oversized aperture is designed for pads that need more solder paste relative to the rest of the board. The overprint size will depend on component type and keep-out distance between various components. Much work is needed to understand the limitation of overprinting larger components in the presence of miniature components. Two print stencil. When overprinting or step-up/ step-down stencils don’t provide enough solder paste for larger components, or are not practical due to a densely populated board, two-print stencils may be the only viable option. In a two-step stencil process, the first printing step uses a thinner stencil (0.003" or 0.004", for example) to deliver paste for miniature components. The second step uses a thicker stencil with relief etch pockets etched on the contact side of the stencil for miniature components. The thicker stencil’s thickness depends on the type of components requiring more paste. Augmented stencil printing. Augmented stencil printing uses a combination of stencil printing and dispensing. This may be appropriate when the board has few larger components. In this case, a single thickness stencil can be used for printing small parts, followed by dispensing for the few larger components. The options described work under certain conditions but have severe limitations. Some affect throughput, cost and quality, or may not work for some applications. The industry needs a new answer for material deposition. The industry thus far has been extremely creative and innovative in solving SMT assembly problems. I have no doubt we will rise to the occasion and develop new technologies that not only solve current problems but open up new, exciting applications to come. n circuitsassembly.com

10/17/08 4:05:11 PM

CA-0809.indb 23

10/17/08 4:05:11 PM

CA-0809.indb 24

10/17/08 4:05:13 PM

Personnel Stability?

Better Manufacturing

We in the know must leverage the tools available to use change to our advantage.

ne is tempted to assume the slowdown in housing starts means all construction industries are afflicted. While those builders that concentrate on homes are, indeed, having a horrible time, others either avoid the housing market altogether or include it as a controlled part of their portfolios. These companies seem to be seeing stability. News broadcasts show dramatic coverage of unfinished houses and abandoned building sites, but rarely show the massive amounts of construction taking place on railways, airports, canals, power stations and so on. Demand is high for nuclear physicists, geophysicists, rail engineering specialists, and other specialties. In addition, there is demand for laborers and lesser-experienced specialists. While infrastructure work is always a part of the landscape, attention tends to center on the environmental impact associated with any large-scale projects. Renewable energy sources (wind, hydroelectric, solar, etc.) attract massive coverage when virgin land is needed or communities are moved, yet generate scant attention when greed in high places goes unchecked. It is undoubtedly correct to monitor and criticize industrial activity, but it is also correct to monitor and criticize excess wherever it occurs. One of the reasons for the rapid peaking and troughing of economies is the amazing speed with which information flows around the world. Communications are so fast, an event becomes world news almost as soon as it happens. Those of us in the electronics and telecom worlds are entirely to blame. We have not learned to use this available speed to warn of impending change more vigorously and then use it to our advantage to plan effectively. The culture is “This is making money so I’ll continue as long as I can before there is trouble and then blame someone else when it goes wrong.” We need a culture that emphasizes long-term strategies. Banks and investment groups usually look for quick returns on investment, oftentimes failing to give the borrower time to plan an effective strategy and fund it to where it is stable and growing steadily. Some things fail because they were idealistic attempts that never would have worked in the long-term. Yet there are also ideas that need long gestation periods or continual investment. The latter should be made immune to peaks and troughs. Industry’s immediate reaction to troughs is to scrimp, which in turn has an effect on long-term strategies. All companies react in different ways, but it is noticeable that most first trim training, circuitsassembly.com

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marketing and HR services. It’s probably safe to say anything considered non-value-added to a product is a prime target for cuts. It is easy to see why CFOs prioritize this way, but this may be to the detriment of long-term growth and stability. All people can offer something to society. Some are destined for power and leadership; some are healers and so on, but there is a strata of needs covering degreed education to manual labor that gets distorted by a desire by some governments to insist everyone must have higher level schooling. The original concept of a degree was to allow those who really wanted to stretch their minds to be put in a position where they could achieve this. If everyone is degree-educated, the result is unattainable expectations and not enough variety of ability. Apprenticeships were usually owned and controlled by an employer that could advise an apprentice how to best use their abilities. In some cases this would lead to a degree, in some cases not, but the balance of talent available permitted continuous company growth (until long-term development strategies became difficult to fund because of economic instability). I do not propose to rejuvenate apprenticeships as they once were, but rather assert properly constructed training programs can stimulate competition in global markets. We know low-cost labor regions attract manufacturing, but it is also true labor usually makes up only a fraction of the total cost of manufacture. Highly automated production facilities can be set up anywhere there are sufficient numbers of skilled people to look after the lines, and automation provides consistency and high quality (provided it is specified properly). Thus, it is possible for industrial societies to compete no matter where they are based. The old structure of skilled manual labor, production controllers and so on probably does not apply to highly automated systems; that is where we need to maintain the optimum balance of skills. We need quality, degree-educated engineers and scientists, as always, but established industrial societies now need fewer manual laborers than we did 50 years ago. However, we still need the balance of skills, and calling for 100% degree education is not the answer. Steady growth in a stable environment may not be flashy, but it permits long-term strategies to be put in place and the planning of change to make true progress occur. Stability is the key to our future. n Circuits Assembly NOVEMBER 2008

Peter Grundy is director of P G Engineering (Sussex) Ltd. and ITM Consulting (itmconsulting.org); peter.grundy2@ btinternet.com. His column appears bimonthly.

10/17/08 4:05:14 PM

Cover Story

SERIES

RoHS Conversion for Medical Devices By Kim Sharpe

Risks, considerations and impacts, plus several BoM analysis case studies.

Sector

Date for Inclusion in Scope

Other medical devices

2012

IVD

2016

AIMD

2020 (or never)

Category 9 exempt

2012

with Pb-free solder are not yet available. Based on the concern for potential manufacturing defects, thermal fatigue, tin whiskers, vibration failures and corrosion, the EU established a temporary moratorium for Category 8 and 9 products. Working with the European Commission, ERA Technology recommended these products remain exempt from the RoHS Directive until 2012 or 2020, depending on specific product categories and applications (Table 1).1 This six-to-14-year window provides medical OEMs time to redesign products, undertake more reliability testing and obtain appropriate approvals.2 A number of additional countries are considering or deploying environmental regulations similar to RoHS and WEEE. With medical products exempt from the EU directives, medical companies are contemplating waiting versus compliance. Multiple factors should be taken into consideration. • Environmental laws – Medical products are still exempt from RoHS compliance; however, the official China Catalogue is not yet released, so medical product status there is unknown. Other countries developing or enacting environmental laws include Japan, South Korea and Australia. The process of medical product design, validation, clinicals and release is long; OEMs should keep this in mind. • Marketing – Consumers are becoming more aware of the environmental impact and “greening” of electronics. Some use “green” as a factor in product selection. Some companies reportedly have obtained a five to 10% market share increase by selling green products.

Circuits Assembly NOVEMBER 2008

circuitsassembly.com

he European Union’s Restriction of Hazardous Substances Directive was adopted in Febuary 2003 and took effect in July 2006. Exemption categories defined in the Waste Electrical and Electronic Equipment (WEEE) Directive under Annex IA and IB that also apply to the RoHS Directive include medical devices (Category 8) and monitoring and control instruments (Category 9). The EU recognized these products are typically manufactured in small numbers and have a long product life. Products within these categories are often used in critical applications where a failure may have a significant impact. Long-term effects of Pb-free solder and the associated new materials used in these products are not fully known. In the ERA Technology Final Report, researchers stated it is not yet possible, on the basis of accelerated test data, to predict accurately the field life of equipment used for more than 10 years in a hostile environment. This is because comparable field data for products made Table 1. Medical Compliance Dates

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Cover Story Component obsolescence. As components have moved to compliance, vendor capacity and/or component margins have motivated suppliers to obsolete certain components. “Many companies producing COTS parts have discontinued noncompliant versions now that they’re producing RoHS-compliant parts.”4 Material obsolescence needs to be monitored on a regular basis to ensure product continuity is not interrupted. For new product developments, medical OEMs should consider the impact of SnPb component obsolescence. Medical OEMs need to weigh the cost of product redesign and validation in the event of obsolete material versus establishing the necessary infrastructure within their organization to support environmental compliance. Component availability. In Benchmark’s experience, many vendors have shifted to RoHS-compliant components and the industry has stabilized; we see typical fluctuations in RoHS component availability based on industry demands. However, for SnPb components, especially throughhole components, availability and cost are changing. Vendors are reducing or elimiLife can be tough. nating some lower-margin through-hole components and increasing the price of Attending a trade show shouldn’t be. SnPb components, in some cases by 30%. “Those parts are still being produced, but their prices are likely to increase, since they will be produced in smaller quantities as the high-volume commercial industry shifts to RoHS-compliant parts.”5 This will impact both price and availability, potentially driving some companies to brokers for component supply, which leads to other associated risks. Component compatibility. Many SnPb components have been converted to RoHS compliant by switching the component lead finish to a non-lead material. These components are backwards compatible: They can be soldered with SnPb or Pb-free solders. There is, in some cases, potential for new Pb-finishes to develop tin whiskers. In addition, some component manufacturers will change the component lead finish for compliance, but the component’s maximum case temperature may not be February 24-25, 2009 able to handle the higher temperatures The first and only truly interactive, web-based event of Pb-free soldering. The greatest risk for for designers, fabricators and assemblers manufacturing process incompatibility is with BGA packages (Table 2, online). Network – learn – participate – If the OEM chooses to keep its prodfrom the comfort of your home or office! ucts SnPb, it needs to put processes in Learn more: www.virtual-pcb.com place to mitigate risks within the products. Component monitoring and BoM scrubs

On the other side, one major consumer electronics provider received negative press from Greenpeace for the material content in its multimedia and Internet-enabled mobile phone. (Greenpeace felt the product did not do enough to reduce environmental impact.3) Medical companies should monitor the market to determine the significance of a product’s environmental friendliness and its impact on customer decisions. • Material supply – Multiple material considerations need to be taken into account:

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Cover Story • Whisker testing using Jedec standards (JESD-201, Class 2). should be an ongoing activity for the materials team. Obsoles• Lead spacing evaluation. cence analysis of SnPb components should help identify when a Component lead spacing is reviewed and risk assessed based component is going end-of-life (EOL). Leveraging a component on typical Sn-whisker length. Lead spacing guide: engineering team, the OEM can select second sources or alter• >1 mm whiskers are not an issue. nates, purchase last-time buys, or redesign to eliminate obsolete • 500 µm to 1 mm some concern; testing required. materials, in addition to potentially costing down the product. • <500 µm – must use NiPdAu/Ni underlay/anneal/fuse or Many of these actions may require revalidation of the product. reflow/A42 substrate. The OEM should also monitor the BoM for lead-finish Once supplier feedback is received, a decision matrix is used changes as components are converted to RoHS compliant. CircuitWorks Ad:Khaki Fields_CA 8/19/08 10:59 AM Page 1 Many component suppliers may convert, as an example, to a matte tin or SnBi finish for components that can be used in either soldering process. Because these components are backwards comparable, the manufacturer might only provide these components in that lead finish or package style. The medical OEM should ensure the lead finish alloy is consistent with International Electronics Manufacturing Initiative (iNEMI) recommendations for reduced Sn-whisker growth. The iNEMI consortium has proposed a test to promote and accelerate whisker growth, but the test’s validity remains unproven. JEDEC/IPC Joint Publication JP002 is another document to reference, along with JESD22-A121 and JESD201.6 We have found some suppliers do not provide PCNs when bringing lead finishes in compliance with RoHS. It may be prudent to use XRF to monitor incoming components to ensure the leadframes are SnPb. Tin Whiskers Tiny strands of tin can grow and short with adjacent materials. The root causes are unknown, but lead has been used as a mitigation method for whisker growth for decades. For medical OEMs, the primary risk is the growth of whiskers from a component leadframe and potentially shorting to the adjacent leadframe. Even if the component is soldered with SnPb solder, if the component leadframe is RoHS-compliant (i.e., contains no lead), then tin whiskers could grow between these adjacent leads. This would occur above the SnPb solder joint. Medical OEMs’ products should be analyzed for Sn-whisker risk and mitigation activities conducted. Analysis typically includes: • Lead finish identification. • Review of any available Sn-whisker test results. circuitsassembly.com

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Circuits Assembly NOVEMBER 2008

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Cover Story to determine the level and rating, assigned based on Table 3. The requirements for a test report to be considered substantially complete include: • Test conditions. • Test duration. • Test vehicle. • Test results. • Pass/fail indication. There are three categories within a typical test report: 1. The “Mitigation Strategy Review Status” provides the summary of the lead finish analysis and areas of concern. 2. The “Qualification Test Review Status” identifies whether whisker testing was adequate. 3. The “Overall Judgment Status” helps clarify the combined whisker risk for the product. Table 4 (online) shows results of an analysis of an end-product with 1426 line items. It is recommended a component engineering team familiar with the process and industry standards assist in Sn-whisker risk assessment. If component selection with the appropriate lead finish does not adequately reduce whisker risk, the OEM may want to consider conformal coating. Conformal coating an assembly will help mitigate tin whiskers; however, it will not eliminate tin whisker growth. Tin whisker growth may either occur under the conformal coating or may grow through the coating. Tin whiskers that grow through the conformal coat typically do not grow back into the coating. Product Conversion Several basic steps should be considered when converting a product to RoHS compliance. The engineering team should work with the supply chain and manufacturing organization throughout the conversion process: 1. Select a product representative of your other products in Table 3. Requirements for Test Report to be Considered Substantially Complete Acceptable (All Must be Yes)

Moderate Concern

Strong Concern

Acceptable surface finish technology

Unacceptable surface finish technology

If required, acceptable mitigation technology applied

Unacceptable or no mitigation technology applied

Surface finish acceptable for product class

Surface finish unacceptable for product class

JEDEC or iNEMI test / accept criterion used

E4 test and accept criterion used. 2d party test accept criterion used that closely matches JEDEC, iNEMI or E4

If required, complete test report received

Substantially completed test report received

No test report received

Test report and accept data match standard requirements

Test report and accept data substantially matches standard requirements

Test report and accept data do not match standard requirements

Test report clearly states samples passed test

Test report or test data indicates samples passed test

Test report ambiguous if samples passed test, or samples did not pass test

Test in process with no failures to date – expected completion date has been given

Test not started or no intention of performing test

Test has been completed

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“Home brew” or no test accept criterion cited

Circuits Assembly NOVEMBER 2008

terms of the supply chain, component/PCB technology, and application. 2. Conduct a supply chain analysis to verify all components are RoHS compliant. This may highlight issues in the supply chain such as: • Vendor readiness. • Unacceptable temperature ratings (260°C is required). • Unexpected presence of cadmium, mercury and hexavalent chromium. • Moisture sensitivity levels (MSL) that drop 1 to 2 levels. • Nonpreferred component surface finishes (tin whisker risk or solderability issues). • EOL/component lifecycle issues. 3. Select a PCB laminate and surface finish. • Laminates: MSL are critical. • Surface finish: OSP, ENIG, ImAg and Pb-free HASL. 4. Collect the following in-process data and compare with the SnPb version of the assembly, if available: • Inspection yields including visual inspection, AOI and AXI. • ICT, flying probe and functional test. • Forced rework of a through-hole component and BGA is recommended to validate the rework process. 5. Engineering should review the product’s original testing documents, and run the compliant product’s tests accordingly. 6. Select from the following tests as appropriate. It is strongly recommended the Pb-free assembly be subjected to the same tests used for the SnPb assembly, which may include additional test(s) to those recommended in Table 5. Results from these tests will help guide the OEM to do further studies, submit to the FDA or redesign the product accordingly. In the conversion process, the first step is to scrub the BoM and identify compliant components. Some key data to capture: • OEM part number. • Description. • Manufacturer. • RoHS-compliant part number. • Date code, if used to identify compliance. • Some vendors did not change their part numbers, but identify compliance by date codes greater than their compliance date. • Supplier compliance data sheet/material content. • Homogeneous level, if available. • Y/N at a minimum. Table 5. Test Recommendations Test

Criteria Assessed

Pull tests of representative SMT components

Solder joint strength

Shear tests of BGAs

BGA joint strength

Cross-sections of SMT and PTH Components

PCB and joint integrity

SEM or EDS

Solder joint metallurgy / intermetallic compound (IMC)

Ion chromatography

Ionic levels/overall cleanliness

SIR testing of SMT, PTH, and touchup chemistry (SIR cards)

Long-term reliability

Thermal cycling per IPC-9701

Solder joint integrity

Mechanical shock, vibration, HALT

Product-specific application

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CircuitsAssembly-1108

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Cover Story tight controls on new RoHS-compliant laminates. When converting the BoM, the OEM may find some components unavailable or only available with lead finishes iNEMI Figure 1. Sanding and abrasion lines. does not recommend due to the potential Figure 1. Sanding and abrasion lines. of tin whiskers. This may require a level of product redesign that may result in submitting the device to the appropriate Figure 1. Sanding and abrasion lines. government bodies for approval. This Figure 1. Sanding and abrasion lines. would involve product verification and validation activities. If FDA resubmittal is required, it may be prudent to implement a full RoHS conversion of the product. In addition, when the next product generation is developed or a new product designed, a RoHS-compliant development should be considered. With the Figure 2. Recoating over the sanded surface. new materials used for compliance, such Figure 2. Recoating over the sanded surface. as assembly materials, solders, etc., the Figure 2. Recoating over the sanded surface. OEM may want to conduct additional reliability testing, cross-sectioning and analysis. The general consensus among Figure 2. Recoating over the sanded surface. participants of the IPC Pb-free Solder Reliability Conference was that long-term reliability of these new materials is not definitive. More life testing and analysis is needed.

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Company/Process Conversion Even if a medical OEM is converting its Figure 3. Relabeled component. Double-wiper piston products to RoHS compliance, it might • Supplier material declaration docueliminates waste not have to have all the internal proment. cesses in place to prove compliance to any • Lead finish or plating. Figure 3. Relabeled component. legal entity. While medical OEMs remain • Tin-whisker mitigation status and test Figure 3. Relabeled component. exempt from RoHS compliance in the results. EU, they should consider changing inter• Maximum case temperature. nal methods and processes to a degree • MSL. that would support compliance should There are other factors to considthey convert later on. er as well. When selecting components, Converting to RoHS compliance has designers should consider maximum case a significant impact on documentation temperature; some components may be and documentation systems. Areas to be RoHS-compliant, but their case temperFiguremay 4. Component marking forconsidered an AMD for AM7969-125JC Receiver; however, the dies were an product documentation: ature not survivepackage manufacturing AM7968-125JC transmitter and an NEC PD71051 serial control unit.to handle and • Part numbering scheme process temperatures. Some component identify component compliance. lead finishes have a higher likelihood of • Component specification prints/drawdeveloping tin whiskers. Material declaraFigure 4. Component package marking forings an should AMD include AM7969-125JC however, the dies were an complianceReceiver; data. tion should be on supplier letterhead or ™ Figure 4. Component packageand marking for PD71051 an AMD AM7969-125JC Receiver; however, theThe diesClear were Advantage an AM7968-125JC transmitter an NEC control unit. • A field inserial the BoM to identify complidocumentation with appropriate signaAM7968-125JC transmitter and an NEC PD71051 serial control unit. ance. ture. Finally, with higher manufacturing • Custom part drawings and compliprocess temperatures, many components’ ance language to identify compliance MSL will change to reflect better controls requirements to the custom suppliers. for storing and handling of these materi800-338-4353 +1-401-434-1680 • Fabrication prints and notes reflecting als. MSL level is critical for PCBs, and www.efd-inc.com/ads/ca-1108 RoHS compliance requirements. the fabricator and assembler must keep

Figure 3. Relabeled component.

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Figure 3. Relabeled component.

Cover Story

Figure 5. Suspect lot reel label. Blue box: RoHS lettering/logo center justifi Figure 4. Component package marking for an AMD AM7969in date5.code marking. Figure Suspect lot however, reel label. Blue center Figure 4. Component package marking for an AMD Receiver; the Box: dies RoHS werelettering/logo an 125JC receiver; however, the dies were an AM7968-125JC trans-AM7969-125JC justified. Red Box: No lot period C inBlue date box: code marking. Figure reelafter label. RoHS lettering/logo center justifi AM7968-125JC transmitter an NEC unit. 5. Suspect mitter and an NEC PD71051 serialand control unit. PD71051 serial control in date code marking. • Sheet metal and enclosure drawings. • Plastic materials and enclosure drawings. • Cable and connector drawings. The OEM needs to make it clear to the supplier that compliance is required and the appropriate supporting documentation is available. Many aspects of a documentation system are also affected: • Ability to roll up component and BoM data to confirm product compliance. The OEM should determine if this could be done within the current Product Data Management (PDM) software. • Supplier purchase order (PO) terms and agreements should reflect compliance requirements. • Methods to request, capture and validate supplier compliance data. • Methods to store supplier material declarations at a component level. • Process to handle supplier certificate of compliance with each shipment. • Process at incoming inspection to identify compliance requirements and methods to measure. • Methods to monitor production processes in assembly manufacturing. • Process for handling field service units to identify which products are RoHS-compliant and have appropriate repair materials available. • Methods for approval, purchase and inspection of brokersourced parts. Counterfeit components have long been a problem in electronics, but lately, part counterfeiters are becoming more technically savvy. In the past, most counterfeit parts have been passives; however, now counterfeit semiconductors can be found. The level of sophistication in the packaging and labeling of counterfeit parts is alarming (Figures 1 to 4). OEMs must have special procedures for handling broker parts. Figures 5 to 8 demonstrate labeling issues and the subtle differences between the confirmed vendor’s label and the counterfeit label. Three items were identified: 1) The RoHS label should be left-justified (Figure 5), while the counterfeit was centered; 2) there should be a period after “D.C.” (date code) (Figure 6); and 3) the “H” in the reel batch lot line was not detected by the barcode scanner (Figures 7 and 8, online). 32

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Figure 6. Vendor A sourced reel label. Blue box: RoHS lettering/logo Figure 6. Vendor sourced Blue box: RoHS lettering/logo left ju left justified. Red box:APeriod afterreel C in label. date code marking.

C in date code marking. Due Diligence Figure 6. Vendor A sourced reel label. Blue box: RoHS lettering/logo left ju Establishing duemarking. diligence to monitoring and controlling operaC in date code tions is critical in the event a noncompliant product reaches the market and is identified by a governmental agency. The UK works with a number of EU member states on defining the approach for due diligence. For example, the Department of Trade and Industry’s “RoHS Regulations, Government Guidant Note,” of June 2006, Annex D, further defines methods. The Figure 7. Suspect lot reel batch lot line. The laser scanner result for this line OEM must demonstrate compliance by providing satisfactory Z210548U387. The (H) at the beginning of the line was not in the barcode sc evidence in the form of relevant technical documentation. The Figure 7. Suspect lot reel batch lot line. The laser scanner result for this line approach is self-declaration with the enforcement authority conZ210548U387. The (H) at the beginning of the line was not in the barcode sc ducting market surveillance by testing products. OEMs should consider material declarations and material analysis as good methods for technical documentation. In Annex D, guidance is provided for material analysis based on the OEM’s confidence in the supplier’s material declaration, supplier qualification and the potential risk of the material containing a restricted substance based on historical data. This supplier documentation should be maintained for up to four years.7 A due diligence process should be defined within your organization to help ensure compliance. One method is to base this process on a “trust, but verify” approach. It begins with capturing the product documentation for compliance. This information is stored and internal flags are set so the appropriate procedures are followed to handle this compliant material. This involves many areas, ranging from purchasing, incoming, warehouse, kit-pull, production and shipping. XRF is a key capability deployed at a number of process steps. At a minimum, this is used at incoming inspection, process monitoring (i.e., soldering materials) and shipping. Some considerations when using XRF include a method to handle failures because of exempt product (i.e., lead in glass) and failures due to supplier issues. Methods should quickly identify exempt failures, which can be ignored, versus legitimate failures as a result of supplier issues. The procedures circuitsassembly.com

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Cover Story for supplier failures should quickly determine root cause and also track and trend supplier performance. Another consideration is the effectiveness of an XRF in isolating hexavalent chrome (Cr6). XRF will detect the base element (chromium), but not the compound (Cr6). Secondary laboratory tests would be needed (wet chemical test) to detect the banned Cr6 substance. Another option upon getting a high chromium reading is to contact the vendor; if they are reputable and confirm in writing the chromium is not the banned form, this could be considered an appropriate level of due diligence. Case Study Benchmark typically provides both EOL and RoHS BoM analysis for customers. Six different medical products were analyzed for this paper. The cycle time for this analysis can run from three weeks to four months, depending on BoM size and supplier responsiveness. Three passes are performed on the BoM. This approach begins by first evaluating the BoM for completeness and accuracy. Typically, a number of components have inaccurate manufacturer and manufacturer part numbers. Second, Web-based databases are used for the initial data collection. The hit rate for data from these databases is typically 50 to 70% for EOL status. RoHS compliance identified in the database is typically 10 to 20% in a “Yes/No” format and <5% at a homogeneous material level. The final pass involves component engineers who work directly with the supplier. When contacting the supplier directly, homogeneous level information is typically provided in 10% of the cases. With a strong supplier relationship, this can be increased to 50 to 70%. Also with direct supplier contact, we typically achieve 90 to 95% EOL status. There are three statuses provided: 1. The BoM is scrubbed in its current state and components are classified as planned (not yet released), preliminary (data sheet is preliminary), active (available), NRND (not recommended for new design) and EOL. 2. The second report looks at the EOL detail and identifies what is currently obsolete, which year a component is predicted to go obsolete, which ones are planned for obsolescence (no time frame identified) and which are not planned for obsolescence. 3. The RoHS report identifies parts as compliant (RoHS available with an existing part number), available (RoHS with a new part number), probable compliant (vendor implies compliance), planned (scheduled), not available and EOL. It should be noted material that is EOL on the existing BoM may be available in the RoHS BoM. This is an indicator of vendors that are obsoleting SnPb components in favor of RoHS-compliant packages. This may be a risk for maintaining a SnPb product. EOL material identified in the RoHS status is a risk for long-term product sustainability. Results. Across these six different medical products, some interesting statistics were identified. On average for RoHSconverted BoMs: • 92% (range 88 to 99%) of the components were available in a RoHS-compliant package. • 56% (range 31 to 99%) of the components’ part numbers circuitsassembly.com

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were not changed when converted to RoHS. • 2% (range 0 to 4%) of the components on the RoHS BoMs were EOL. • 1% (range 0 to 2.6%) of the components was not available in a RoHS package. On an average for the SnPb BoMs: • 8% (range 0 to 16%) of the SnPb components were NRND. • 4% (range 0 to 14%) of the SnPb components were becoming obsolete (component EOL, RoHS-compliant only). • 12% (range 0 to 29%) of the SnPb components fell into either NRND or obsolete categories. Key observations for these six BoMs: • No BoM was completely converted to RoHS compliance. At least one part would require an alternate or redesign. • For the SnPb BoMs, 12% of the components were obsolete or NRND. For the RoHS BoMs, 2% of the components were obsolete. This would suggest a number of components are transitioning to RoHS compliance and are no longer available in a SnPb package. Conclusions Current environmental requirements and regulations for compliance indicate the medical market has anywhere from four to 12 years before its products must be compliant. Based on the length of a new medical product development cycle, clinicals, the cost of validation and FDA submittal, medical OEMs should be positioning themselves to be compliant. Long product life within the medical market would suggest OEMs’ new products be released already compliant, versus trying to convert a product later and risk revalidation and FDA submittal. Tin whisker risk mitigation strategies should be adopted to reduce potential problems. At a minimum, medical OEMs should be monitoring current product components and BoMs for obsolescence, to avoid production flow impacts. Component packaging should be monitored to detect changes in lead finish and associated Snwhisker risk, along with monitoring BGA ball alloys to identify solderability and process risks. The medical OEM should monitor the BoMs/components of the current production products to ensure supply and new product designs are compliant. Internal procedures and methods should be updated so internal processes can be monitored to ensure new products will ship compliant. n Ed.: For a list of references please visit circuitsassembly.com/cms/content/view/7316. Ed.: This article was first published at the SMTA Medical Electronics Symposium in January 2008 and is used with permission. Kim Sharpe is corporate director of engineering at Benchmark Electronics (bench. com); kim.sharpe@bench.com.

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Value-Add Service

Supporting Full-Service Customer Requirements at the Regional EMS Level By Jeff Roberts

Greater traceability and complex builds means more staff. Or does it?

EMs increasingly want to see greater levels of value-added support from their EMS providers, regardless of size. This is particularly true of highly regulated industries such as medical, automotive, avionics, homeland security and defense where field failure analysis activities may require information related to assembly process parameters. Furthermore, the transition to RoHS-compliant manufacturing is driving a need for better process traceability to support OEM studies of the impact of new processes on long-term product reliability. For the regional EMS provider, this presents an interesting challenge. How can technologically complex customer requirements be met while maintaining an overhead structure commensurate with a smaller business footprint? For Clover Electronics, the answer has been to develop a strategy that uses a combination of factory automation and strategic supplier alliances to address customer requirements without significantly adding to overhead cost. The fact that most OEMs have fully embraced the idea that all their EMS providers should be full partners in manufacturing is actually a positive development that enables all levels of EMS firms to increase the percentage of value-add contributed to a project and contribute to improved product manufacturability and quality. Also, greater codependency drives longer-term relationships, which can be costeffective for both parties. Meeting these customer needs for competitive cost, high quality and excellent

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traceability requires both technological expertise and a business strategy that focuses on reducing hidden costs and leveraging outside resources. The Technology Strategy At Clover Electronics, the technology strategy needed to address three areas: • Minimize the need for unique engineering overhead requirements. • Meet customer requirements for specific services such as detailed traceability and quality reporting. • Rapidly address any manufacturing issues that arose on the floor. As mentioned, regional EMS providers must offer a full range of service and expertise without creating excessive overhead expense. At regional revenue levels, it can be cost-prohibitive to have a full-time process engineering staff capable of providing all the answers in paste deposition or thermal profiling that may be required by that company’s 30 or more customers. One way to address this issue is to supplement internal staff with strategic alliances that fill the gaps. Second, automating key points in process monitoring permits fast development of robust processes and makes it easy for technicians and production operators to handle a portion of what has traditionally been an engineering workload. n Jeff Roberts is president of Clover Electronics (cloverelectronics.com); jroberts@cloverelectronics.com. Ed.: For the rest of this article, please see circuitsassembly.com/cms/ content/view/7313.

circuitsassembly.com

10/17/08 4:05:26 PM

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10/17/08 4:05:33 PM

Milwaukee Electronics

Speed Thrills By Mike Buetow

A touch of Midwestern pragmatism and a large dose of Lean go a long way at MEC.

s the US economic situation yo-yos wildly, the pressure is on companies to seek financial stability and be selective of their suppliers – and their customers. For Milwaukee Electronics Co. (meccompanies. com), that’s no sweat. The 50-year-old firm holds many of the traditional blue-collar ideals the Midwest is known for. And chasing the next big thing isn’t part of the company’s plan. Instead, the focus is on established firms that are leaders in their respective – often non-electronics – fields. The company maintains three factories with a combined production space of over 100,000 sq. ft. The largest – MEC Midwest – is in northwest Milwaukee, a 63,000 sq. ft. facility once the home of Philips placement division. On the West Coast is Screaming Circuits, based outside Portland, OR, which houses three SMT lines in a 55,000 sq. ft. space. Finally, in Tecate, Mexico, about 40 miles from Tijuana, the company operates two SMT lines in a 20,000 sq. ft. plant. Equipment sets include Ekra printers, Asymtek dispensers, Fuji chipshooters and Mydata pick-and-place, and Vitronics reflow and waves (one dedicated to lead, one to Pb-free). The high-speed lines are the same in each factory. AOI is not a part of the SMT line, but employees view the first-off parts. Testing is performed on an Agilent 3070 and with CheckSum ICT. MEC employs aqueous cleaning where needed. Potting areas take place in three open spots around the plant. Although traditionally an unsightly operation, MEC opts to keep 36

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Circuits Assembly NOVEMBER 2008

potting in the open because, as quality manager Don Sivilotti says, “We want it to be clean.” The product mix ranges: medical, appliances, military, industrial and consumer. While publicly vague about revenues – the 300-employee company typically claims sales of “under $100 million” – the Milwaukee plant charts show sales per employee of about $220,000. Inventory turns run about four this year, down from five in 2006-07. According to the company, it’s not necessarily easy to become a customer. “We conduct a lot of interviewing and courting of potential customers,” says general manager Hani Malek. “Are they able to articulate a robust outsourcing strategy? Are they the right fit in terms of technology, volume, margin and cultural fit? Are they a leader in their business? And are they willing to meet our team, because that shows they are sincere.” As president Michael Stoehr elaborates, “Our best customers are companies from outside the electronics industry, like farm equipment, where they count on us to be great at electronics.” And Stoehr counts on customers holding him accountable: He personally knows more than half MEC’s customers’ presidents. Its business model breaks down like this: Milwaukee handles design and high-mix/high-IP assembly, plus certain box build and integration work. The factory in Canby, OR, handles rapid prototypes in lots as small as one to 10 boards, in one to 10 days. Tecate performs higher-volume, lower-mix production. A fourth unit, MEC Innovation, is dedicated to hands-on design. While MEC seeks cradle-to-grave programs, each unit has its own P/L, which allows the company to offer customer-specific services without having to pass on unutilized overhead costs. circuitsassembly.com

10/17/08 4:05:34 PM

Milwaukee Electronics large scheduling board located on the factory floor identifies, by color, What makes Screaming Circuits interesting is it carries its own the status of WIP (Figure 2). Unlike many firms, MEC technicians and brand, apart from the MEC label. The idea behind that unit, says Stoehr, operators are encouraged to speak with their counterparts at customers. is not about establishing a separate identity, however. Instead, he asserts, “Our techs talk to theirs,” says operations manager Bob Schultz. “We conducting quickturn efficiently mandates an operational model that always want to grow the number of touches (with customers),” adds focuses on it to the exclusion of everything else. Moreover, he notes, Sivilotti. many engineers directly handle procurement for such jobs, rather than Likewise, Lean manager Martin maintains a Lean Level Training shuttling them to purchasing. “We wanted to set Screaming Circuits Matrix on which he posts schedules and tracks Kaizen events. The staapart from volume EMS companies that try to do prototypes,” Stoehr tus board is color-coded. The company holds book clubs to emphasize said. worker training. Program management takes a hybrid form, with PMs generally tied Interestingly, Malek points out, the company actually called a temto specific customers and also in regular contact with the company’s 12 porary timeout on Kaizen events after it noticed returns were slowing; it reps. Plant loading is performed in concert with customers. is using the time invest in team building, and when it returns to Kaizen Beyond noting the dedicated quickturn operations, Circuits next year, the firm hopes to have better team and communications tools Assembly came away with three distinct impressions during our visit in place. It then tried to revamp its approach to generate more velocin late September: one, the extreme use of Lean at all points within the ity (a term heard often at the company). Employees undergo regular facilities (not just the factory floor); two, the depth of consideration to training workshops and are encouraged to supply feedback. “We won’t the roadblocks, not just to process flow but to customer deliverables; survive the way we want to survive if we don’t do that,” Malek says. and three, a startling emphasis on understanding the role marketing In a room that once housed high-speed lines, the company now plays in customers’ strategies. performs panel wiring and testing in six cells. The space became availMarketing matters. Marketing of the end-product is an after-thought able following several Kaizen events, and the service has become a “very at most EMS companies – particularly the smaller ones. In perhaps as large activity for us,” Sivilotti says. much as 25% of SKUs, the EMS provider may not even be informed NPI is visual, too, with a large board showas to what end-product the assembly is earing all the steps. Each customer is asked for marked. Yet, it clearly weighs on the minds at feedback by means of a launch release form. MEC. Explains MEC Innovation vice presiNever stop moving. MEC operates under the dent of technology James Scholler, “Many thinking that it doesn’t know what it will take industries are myopic in how they solve probto complete a project until the customer says lems. We like to be involved with customers’ “It’s done.” Most manufacturers – electronics marketing people so we can help generate new or otherwise – go through “stage gates” to ideas. It’s difficult to get there; you’d think it get from design to manufacturing, without would be black and white. But why shouldn’t giving deep consideration to the deliverable, we go about extracting from the customers which MEC defines as “what the customer what metrics they would consider to be a sucvalues.” cess? I think I should be in with my customer’s “Our goal,” says Scholler, revealing a series marketing team 80% of my time.” of process flows and sounding more like an Adds Terry Martin, the company's Lean Figure 1. MEC stores raw material in small industrial engineer than his electrical backand Culture Leader in Milwaukee, “We want quantities at point-of-use. ground would suggest, “is to keep the project to eliminate the filters of design. We can do this moving at all costs. We want to make the ‘gates’ flexible and embed if we ask the five ‘whys’ at the front end of the relationship.” This goes the critical paths.” Gates – hard steps in each process – are necessary to beyond Scholler’s boundlessly enthusiastic and analytical obsession control risk. Unfreezing them implies greater cost and time. Yet MEC with knowing what his customers are trying to accomplish. Indeed, in proposes to do exactly that. The program, which MEC calls FreezeGate, some cases, MEC also puts its designers into the design centers of major pushes documentation to the team level, out of management’s hands, customers. which speeds decision-making. Explains Scholler, “We said, ‘Let’s not Infected by Lean. A Lean culture infects the entire Milwaukee facility. freeze documents; let’s freeze features’ ” of the end-product. Now five years into its Lean initiatives, MEC has conducted roughly Some of the biggest hurdles MEC sees lie outside the facility doors: 120 Kaizen events. The factory is laid out in several cells. (While MEC finding engineering talent and the right customers (and having the Northwest has a traditional layout, MEC Midwest is designed to facilicourage to pass on the wrong ones); and the frenetic pace of electronics tate customer interaction with team leaders.) Setup times are tracked today, which makes it exceedingly difficult for customers and supplier with a digital timer mounted high on the wall. All materials are stored to find time to talk. at point-of-use. Raw material is received and dispersed to stocking areas Still, while 50 years in electronics assembly suggests a track record of immediately, explains Sivilotti, with no kitting or transferring. So-called success, Terry Martin sounds uneasy. “Are we giving our employees the “in-house supermarkets” maintain standard release quantities (Figure environment to step forward and be creative?” he asks. It’s precisely that 1), with a pull system that operates under a rule that if nothing is pulled type of self-awareness and pragmatism that will keep MEC around for out, nothing goes in. Parts are bar-coded for traceability. High changeanother 50. over counts are the ideal, and lot sizes kept low to maintain velocity. A n circuitsassembly.com

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10/17/08 4:05:35 PM

Tech Tips

The Benefits of Good 'PR' Teaching the wirebonder pattern recognition.

The American Competitiveness Institute (aciusa.org) is a scientific research corporation dedicated to the advancement of electronics manufacturing processes and materials for the Department of Defense and industry. This column appears monthly.

CA-0809.indb 38

lighting from a vertical source is useful for polished die ire bonders have pattern recognition capabilities surfaces. essential to modern electronics manufacturing. Figure 1 shows several different PR modes, including Pattern recognition refers to computer identiSingle Point, Dual Point, Edge, Chain and Line Find. The fication of substrate or die features important for precise differences between these modes depend on the type of position of bond wires. A PR system will include a camera feature to be recognized. It is advised to try Single Point head, a camera control unit and a bonder controller that recognition first, as this setting will work most of the time. includes a microcomputer, a control circuit and a servo An edge finder will examine the motor drive unit. Some wirebondcontrast due to difference in the finers also come with proprietary grayish of the surface. scale pattern recognition to improve Image enhancements can aid the yield and throughput rates. PR process (Figure 2). Contrast setTo summarize the process, a feating between gray scales level can be ture of interest is identified, the area set either automatically or manually. that it resides in specified, and the Typically, if the image appears good visual properties of the feature are to the human eye, the computer can defined; i.e., the machine is taught recognize the feature. to recognize a pattern. Here are Figure 3 shows the definition some steps that can be followed to of the search area of interest. This ensure proper PR recognition. Figure 1. Pattern recognition modes. region is defined by the user and First, a reference system referred is indicated by the outer dashed to as a surface must be defined. Part box. It represents the area that will of this requires simply setting the be searched. Next, multiple modsurface Z-height. This is performed els can be created (inner box) for by focusing the system camera on the pattern. In this example, two the surface, using a motor drive models have been created for the to move vertically on the Z-axis. same feature. The number of pixels The system has a relative focal scale also can be set. After being defined, that typically ranges from zero to the model then can be tested, and 200 units. This Z-height is different the best matches are displayed and from the common Z-height proranked with a quality score. The grammable home value. This axis Figure 2. Image enhancements can be set process also determines the match is independent of the bond head automatically or manually and aid in PR. robustness. If the robustness is too Z-axis. The bonder also will ask for low, it can be improved by other a range of locations for the bonds. techniques such as the Dual Point This is defined by three points on method. the corners of the bonding surface. Because yield and throughput Next, assist points are added. are important criteria, wire bondAssist points are features, such as ers have high pattern recognition global and local fiducials used to system search speeds. reference positions. Pattern recogniPR enables a wire bonder to eastion is an automatic feature once a ily identify fiducial marks and other program is running; however, the alignment features. In this way, areas user is required to teach a pattern to the machine. In this example, Figure 3. The search area of interest is user- where a wire bond will be placed the pattern to be taught is a â&#x20AC;&#x153;plus defined, and multiple models can be created. easily can be referenced and determined. It is even possible to perform sign.â&#x20AC;? Once a feature of interest is a pattern recognition step between each bond wire. This is identified, lighting is used to increase contrast between used when each location is critical, and a dependency on the background and feature. Usually for gold surfaces, alignment fiducials may not be possible. PR also permits oblique lighting levels are increased. Lighting from an the wirebonder to find the position of each die in MCMs oblique angle is useful on the diffuse surfaces such as gold to maximize throughput. thick film surfaces and other gold-plated surfaces, whereas n Circuits Assembly NOVEMBER 2008

circuitsassembly.com

10/17/08 4:05:38 PM

Nothing to Hide

Wave Soldering

Shrink holes in Pb-free boards are effects, not defects.

ne problem we have begun to see more of with rough surface appearance regardless of the process Pb-free soldering is the phenomenon known settings. Therefore, optimization of the appearance as shrink holes, or hot tears on Pb-free solder might not work for all joints in the same assembly. joints. We have little understanding about why shrink Boards were subjected to thermal cycling to deterholes form or how they affect field reliability. Recently, mine how the shrink holes evolve and if they will a study was performed on joints formed in a wave affect reliability. SEM analysis of the surfaces, as well soldering process, and was used to as cross-section analysis, was percharacterize shrink holes and meaformed after 600 and 1200 cycles. sure their effect on Pb-free solder Surface differences were observed; joint reliability. the joints formed at a slower conIt is believed the dull, rough veyor speed also showed the presappearance of SAC solder joints is ence of tin dendrites and shrink an effect of the solidification behavholes, and generally had a rough ior of the alloy, at which residual appearance. eutectic liquid contracts its volume Cross-section analysis after upon solidification. The result is 1200 cycles showed minor changes shrink holes, located between the in the surface and no evidence of tin dendrites that solidify first. any shrink hole evolving into a For this study, boards with crack. through-hole components were Figure 2 shows shrink hole forassembled with SnAg3.9Cu0.6 mation inside the joints. This type alloy and a commercial VOC-free of shrink hole might jeopardize flux. The effects of PCB surface the electrical connection if many finishes (Cu OSP, ENIG, immervoids are formed around them by sion Ag and immersion Sn) and increasing the path for the cracks. conveyor speeds (50 and 137 cm/ Figure 1. SEM images of the surfaces of However, in this analysis, there was min.) on shrink-hole formation two solder joints. Top) Conveyor speed no evidence of cracks that proand joint surface roughness were 137 cm/min. (dull) and bottom) conduce a discontinuity in the electrievaluated. Assembly reliability was veyor speed 50 cm/min. (shiny). cal interconnection of any solder characterized using thermal cycling joint, even if the shrink holes were (-50° to 80°C with a dwell time of located near voids. IPC-A-610D states shrink holes 15 min.). or hot tears are acceptable for Class Both wave profiles had similar 1, 2 and 3 and for connections cooling rates (~27°C/s) and simimade with Pb-free alloys, if the lar topside preheat temperatures bottom of the tear is visible and the (~150°C). The main difference was shrink hole does not contact the the dwell time (3 and 7 sec.) and lead, land or barrel wall.1 Therepeak temperature (240° and 260°C). Three repetitions were assembled Figure 2. Shrink hole inside a solder fore, shrink holes are here to stay for each condition. One board per joint. and end-users should treat them as combination was used for time an effect, not a defect. zero analysis; the other two were We may conclude the appearsubjected to thermal cycling (600 and 1200 cycles). ance of SAC solder joints cannot be controlled for the Visual inspection showed the largest components entire assembly. However, it is important to know no (pad diameter of 5.4 mm) had shiny, smooth solder evidence indicates shrink holes adversely affect Pb-free joint surfaces when using the slower conveyor speed, assembly reliability. n and rough surfaces when using the fast conveyor speed (Figure 1). This is true for all surface finishes, with References the exception of ENIG. The reason for this behavior is unknown. On the other hand, smaller pad diameters 1. IPC-A-610D, Acceptability of Electronic Assemblies, Febru(less than 2.9 mm) showed, in most cases, dull and ary 2005. circuitsassembly.com

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Circuits Assembly NOVEMBER 2008

Ursula Marquez de Tino is a process and research engineer at Vitronics Soltec, based in the Unovis SMT Lab (vitronics-soltec.com); umarquez@vsww.com.

10/17/08 4:05:40 PM

Process Doctor

Electronics Residues Testing Methods An analysis of four common methods starts with FTIR.

eginning this month, we will discuss the applications of four typical analysis techniques and their pros and cons in regard to understanding electronics residues. The techniques include FTIR (Fourier transform infrared spectroscopy), SEM/ EDX (scanning electron microscopy/ electron dispersive b-ray), XRF and ion chromatography. Eric W. Weisstein explains

Terry Munson is with Foresite Inc. (residues.com); tm_foresite@ residues.com. This column appears monthly.

11ProcessDr.indd 40

Figure 1. Sample FTIR schematic. FTIRschematic. COMPARISON Figure 1. Sample FTIR 1.21 1.1 1.0 0.9

Abductance, log (T)

In its simplest form, a Fourier transform spectrometer consists of two mirrors located at a right angle to each other and oriented perpendicularly, with a beamsplitter placed at the vertex of the right angle and oriented at a 45° angle relative to the two mirrors (Figure 1). Radiation incident on the beamsplitter from one of the two “ports” is then divided into two parts, each of which propagates down one of the two arms and is reflected off one of the mirrors. The two beams are then recombined and transmitted out the other port. When the position of one mirror is continuously varied along the axis of the corresponding arm, an interference pattern is swept out as the two phase-shifted beams interfere with each other.

Used (~200 Cycles) solution Fresh solution

0.8

Figure 2 0.7 0.6 0.5 0.4 0.3 0.2 0.1 0.01 4000

3000

2000

1500

1000

400

Frequency, cm-1

FTIR provides specific information Figure 2. FTIR comparison. about chemical bonding and molecular structures, making it useful for anaThe assessment of unknown visible residues lyzing organic materials and certain inorganic on electronics involves looking at samples from materials. Chemical bonds vibrate at characterthe top of soldermask, laminate and metallizaistic frequencies, and when exposed to IR radiation. When samples are analyzed, they tend to tion, they absorb the radiation at frequencies include these other materials. The analysis shows that match their vibration modes. Measuring the presence of combined materials, and no separadiation absorption as a function of frequency ration is done using this technique; and while it produces a spectrum that can be used to identify can identify a family, it cannot quantify the resifunctional groups and compounds. due amount. Residue assessment will reveal that Applications and limitations include identia white flaky or gooey material around a solder fying the molecular structure of organic comjoint is a flux, but that’s where it stops. With 70% pounds for contamination analysis; identification of the industry using no-clean fluxes, this proof organic particles, powders, films, and liquids vides slightly more information than in known (material identification); and the large (20,000 pretesting. item) library of materials to match material sign natures, which permits observations on the pure material and aged materials (for changes). Circuits Assembly NOVEMBER 2008

circuitsassembly.com

10/20/08 1:02 PM

Is this YOUR customer?

If so, DONâ&#x20AC;&#x2122;T enter the CIRCUITS ASSEMBLY Service Excellence Awards Registration opens Oct. 14. Info: Chelsey Drysdale at cdrysdale@upmediagroup.com, or visit circuitsassembly.com/sea Those who stink at customer service need not apply.

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10/17/08 4:05:42 PM

Pb-Free Lessons Learned

Pb-Free Lemons? Don’t Be Suckered Today’s consumer electronics assemblers are competent in Pb-free soldering.

Chrys Shea has 20 years’ experience in electronics manufacturing and is founder of Shea Engineering; chrys@sheaengineering.com.

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purchased a new tablet PC the other day. I ordered it online for pickup at the local bricks and mortar store, and planned to retrieve it while running errands around town. I was sitting in a sandwich shop eating lunch and checking email when I noticed a woman next to me working on a tablet, so I asked her how she liked it. She absolutely loved the machine and interface, she said, but it had broken three times in the nearly two years she’s owned it. She strongly recommended I get the warranty. Three times in fact, she reiterated, “Get the warranty; it’s totally worth it.” Extended warranties are everywhere – and expensive. A two-year warranty extension on an entry-level $600 notebook computer costs up to $200; the same on an $80 printer was priced at $35, and the best one – the optional “protection package” on a $130 cellphone – was $70. These service plans are selling for 30 to 50% of the list product price! For up to 50% of the original cost, plus all the hassle of processing the claim, I’ll take my chances. If a piece of gear fails after the manufacturer’s one-year warranty period expires, I’ll likely replace it with a new model that packs more features at a lower cost anyway. My sandwich shop friend's PC was about two years old. That means it was probably manufactured just as Pb-free soldering was really starting to ramp. I couldn’t help but wonder whether she got a Pbfree “lemon.” You know what I mean; one of those assemblies that, despite the marginal wetting, the two rounds of rework on the BGA and a couple lifted pads, still meets workmanship standards and gets shipped. I'd bet quite a few Pb-free lemons are out there – more than we'll ever really know. (Perhaps that’s why the warranty prices have skyrocketed?) The only time I opted for an extended service plan was in 2003. The cost was roughly 15% of the purchase price and the coverage term was five years – an incredible bargain by today’s standards. I was purchasing a high-definition TV that employed the first-generation of DLP technology for TVs. DLP projection was the perfect fit for my home theater application, but it was new and risky. My husband’s Internet research raised some design concerns inherent to DLP systems, and my own manufacturing experience cautioned me to be suspicious of early production models. Considering all the potential design and manufacturing complications, we decided the extended warranty might not be such a bad idea. As it turned out, our caution was Circuits Assembly NOVEMBER 2008

justified. Over the five-year course of the plan, we had three service calls, the last of which replaced the entire internal assembly: motherboard, power supply, light engine, optics – the works. When the service technician left, the only original equipment that remained on my television was the chassis, and I now had the latest model with all the bugs worked out. Score one for the consumer. Although I think most extended warranty programs are huge ripoffs, I can’t summarily dismiss all of them as such. In the case of new technologies or new designs, they can make sense. I benefited immensely by hedging on the high-def TV. So did the woman in the sandwich shop with her early version of the tablet PC, as she so emphatically stated. Perhaps the advice of a random stranger was a sign from somewhere that I should reconsider my thinking. The timing was truly uncanny – a little too portentous for me to ignore. So I spent another hour and a half sitting in that restaurant reviewing various sources of information on the web and rethinking my options. I figured if I wanted to follow this woman’s advice and purchase the warranty, I could probably do so when I picked up my PC. I was right. (Those retailers never miss an opportunity to up-sell you.) This plan was relatively cheap: 25% of the purchase price to extend two years for normal wear-and-tear, or 33% to protect it from myself (drops, spills, etc.). Nevertheless, I declined. Did I discount the advice of the woman in the sandwich shop? No, I gave it due consideration, much more than I normally would have had the timing not been so coincidental. But this is the third PC I’ve purchased from the same supplier in as many months; the first two fired right up and have performed faultlessly for me. So did this one, and I have every confidence it will continue to serve me well for the next couple years. We are heading into holiday buying season. Many of us will purchase some type of electronics gear and just about everyone who does surely will be offered an extended warranty option at least once during the process. We’ve learned a lot in two years’ time. Pretty much every high-volume assembler of consumer electronics that could make decent SnPb solder joints now boasts a relatively comparable proficiency with Pb-free solder as well. Many of the earlier Pb-free design lessons learned already have been incorporated. So when the sales clerk asks if I’d like that extra peace of mind, I’ll opt for that extra piece of money instead. n circuitsassembly.com

10/17/08 4:05:44 PM

Defect Detection Goes Online

The Defects Database

Our newest column is not just informative, it’s interactive.

he National Physical Laboratory (NPL) has created an interactive assembly and soldering defect database (http://defectsdatabase.npl.co.uk/), allowing searches through a range of defects covering components, printed circuit boards and assemblies. The aim is to add more process, material and environmental defects each month to complement online submissions from Circuits Assembly readers. The database will take time to populate with defects, but with worldwide cooperation and the introduction of defect types from research studies across Europe, this will result in a unique resource. We are very excited about our cooperation with Circuits Assembly and support from the SMTA. We hope this interactive tool will help engineers solve problems and obtain practical advice, day or night. A practical benefit is its online global availability 24/7 as a reference and training resource. Future columns will show such defects as white residue rings on BGA joints, copper separation on PCBs, and conformal coating cracks. Each column will include photos of the defect, plus possible causes. Here, Figure 1 shows the front page of the NPL Defects Database. Engineers can search the database by defect, process, alloy type, etc. Alternatively, if the defect is not available, a photograph may be submitted with ease. Figure 2 shows an example of one of the defects found after a search of the database, providing information on the defect, how it occurred and possible corrective action. Figure 3 highlights how selecting the image provides a larger view of the defect and the opportunity to print out the results for shop floor staff and discussion with other engineers and suppliers. The NPL Industry Defects Database is now available to allow Circuits Assembly readers to search for solutions to common problems, or to submit defects online with full details for the purpose of requesting or sharing advice and possible solutions to process issues or failures. We welcome your comments and contributions. n

Figure 1. The NPL Defects Database is searchable by defect, process, alloy and more.

Figure 2. Entries provide information on the defect, how it occurred and possible corrective action.

Dr. Davide Di Maio is with the National Physical Laboratory Industry and Innovation division (npl. co.uk); defectsdatabase@npl.co.uk.

Figure 3. Images of defects can be used for analysis and training. circuitsassembly.com

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Circuits Assembly NOVEMBER 2008

10/17/08 4:05:48 PM

Getting Lean

Leaning the Line How a high-mix EMS firm “waved” goodbye to one soldering machine.

Chris Munroe is director of engineering at EPIC Technologies (epictech.com); chris. munroe@epictech. com. His column appears bimonthly.

CA-0809.indb 44

factor in EPIC Technologies’ adoption of Lean manufacturing principles is to ensure aspects such as floor space and utilization are considered. Eliminating work-in-process (WIP) translates to faster throughput and enhanced scheduling flexibility. In addition, floor space is freed as WIP and inventory are reduced. However, the company took equipment and floor space optimization one step further by teaming with a wave soldering equipment manufacturer in adapting a comprehensive wave soldering system capable of both lead and Pb-free wave soldering. The result was a duplex wave solution that supports both lead and Pb-free solder processes, while ensuring rapid changeover between the processes. The system architecture adapts to Lean methodologies, saving floor space, utilities and resources. The duplex wave is a carrier-based system. Unlike board finger conveyors, the machine has a palletized conveyor that requires a carrier to transport product. There are costs associated with the carriers, but to minimize this, universal tooling has been designed for standard PCB array sizes. The carrier-based system also has a large benefit in that it permits multiple products to be soldered collectively without system changeover. This is extremely important to minimize batch sizing in front of the wave, increasing system utilization and efficiency as a whole. However, with the duplex wave option, this only applies to the solder process currently set up on the system. A switch remains to convert the system from lead to Pb-free and vice-versa. This process takes five to 10 minutes to purge product from the line and exchange wave solder pots. As a result, Pb-free assemblies are run as a batch process. Each carrier is bar-coded with a unique ID that links to the duplex system for total profile control. A barcode reader on the conveyor signals the machine’s computer to change profiles as different products approach the input. The barcode system also serves as a control point to ensure the correct solder process is selected for the product to be soldered. If the wrong barcode is received, the system will lock down the input and flag the error to the operator, never permitting an incorrect board-profile interaction. Once the barcode is verified and accepted, and the product enters the machine, flux is applied based on the control settings for the product. The area and volume are predetermined during engineering development with control based on product complexity. The machine offers a dual spray fluxing option to allow users the ability to select a secondary flux type. This Circuits Assembly NOVEMBER 2008

Figure 1. An operator places a pallet on the conveyorized line in EPIC Technologies’ Juarez facility.

feature has not been necessary, as EPIC is utilizing a VOC-free, no-clean flux formula capable of lead, Pbfree, no-clean and water-wash applications. After flux application, the carbon-based preheat elements are used to heat the assembly to the prescribed topside temperature. An IR pyrometer is used to measure board temperature during preheat. Closedloop controls automatically adjust heat settings for the product based on IR readings and convection temperatures. With the duplex wave, only one solder pot is available for production use at a given time. The second wave remains in a liquid standby state outside the conveyance in an enclosed chamber sealed within the main unit. Each solder pot contains a dual wave system, including chip and Lambda operations. Although consistent with standard wave systems, the Lambda wave includes agitation properties to improve solder quality. This agitation permits the Lambda wave to penetrate into selective wave pallets, further enhancing the machine’s ability to selective solder. Pros and cons. Improving floor space is a major factor in Lean, and it is easy to see the advantage of reducing from two wave systems to support lead and Pb-free production to a single, comprehensive unit. History also tells us effective utilization of conveyance and carriers can permit multiple wave systems to be consolidated to one. EPIC’s volume production facilities in Juarez, Mexico, run in excess of 20,000 assemblies per day across a single wave. This is not a challenge with an assembly line dedicated to a single product. However, the product mix contains more than 40 different assemblies. With this system, there are zero changeovers because of the conveyance system flexibility. The need for 40 or more changeovers on wave systems of the past would significantly impact operational efficiency. Continued on pg. 45

circuitsassembly.com

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导热材料的选择随着当今快速发展的电子器件对导热性能要求的提高，封装技术也在不断更新以提供各种方法来满足相应的需求。不同的产品应用，客户的主观意向，及不同的产品性能要求直接决定了不同的材料种类的选择。但是，所有的应用都有一个共同点，那就是随着器件的体积越来越小及功能越来越强大，产生的热量越来越多，因此对有效的热传导性能的需求比以往更为苛刻，特别是TIM2 水平。为了能给客户提供更适用的，价格更实惠的产品来满足不同应用和用户的不同需求，行业领导地位的公司已经研发出一套完整的解决方案来满足众多不同的要求。传统的热导介质有两种：导热油脂或膏，或固态导热衬垫。固态导热衬垫以其易于应用及具有长期稳定性的特点得以广泛应用，与之相比，导热油脂或膏则可提供更好的润湿性，因此获得更好的总体导热性能。但是，选择哪种类型的材料往往取决于多种因素：对某种材料的信任度，最重要的性能指标，当然还有价格。一种基于薄膜技术的导热相变材料的应用正变得越来越广泛，这种材料在常温下是固态，但随着器件温度的升高而逐渐融化为液态。这些高效及易于使用的特点使相变材料得以广泛的应用。 Continued from pg. 44

The carrier-based configuration also adds the benefit of selective soldering. Masking pallets can be designed to protect sensitive components or masking areas from the solder bath. Tight control on pallet designs and materials have proven successful in wave soldering LCD and sensitive LED technologies, ensuring peak temperature limits are not exceeded on the components. The added benefit of the masking pallet also adds value for part numbers with tight design constraints. Double-sided SMT and through-hole wave solder can be accomplished with little restriction to the board layout. Top- and bottom-side through-hole soldering can be accomplished with component heights greater than 5.5 mm, and selective soldering of both assembly sides. DfM is made easier through use of masking pallets. Point style selective soldering systems can do the same, but adding processes to an assembly cycle is not always the most feasible solution. There are materials, environmental and energy savings as well. The benefits of Lean manufacturing can be enhanced significantly when production and engineering teams think outside the box. Partnering and working alongside equipment suppliers can lead to considerable cost benefits over time for manufacturers that drive and implement these improvements. n circuitsassembly.com

CA-0809.indb 45

Materials World

虽然相变薄膜材料以其高性能而著称，但它也有一些缺陷。薄膜的厚度虽有很多种，可是比较薄的薄膜其生产工艺比较困难而且通常难于从薄膜衬垫完全剥离。为了克服这些障碍，一项新的使用液态配方的技术随之诞生。此新型的液态配方兼顾了原来液态油脂所有的优点比如较好的应用性和较高的产出量，并且避免了液态油脂在一些应用上的缺陷。这种新型的液态配方可以像胶水一样运用点胶和丝网印刷的工艺使用，随着时间的延续，此产品会由液态慢慢变干而逐渐演变为相变薄膜。此种新材料兼具了薄膜相变材料的良好的长期可靠性能和应用性能，并且由于其初始的液态形式，所以其厚度可以随着应用的不同而任意调节。在应用方面，可以采用全自动生产来增加产出率，并且生产厂家可以沿用现有的生产设备如普通的点胶和丝网印刷设备。此外，液态形式的相变材料具有很好的润湿性并可以填充由于器件基体表面高低不同而产生的空洞，因此它可提供针对表面平整性的有效控制。对于一些更喜欢液态材料并又期待薄膜材料的性能优点的厂商，这种新产品为其提供了一个理想的选择。对于那些倾向于使用导热油脂的厂家，这种新的材料具有类似于导热油脂的性能，容易补偿由于粗糙的界面所产生的空洞，所以为那些有平整性或共面性问题的器件提供了一个好的解决方案。然而相变液体必须经过一个附加的步骤才能获得所期望的性能，与之相比，导热油脂则在应用之后马上实现其作用。当制造商想避免使用相变材料所需的额外工艺要求时，导热油脂为其提供一个可行的替代办法，同时新的以有机硅为基础的水清洗配方提供了更好的使用便利性，并赋予了导热油脂已知的好处。虽然相变材料通常提供更好的长期可靠性，因为他们不会像导热油脂那样随着时间的推移而流失，但是需要采取额外的的工艺步骤。人们必须仔细评估每一个具体的应用，以确定哪个散热解决方案是最合适的。当设计师们持续挑战功能极限，向越来越小的器件里填塞越来越多的功能，高性能的导热管理系统将是确保实际应用成功的至关重要的组成部分。虽然有多种已被证明的商业化导热材料可供选择，但是新材料给予了简单的工艺并同时具有同样的应用功能，也值得考虑。需要时间来仔细评估个人的喜好，及所有的TIM2导热产品的使用性能和应用性能的优缺点，移除热量也许并非如你所想象的那样困难！ n

Circuits Assembly NOVEMBER 2008

Dr. Renzhe Zhao is technical manager, applications engineering at the electronics group of Henkel (henkel.com); renzhe. zhao@us.henkel.com. For the English version, visit circuits assembly.com.

10/17/08 4:05:51 PM

Ad Index ADVERTISER INFO: To learn about the advertisers in this issue, go to circuitsassembly.com and select “Advertiser Index” in the gray horizontal menu bar at the top of the page. This will provide you with direct links to the home or product pages of each advertiser in this index. Company

Page No.

Aim Solder, www.aimsolder . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . C3, 19 Bare Board Group, www.bareboard.com. . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 47 Cookson Electronic Assembly Materials, www.cooksonelectronics.com . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 9 CyberOptics, www.cyberoptics.com . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 21 DEK USA, www.dek.com . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . C4 Digi-Key, www.digikey.com . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 2 EFD, Inc., www.efd-inc.com . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 31

Product

SPOTLIGHT Inline 3-D SPI VP5000 is said to have 12 µm resolution with a 23 x 31 mm field of view. Includes warning thresholds to the pass/fail outputs. Interfaces with Qup-Navi software for height calculations and volumetric inspection. Uses color stripe phase shift method. Combines red-green-blue light sources and a 3-CCD camera with texture mapping or gradation displays. Inspects for average height, volume, excessive deposition, insufficient solder, smearing, misalignment and bridging. Displays defective pad locations on the substrate map with up to eight raw images of defective pads. Handles substrates from 2” x 2” to 18” x 20”. Omron Electronics, omron247.com

Electronics Group of Henkel, www.electronics.henkel.com . . . . . . . 5 Endicott Interconnect Technologies, www.eitny.com. . . . . . . . . . . . 4 FCT Assembly, www.fctassembly.com . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . C3 Grid-Lok, www.grid-lok.com . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 17 Imagineering, Inc., www.pcbnet.com . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 1 Indium Corporation of America, www.indium.com . . . . . . . . . . . . 7

Vacuum Interrupter for Hand Tools V3025-B assists in precision placement of small parts. The interrupter block controls the vacuum. Permits part positioning with a vacuum tweezer pen with one hand, while the other controls the interrupter block to release the part. Virtual Industries, virtual-ii.com

IPC, www.ipc.org . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 35 ITW Chemtronics, www.chemtronics.com . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 29 JETPCB Inc., www.jetpcb.com . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 47 Juki Automation Systems, www.jas-smt.com . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 15 MIRTEC Corp., www.mirtecusa.com . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 23 Miyachi Unitek Corp., www.miyachiunitek.com . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 13 Nihon Superior Co., Ltd., www.nihonsuperior.co.jp . . . . . . . . . . . C3 NPI Awards, circuitsassembly.com/npi. . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 24 PCB Orlando 2008, www.pcbshows.com/orlando . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 4 Precision Placement Machines, Inc., www.goppm.com . . . . . . . . 47 Seika Machinery, www.seikausa.com . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 12 Service Excellence Awards, circuitsassembly.com/sea. . . . . . . . . 41

Stencil Printer with Integrated Vision SP003-ML-V is for small and medium volumes. Has an integrated vision system. Consists of two quick-fix cameras that look directly through the stencil apertures down to the PCB. Images are simultaneously displayed on two 8” monitors to check alignment. Correction of X, Y and theta axes possible using backlash-free adjusting screws. Controls squeegee and speed attributes and reportedly can reproduce them securely. Adjustable magnetic table can accept single- and double-sided substrates. Print area measures up to 360 x 400 mm; screens and stencils can be mounted in frames up to 23” x 23” in size. Essemtec AG, essemtec.com

Speedline Technologies, www.speedlinetech.com . . . . . . . . . . . 11 Ticona Engineering Polymers, www.ticona.com . . . . . . . . . . . C2, 47 Virtual PCB, www.virtual-pcb.com . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 28 ZESTRON America, www.zestron.com . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 27

Advertising Sales North UP Media Group, Inc. America: 2400 Lake Park Drive, Suite 440 Smyrna, GA 30080 Krista Fabian Sales Associate, (678) 589-8840 email: kfabian@upmediagroup.com

Asia: Korea: Young Media, 82 2 756 4819 email: ymedia@ymedia.co.kr

CA-0809.indb 46

Circuits Assembly NOVEMBER 2008

Automatic Wire Bond AOI S6053BO-V is for small wire bond analysis. Comes with universal, high-resolution VHR camera module; camera and transport reportedly can be adapted to varying production demands. Is said to inspect to 2 to 5 µm per pixel. Camera module can be arrayed with one or several cameras and illumination units. Bond wires smaller than 20 µm in diameter can be inspected 100%. Is available in a dual-track configuration, including an integrated shuttle that loads the second track as inspection is conducted on the first track. Also inspects components and ASICs. Viscom, viscom.com

circuitsassembly.com

10/17/08 4:05:55 PM

Special Advertising Section

Assembly Insider Instant Online Quotes, Day or Night

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Based on standard specifications. See the HOME page and Calculate for other options.

Safety Light Curtain SL-V incorporates highly visible indicators to facilitate setup and see current operating status. Conforms to IP-65 and

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mounting and side-exit cabling; curtain reportedly fits perfectly into equipment, with the cabling tucked away. Immediately determines whether curtain is active. Up to 3 curtains (240 beams) can be connected in series. Curtain lengths range from 150 to 2390 mm. Includes automatic interference reduction function. Keyence Corp. of America, keyence.com

340°C. V-0 Halogen-Free Flame Resistance. Now that’s hot.

Servo-Mix Dispense Valves 2151-482 series is for mixing and dispensing two-component materials in robotic and semiautomatic assembly processes. Applications include mixing epox-

Ticona’s Vectra® LCP enables eco-friendly innovation...

ies, silicones and urethanes for bonding, gasketing, coating, potting and filling. Features include a standard disposable static mixer attached to the drive shaft of

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a variable speed servo motor and No-Drip

www.ticona.com/halogenfree Ticona Engineering Polymers, 8040 Dixie Highway, Florence, KY USA 41042 1.800.833.4882

KISS Series fluid control valves to start and stop the flow of materials. Include carbide ball needles and seats. Sealant Equipment & Engineering, sealantequipment.com Email: ppm@goppm.com or Call: 603.895.5112

circuitsassembly.com

CA-0809.indb 47

Circuits Assembly NOVEMBER 2008

10/17/08 4:06:05 PM

Technical Abstracts

In Case You Missed It Component Packaging “Reliability Testing of Advanced Semiconductors Using Embedded Chip Build-Up (ECBU) Packaging Technology” Authors: Shane Lewis, Tan Zhang, Richard J. Saia, Paul A. McConnelee, Kishor V. Desai, Krishnaswami Srihari, Donald P. Cunningham and Charles G. Woychik Abstract: Embedded chip build-up (ECBU) is an advanced packaging technology targeting high-end microprocessors and video processors. An overview of the performance advantages offered by this technology for high I/O count, high power dissipation and high clock rate chips is covered. This paper shows data of packages fabricated in this technology that meet Jedec qualification specifications, therefore making this packaging technology attractive for the stringent reliability demands for high-end processor applications. Reliability data of ECBU packages using conventional and advanced copper low-K advanced semiconductors are presented for a number of reliability tests. (SMTA International, August 2008)

Circuits Assembly

provides abstracts of papers from recent industry conferences and company white papers. With the amount of information increasing, our goal is to provide an added opportunity for readers to keep abreast of technology and business trends.

CA-0809.indb 48

Pb-Free Reliability “Improving Hole-Fill in Lead-Free Soldering of Thick Printed Circuit Boards with OSP Finish” Authors: Jing Li, Pei-Fang Jennifer Tsai, Krishnaswami Srihari, Layag-Junell Abarquez, Jianyeou Yong, Chongchit Chew, Mulugeta Abtew and Robert Kinyanjui; robert.kinyanjui@sanmina-sci. com. Abstract: The challenge in the Pb-free wave soldering of thick (0.080" and above) PCBs lies in achieving desirable hole-fill. Inadequate hole-fill can be improved by sufficient preheat, higher pot temperature and more active flux. However, increasing processing temperatures could be limited because of the thermal tolerances of the laminate and components. Further, it has been reported OSP coating is suspected to degrade under high processing temperatures. Consequently, copper underneath the OSP layer may get oxidized, which can lead to poor wetting. This research focused on hole-fill issues pertaining to thick PCBs with an OSP surface finish that were wave soldered with SAC 305 solder. Test vehicles (0.095" thick) with five different pinhole gap distances (0.00592", 0.00611", 0.00669", 0.00761" and 0.0115") were used in this study. Two factors were considered for the OSP coating layer: increasing OSP coating thickness and increasing the roughness between the copper and OSP layer by applying microetch processing. Holefill penetration percentage was measured by x-ray inspection, and more than 50% hole-fill percentage was used as the acceptance criteria. Results showed microetching had no effect on hole-fill percentage. Circuits Assembly NOVEMBER 2008

Doubling the OSP layer thickness from 0.2 to 0.4 µm for the smallest pinhole gap distance of 0.00592" increased the hole-fill rejection rate 14%. However, the OSP layer thickness had no significant effect on the hole-fill rejection rate for pinhole gap distances of 0.00669", 0.00761" and 0.0115". For the pinhole gap distance of 0.00611", there was a trend that thinner OSP could lead to better performance. (SMTA International, August 2008) Project Management “Applying Project Management Methodologies in Electronics Manufacturing” Author: Lee Whiteman, lwhiteman@pmsolutions. com. Abstract: Project management is defined as the application of knowledge, skills, tools, and techniques to project activities to meet project requirements. It is a discipline used to define goals, plan and monitor tasks and resources, identify and resolve issues, and control costs and budgets for a specific project. There are five phases to the project management process: opportunity assessment, initiating, planning, executing/controlling, and closing. These methodologies have been applied to many technical applications in the commercial, information technology and government environments. Research has shown companies that apply project management disciplines outperform competitors that do not. Applying these disciplines is consistent with introducing Six-Sigma, Lean manufacturing, and continuous process improvement initiatives to the design engineering and production environment. This paper covers how project management methodologies can be applied to electronics manufacturing. (SMTA International, August 2008) Soldering Pallets “Optimizing Pallet Materials for Long Life and Ease of Machining” Author: Raj Savara, raj@dmipallet.com. Abstract: This paper presents seven different materials used for the production of wave and reflow solder pallets. The goal of this study was to depict machining capabilities for depth, wall thickness, and accuracy of machining for each of the seven materials presented. Also, a Pb-free wave pallet (used for a high-volume PCB product) was built out of each of the materials under test. Each pallet was tested for the purpose of showing long-term wear effects over multiple heat cycle run times; monitoring pallet flatness for heat warping of the pallet; wall thickness changes, and overall changes in surface condition. (IPC Apex, April 2008)

circuitsassembly.com

10/17/08 4:06:05 PM

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