The Global Assembly Journal for SMT and Advanced Packaging Professionals Volume 12 Number 11 November 2012 ISSN 1474 - 0893 Global SMT & Packaging Volume 12 Number 11 November 2012 THE MODERN APPROACH TO COMPLEX SERIALIZATION Steven Lowder Interview Inside www.globalsmt.net COPPER IS MOVING INSIDE YOUR printed circuit board • Solder ALLOY FREE ELECTRONICS (SAFE) aSSembly • change iS coming to the cleaning induStry…again • the UPSIDE OF FLIP CHIP & MORE
Transcript
The Global Assembly Journal for SMT and Advanced Packaging Professionals
Volume 12 Number 11 November 2012
ISSN 1474 - 0893
Global SM
T & Packaging Volum
e 12 Number 11
November 2012
The ModerN APProAch To coMPlex SerIAlIzATIoN
Steven lowderInterview Inside
www.globalsmt.net
coPPer IS MoVING INSIde your printed circuit board • Solder Alloy free elecTroNIcS (SAfe) aSSembly • change iS coming to the cleaning induStry…again • the uPSIde of flIP chIP & More
w w w . m i r t e c . c o m
u MV-7xi Five Camera In-Line AOI System
u Exclusive 10 Mega Pixel ISIS Vision System
u Precision Telecentric Compound Lens Design
u Integrated Intelli-Scan Laser Inspection System
u Extremely Simple Programming and Operation
u Unsurpassed Defect Detection
u “World Class” Global Customer Support
“We at ACD have always strived to improve our quality and maximize our efficiency. After evaluating the top AOI manufacturers we selected MIRTEC to efficiently and thoroughly inspect our finished PCB assemblies.”
W. Scott Fillebrown, President & CEO of ACD
ADVANCED TECHNOLOGY
MW-MI-16-Mirtec Testimonial ad_203x276-GlobalSMT.indd 1 8/9/12 10:44 AM
Global SMT & Packaging – November 2012– 1www.globalsmt.net
Content
Global SMT & Packagingis published monthlyby Trafalgar PublicationsLimited. The journal is FREE to qualified professionals and is available by subscription at a cost of $380.00 for the current volume (twelve issues).
Periodicals postage paid at Rahway NJ. Postmaster send address corrections to: Global SMT & Packaging, PO Box 7579, Naples, FL 34102.
No part of this publication may be reproduced, stored in a retrieval system, transmitted in any form or by any means; electronic, mechanical, photocopying, recording or otherwise without the prior written consent of the publisher. No responsibility is accepted for the accuracy of information contained in the text, illustrations or advertisements. The opinions expressed in the articles are not necessarily those of the editors or the publisher.
Visit www.globalsmt.net for the latest news and more, every day.
If you don’t already have one, search for a QR code reader app in your smartphone’s app marketplace. Then use it to scan the code above & download this magazine issue right to your phone.
Americas editioncontents0.2% 1.2%
49.6%
10.7%
38.3%
04-‐18 20-‐32 34-‐100 104-‐304 308+
2011
eDiTorial2 Time for some blue sky thinking Trevor Galbraith
TeChNoloGy FoCuS10 The modern approach to complex serialization Nader Shehad, BPM Microsystems14 Change is coming to the cleaning industry… again! Bill Schreiber, Smart Sonic
SPeCial FeaTureS16 The upside of flip chip Sandra Winkler, New Venture Research24 Electronic component counterfeit incidents continue at record pace26 Interview—Steven Lowder, Semblant30 Case Study: Quality, Efficiency and Environmental Friendliness: Stencil Cleaning at Zollner Elektronik AG34 Technology Focus: Reflow soldering—energy efficiency and economic efficiency in the focus
reGular ColuMNS4 Solder alloy free electronics (SAFE) assembly Joe Fjelstad18 Copper is moving inside your printed circuit board Craig Hillman20 Global electronic market data Walt Custer and Jon Custer-Topai28 Who ya gonna call? Keith Bryant33 Conflict, consolidation, and cooperation Gene Weiner
6 Industry News39 Association News40 New Products42 International Diary
oTher reGular FeaTureS
10
12
30
24
2 – Global SMT & Packaging – November 2012 www.globalsmt.net
ChinaGlobal SMT & PackagingElectronics Second Research InstituteNo.159, Hepin South RoadTaiyuan City, PO Box 115, Shanxi,Province 030024, ChinaTel: +86 (351) 652 3813Fax: +86 (351) 652 0409
Time for some blue sky thinkingI recently attended a Technology Forecast-ers Think Tank event in San Jose. It was an intriguing event that, because of its loca-tion, attracted some of the key technolo-gists and quality managers from companies such as Sanmina, Jabil, Celestica, Raytheon, Google and Intel. It made for a fascinat-ing debate on how we could develop and implement some BHAGS.
What is a BHAG, I hear you say. A BHAG quite simply is a “Big, Hairy, Auda-cious Goal.” The meeting kicked off by identifying a series of “blue sky” ideas that members within the audience thought would genuinely bring significant improve-ment, change or cost saving to our existing manufacturing process. These were boiled down to two to three objectives that were discussed by the audience, in groups of five, with an appointed speaker at each table.
The results were entertaining, thought provoking and, in some cases, enlighten-ing. One of my favorites was the concept of “Virtual Prototyping.” Prototyping is often a costly and time-consuming process that eats up valuable machine and operator time within the factory. Imagine if we could sim-ulate products virtually before they go into production? Of course, in today’s environ-ment the idea is almost impossible as elec-tronics comprises a range of materials and chemistries that have varying TCE prop-erties, resulting in a series of mismatches that only increase when you subject the electronics assembly to a variety of thermal excursions, both during the manufacturing process and in the final application. These materials and chemistries are changing every day as new products are introduced, making the ability to test and document all the potential physical interactions and properties practically impossible.
Another topic that sparked my interest at the meeting was a discussion about Intel-lectual Property, which was categorized as Product IP, Process IP or Software IP. Many delegates felt that Product IP (the physical
construction of a machine or product) held the least importance, as the construction or form factor of a machine, phone or box was reasonably similar across the world. However, the software to make that prod-uct work was where the ultimate IP value lay. Indeed, some even held the view that it sometimes makes sense to give up some Product IP in order to gain an advantage or increase knowledge of Process or Software IP.
And finally, on the subject of Process IP, it is virtually impossible not to infringe this, even though it is contained in most contracts. Quite simply, if you learn how to improve a process making one product, you cannot unlearn that process improve-ment when you move onto another cus-tomer’s product where you are faced with the same set of issues.
4 – Global SMT & Packaging – November 2012 www.globalsmt.net
Solder alloy free electronics (SaFe) assembly
Solder has been the mainstay method for assembly of electronic products for nearly the entire history of the
electronics industry. In the earliest days of the industry, soldering was performed by hand as skilled technicians first twisted wires together and then permanently joined them using flux and tin lead solder. While this tedious task is still performed today to make special interconnections and to perform rework and repair, most electronic interconnections are made by mass soldering processes.
The earliest of these processes was the drag soldering process, where a printed circuit populated with components having leads passing through the circuit board was first fluxed and then pulled across a bath of molten solder to make permanent inter-connections between component leads and circuit terminations. To improve pro-ductivity further, solder equipment engi-neers were inspired to mechanically pump molten solder vertically through a duct to create a standing wave of molten solder that was constantly refreshed and free of dross. This technology is still in use today for a substantial number of products but has gone through myriad fine adjustments over the years to improve processing effi-ciency and yield.
The advent of surface mount tech-nology in the late 1970s and early 1980s demanded the development of new manu-facturing methods and equipment to serve those methods, including infrared reflow, convection oven reflow, vapor phase reflow and laser soldering. All was generally well within the electronics manufacturing industry until the European Union elected to ban the use of lead in electronic solder in spite of an absence of scientific proof of harm caused anyone in the electronics manufacturing industry1.
Over the course of the last six years, tens of billions of dollars have been spent to meet the EU’s demand for lead-free elec-tronics. The process has not been easy and has created significant new manufacturing
challenges associated with the nearly 40˚C increase in solder melting temperatures, which can damage substrates and compo-nents and make cleaning a more daunting task. Lead-free brought with it a host of new failure mechanisms (head in pillow, champagne voids, pad cratering, laminate decomposition, etc.) as well. The new lead-free era has also reintroduced an insidious and pernicious problem that had been van-quished by the use of tin lead solder: tin whiskers.
With that bit of history and back-ground, it should come without surprise that at least some companies in the elec-tronics industry are looking at ways to meet the EU’s demand while sidestepping the use of lead-free solder.
While there has been a sustained call for the elimination of solder from the process by a number of individuals in the industry, including this author, there has been a recent uptick among certain sup-pliers of interconnection media seeking to bring attention to their own solder-alloy-free electronic interconnection solutions, which include reintroduction of a variety of isotropic and anisotropic interconnec-tion materials comprised of polymers and conductive fillers. There are also low tem-perature sinterable materials that have been employed in the manufacture of certain multilayer constructions. With the advent of improved materials enabled by nanotechnology, the list of options can be expected to grow over time.
There are as well interesting develop-
ments in labs such as the recent announce-ment from an Oxford University spin out where researchers report in an interview with the Guardian that they have come up with a technology that “replaces the solder, pins and wiring of the conventional com-puter with Lego-like blocks of silicon stuck to a Velcro-like metamaterial2 board that can wirelessly transmit or conduct both data and power.” While still in its very early infancy, it is evident that the developers are clearly aware of the weight of solder on electronics manufacturing, both physically and technically.
While there is modest but steady growth in interest and some movement in solder alloy free assembly, based on disclo-sures such as that just described, incum-bent technologies are very difficult to dis-place. This was noted by Dr Mark Gostock, technology transfer manager at University of Oxford’s ISIS Innovation in the inter-view cited above, where he observed that
“…there are going to be a lot of people who make a whole lot of money from the way we do it now, who aren’t going to be happy when they hear what we have got.” It was a thought echoed and amplified by his colleague Chris Stevens, an academic and entrepreneur, who in the same story in the Guardian said, “The PCB industry in par-ticular has already made a big investment in manufacturing infrastructure and they are not going to want to change.” Clearly these gentlemen understand the challenge of implementing change.
One of the attractive features of the SAFE process described under the Occam banner (which has been covered a number of times over the last five years in this space) is that the concept actually embraces and can use much of the established manu-facturing infrastructure. The Occam/SAFE approach (which in most basic terms pre-scribes the application of circuits to com-ponent boards as opposed to current and customary attachment of components to circuit boards) can be accomplished today. So what is required is achieve the desired
Joe Fjelstad
Solder alloy free electronics (SAfe) assembly—
Gaining interest and building some momentum
Overcoming inertia, whether physical or mental, requires sustained effort.
Global SMT & Packaging – November 2012– 5www.globalsmt.net
ends is not a retooling of the industry but a retooling of the minds of those who are presently engaged in the design and manu-facture of electronic products, which is not easy as it involves overcoming inertia.
Overcoming inertia, whether physical or mental, requires sustained effort. Per-haps Sir Isaac Newton himself may have even agreed that his beautiful and scien-tific world altering three laws of motion might be applied to human psychologi-cal factors as well as physical objects. In the present case, the first law of motion is especially applicable, stating that an object will continue in its state of rest unless acted upon by a force, and conversely that it will stay in motion moving in the direction in which it is traveling unless acted upon by another force. Both descriptions are in evidence in nearly every manufacturing environment, as nearly all of them gener-ally abhor change.
In summary, solder alloy free assembly methods are slowly but steadily infiltrating the minds of product developers walking on the treadmill of lead-free solder and enduring the increased expense and uncer-tainties that have accompanied its arrival on the manufacturing scene. There are two fundamental sets of motivators to action (or Newtonian force analogs, if you will) for the human species, pain and pleasure being the first, fear and greed the second. Among these four, pain and fear are pri-mary, and response to them happens with greater immediacy than either pleasure or greed. As evidence we need only think of how quickly we will pull our hand from a hot stove or how dramatically markets fall in times of fear, compared to how slowly they build. While the industry has accli-mated and is to some degree inured to the pain of lead-free at the present moment, the time is surely coming when a palliative solution will be demanded, and SAFE solu-tions should be ready and able to provide a suitable prescription.
1Some lead-free solder purveyors and advo-cates of the EU’s legislation point to environ-mental damages that have been documented in China and elsewhere, where uncontrolled recycling of electronic assemblies has been allowed to occur without regulation or train-ing. While it is lamentable that some indi-viduals in that uncontrolled pirate industry have been harmed by their practices due to a lack of education and understanding of the potential impact of their work, it is eco-nomic opportunism and poor management of electronic waste that are truly to blame.2Metamaterials are engineered materials
having unique properties. They are com-monly assemblies comprised of multiple individual elements fashioned from con-ventional microscopic materials such as metals or plastics to create a new material comprised of exactingly designed structures arranged in periodic patterns to achieve the desired properties.
Verdant Electronics founder and president Joseph (Joe) Fjelstad has more than 40 years of international experience in electronic interconnection and packaging technology in a variety of capacities from chemist to process engineer and from international consultant to CEO. Mr. Fjelstad is also a well known author writing on the subject of electronic interconnection technologies. Prior to founding Verdant, Mr. Fjelstad co-founded SiliconPipe a leader in the development of high speed interconnection technologies. He was also formerly with Tessera Technologies, a global leader in chip-scale packaging, where he was appointed to the first corporate fellowship for his innovations. He has 150 US patents to his credit.
One of the attractive features of the SAFE process described under the Occam banner is that the concept actually embraces and can use much of the established manufacturing infrastructure.
How can production costs be substantially reduced? Ersa machines and systems set the standards in the field of flexible, energy-efficient and sustainable production technologies. The modular design allows customized, sustainable solutions and is the basis for increased profits in your electronics production!
Costs ?Excellence.Earnings!
Stencil printers Reflow systems Selective soldering systems Wave soldering systems Rework systems Inspection systems Soldering stations Solder fume extraction units Solders, fluxes and more Staff training and certification
Ersa – solutions for the most successful companies.
www.ersa.com
Our portfolio and process know-how will convince you!
ersa Anzeige - GLOBAL SMT - april 2012 - 70x280mm.indd 1 29.10.2012 10:03:53
Title
6 – Global SMT & Packaging – November 2012 www.globalsmt.net
Juki names horizon Sales rep of the year during annual sales meeting
Juki Automation Systems awarded Dave Trail, Vern Emery and Cameron Valade Representative of the Year for best per-formance in 2012 during the recent Juki Americas National Sales meeting. The award was given to Horizon Sales for achieving the highest performance against budget and was weighted to include terri-tory potential, new customers and number of machines sold. Horizon Sales is a man-ufacturers’ representative corporation supplying machinery and supplies to the electronics industry. Located in Brigh-ton, MI and Kokomo, IN, Horizon man-ages and sells to many Midwestern states. www.horizonsales.com, www.jukiamericas.com
NcAB Group acquires PcB supplier P. d. circuits, Inc.NCAB Group signed an agreement to acquire 100 percent of the shares in P. D. Circuits, Inc. Based in New Hamp-shire, P. D. Circuits is one of the leading PCB suppliers in the USA. NCAB Group will, after the acquisition, have sales in excess of 100 million USD with 13 loca-
tions around the world and 210 employ-ees, including 70 people located in China. www.pdcircuits.com, www.ncabgroup.com
count on Tools re-launches MydATA exchange program for new customersCount On Tools Inc., re-launched its MYDATA Exchange Program for new cus-tomers. Count On Tools realizes that there are electronics manufacturers with worn or broken MYDATA Midas Nozzles. Now these can be exchanged for a new tool for a discount. For every MYDATA Midas tool sent in, customers are eligible to receive a 30 percent discount toward the purchase of a new tool of the same type. Count On Tools’ competitive pricing is based on his-torical repair data and recommended worn part replacement information for each tool. www.cotinc.com
henkel again takes top spot in sustainability rankingFor the sixth consecutive year, Henkel has been listed as sector leader in the Dow Jones Sustainability Index and Dow Jones Sustainability Index Europe. Henkel again took first place in the Nondurable House-hold Products category and remains the only company in its sector to feature in both the DJSI World and the DJSI Europe. The Indexes list corporations that follow the principles of sustainable development in their business operations. www.henkel.com/sustainability
AIM metals and alloys partners with conflict-free Tin InitiativeAIM announces its partnership with the Conflict-Free Tin Initiative, whose goal is to create regulated tin supply chains from the South-Kivu region of the Democratic Republic of Congo. The Initiative’s goal is to
introduce a conflict-free supply chain that will renew the economy of the area since firms are reluctant to purchase any miner-als from the region due to “conflict metal” regulations. The Initiative is supported by the U.S., Dutch and DCR governments along with 175 stakeholders representing various industries. solutions-network.org/site-cfti/
Acd implements factory-wide TTc solution from cogiscan
ACD announces the successful implemen-tation of a factory-wide Track, Trace and Control (TTC) Solution from Cogiscan. The Cogiscan TTC Solution replaces ACD’s incumbent MES software. Cogiscan was selected to replace the legacy system due to its proven track record to deliver on its commitments. The Cogiscan software architecture is very open for seamless inte-gration with existing systems. This enables ACD to handle simple integration projects with internal development resources. www.ACDUSA.com
New Western regional Sales Manager for AssembléonA s s e m b l é o n appointed Tom Tallcott as West-ern regional sales manager. Tom will be responsi-ble for the region including: Wash-ington, Oregon, C a l i f o r n i a , Northern Idaho and Nevada.
Tom comes to Assembléon with over 25 years of sales experience in the elec-tronics factory automation industry. He has held similar positions with PACE, Crown Simplimatic, JOT Automation and CEME Manufacturer’s Representative. www.assembleon.com
Industry newscogiscan opens new state-of-the-art facility in canadaCogiscan has completed the move to a new state-of-the-art facility in the heart of the Bromont high-tech industrial park. Located at 28-B Airport Blvd., the new facility is 50 percent bigger than the prior location and it includes a complete demonstration and training center for hands-on customer training. It was designed and built accord-ing to Cogiscan’s specific requirements to accommodate the company’s continued growth. The new facility is located across the street from IBM and the new MiQro Innovation Collaborative Centre, an international centre of excellence for electronics assembly research. www.cogiscan.com
industry news
advancedjetting.com
Faster, Easier, Smarter Jetting
You can rely on our award-winning support network. Contact us now to find out more.
Get the quality dispensing you need with the Genius™ Jet Cartridge* and NexJet™ System*. Invented by the leaders in jetting technology... Nordson ASYMTEK.
•EasytoUse–theone-pieceGenius™ Jet Cartridge is removed quickly, without tools, for easy cleaning or replacement, saving time and money
• Smart–theGeniusJetCartridge intelligently communicates with the dispense system to monitor usage and indicate replacement
•Flexible–innovativedesignwidensyour processwindowtosupportabroadrange of fluids and applications
•Capable–softwareprogrammablefluidjetting to center the process window for clean, precise results
•Applicationsincludeflipchip,CSP,andPoPunderfill, precise coating, and adhesive dispensing
* PATENTS PENDING
The next generation
delivers it all – The NexJet™ System
featuring the innovative Genius™ Jet Cartridge
The easy-to-remove Genius Jet Cartridge’s built-in memory tracks and stores usage data, thereby increasing quality and consistency in exacting manufacturing applications.
Title
8 – Global SMT & Packaging – November 2012 www.globalsmt.net
industry news
dfr Solutions awarded SeaPort-e contractDfR Solutions received a SeaPort Enhanced (SeaPort-e) Indefinite Delivery, Indefinite Quantity (IDIQ) prime contract to pro-vide services solicited by several U.S. gov-ernment and military services, including research and development support, Engi-neering, System Engineering and Process Engineering Support, Modeling, Simula-tion, Stimulation, and Analysis Support, Reliability, Maintainability, and Availability (RM&A) Support. www.dfrsolutions.com
KIc sets up in-country product repair and calibration center for MexicoSeptember 1, 2012, KIC expanded its pres-ence in Mexico in order to improve the services avail-able to its custom-ers. In the past, KIC customers in Mexico sent their KIC products to the United States for repair; however, now they can send their profilers and other KIC equipment to Guadalajara, JAL for repair or calibration. The new service office in Guadalajara results in faster turnaround times and less expensive services. Addi-tionally, the office eliminates the need for customers in Mexico to deal with customs when getting products serviced. www.kic-thermal.com
frost & Sullivan: path to success for electronics manufacturing market paved by outsourcing designElectronics manufacturing service (EMS) providers have evolved from offering point-to-point service to providing com-plete design support services, develop-ing focused strategies to broaden design revenues, as their core strategy elevates growth in design services. The new analy-sis from Frost & Sullivan, Opportunity Analysis for Outsourcing in the Electron-ics Manufacturing Service (EMS) Design Market, finds that the global EMS design market earned revenues of $11.93 billion in 2011 and is expected to grow to $29.62 billion in 2018 with a CAGR of 8.9%. www.frost.com
Photo Stencil equips r&d
lab with Speedprint stencil printerPhoto Stencil, LLC, has added a Speedprint stencil printer to its R&D lab to further enhance process optimization for its stencil customers. The new SP700avi will be used for R&D to develop next generation stencil technology, to print customer boards, and to develop processes customized precisely for the customer’s application and process. The printer offers Photo Stencil flexibility because it works well in a high-mix, quick product set-up and changeover environ-ment. www.photostencil.com
centon electronics gets 4x productivity increaseCenton Electronics, an international designer, manufacturer, and supplier of memory upgrade products, has pur-chased two Sigma G4 Modular Mount-ers from the Production Systems Divi-sion (PSD) of Hitachi High Technologies America, Inc., for their increased produc-tion requirements. The Sigma G4 is an industrial high speed modular mounter featuring single-side operation and dual-lane processing capability. Available in both High Speed and Flexible High Speed configurations, the G4 can accommodate board sizes up to 610 x 381 mm or 610 x 216 mm per lane, in its dual lane con-figuration for higher volume throughput. www.hitachi-hta.com
lPKf expands ldS product management teamLaser direct structuring of three-dimen-
sional interconnect devices is an exam-ple of an important innovation that has developed from a niche technology to a technology driver. LPKF Laser & Elec-tronics is keeping abreast of its increased significance and sharing product manage-ment between several shoulders. Starting immediately, Sebastian Sparrer is respon-sible for the customer-oriented technical further development of these laser systems. Stephan Krause is new to the team. His role involves the coordination of techni-
cal product management, external partners and customer requirements. www.lpkf.com
deanne herman to manage Practical components’ international salesP r a c t i c a l C o m p o n e n t s Inc., pro-moted Deanne Herman to oversee the inter nat iona l sales desk in addition to her position as purchas-ing manager. In conjunction with her promotion, Deanne celebrates her seven-year anniversary with Prac-tical Components. For the past three years, she has excelled as the compa-ny’s purchasing manager, in addition to her other duties, which include build-ing and developing relationships with key suppliers and customers, tracking purchasing activity and measurements, forecasting procurement needs, and imple-menting procurement strategy and policies. www.practicalcomponents.com
Murrietta circuits recognized as a raytheon four Star Supplier Andrew Murrietta, CFO and co-owner of Murrietta Circuits, revealed recently that his company has been recognized by Raytheon Company’s Integrated Defense Systems as a Four Star Supplier during the annual 2012 Operational Excellence and Mission Assurance Supplier Conference, which was held Raytheon’s facility in Andover, Massachusetts. Raytheon’s Annual Supplier Awards program is a way to applaud suppliers who have provided outstanding service, and dedicated partnership. The award is based on certain criteria, including overall Quality, on-time delivery and commitment to continuous improvement. www.murrietta.com
element14 partnerships speed integrationelement14’s new wireless power microsite, launched in partnership with Texas Instru-ments, Würth Electronics and Cadsoft, helps accelerate the integration of wireless power solutions in applications
Continued on page 36
With more than 30 years’ experience setting the pace in stencil, screen and squeegee technologies, there is one clear leader...
and then there is everyone else.
Keep your business at the forefront...
Go with the leader!
Ask the experts! Contact us TODAY to schedule your free consultation to discuss your challenging printing application. Call: +1 719-599-4305 or email: [email protected]
www.photostencil.com
Sign up to receive our free Photo Stencil newsletter
10 – Global SMT & Packaging – November 2012 www.globalsmt.net
The modern approach to complex serialization
In the device programming industry, serial-ization is the process of writing unique data to each programmed device. It can be used to program basic numeric serial numbers to a single device address or more complex data such as MAC addresses, encryption keys, GUIDs and randomization seeds to several device addresses on each device.
Because of the unique nature of the serialization data, one of the major chal-lenges of device serialization is obtaining the correct data for each device. Any standard device programming software is readily able to program static data patterns into a device under test (DUT); however injecting the serialization data into the data pattern “on the fly” on a per device basis requires a more sophisticated approach.
For serialization applications that only require a single numeric serial number that is incremented for each device, the programming application itself can be the source of the serialization content. An operator can specify the starting serial number, the serial number address and other parameters to ensure that each device attains a unique serial number programmed at the correct device address.
This approach might suffice for the
simplest of serialization applications, but quickly breaks down when multiple unique pieces of data or non-numeric data must be programmed into each DUT. Complex serialization data is typically generated by proprietary customer algorithms or stored on third-party customer databases located on remote servers that cannot be embedded into the programming applica-tion. Security is often a concern as the seri-alization data could be sensitive intellectual property (IP) that must be encrypted to prevent unauthorized access and copying. For these reasons, there needs to be a mechanism whereby the device program-ming application can invoke an external customer-written application to obtain the serialization data for each programmed device in a secure and flexible way.
Traditional approachThe traditional approach to complex serial-ization has been to allow the programming application to invoke an external serializa-tion program (ESP) to obtain the serial-ization data required for each device. The ESP is a customer-written application that could potentially generate serial numbers algorithmically, communicate with remote
Device programming systems are a key resource in the electronics industry for writing customer-supplied data patterns such as Intel HEX, Motorola S-record, POF and other file formats into blank semiconductor devices. Traditionally a data pattern is loaded into the device programming software by an operator and is subsequently transferred into all devices during a programming session. This method quickly programs a large number of devices with identical data content and satisfies the requirements of the majority of programming applications. But what if each device required unique data?
Nader Shehad, BPM Microsystems, Houston, Texas, USA
The modern approach to complex serialization
BPWin ESP
DAT File
Hard Drive
Traditional Serialization
Invoke ESP with Command-LineArguements
Parse DAT File
Generic DAT File
The Global Assembly Journal for SMT and
Advanced Packaging Professionals
Volume 11 Number 1 January 2011
ISSN 1474 - 0893The Global Assembly Journal for SMT and
Advanced Packaging Professionals
Volume 11 Number 2 February 2011
ISSN 1474 - 0893
The AwArdS ISSue—
FINd ouT who woN! Mike Konrad
Interview Inside
www.globalsmt.net
5D solDer paste inspection • process
VAlIdATIoN ANd STANdArdS coMPlIANce
• Factors inFluencing QFn process
The Global Assembly Journal for SMT and
Advanced Packaging Professionals
Volume 11 Number 1 January 2011
ISSN 1474 - 0893The Global Assembly Journal for SMT and
Advanced Packaging Professionals
Volume 11 Number 1 January 2011
ISSN 1474 - 0893
Martin ZIehbrunner
Interview Inside
www.globalsmt.net
2011 milestones • ramp to volume • transferring recipes
from an eight-zone reflow oven • Qualifying first source/
second source • 2011: a single-digit growth year?
www.globalsmtindia.in
Volume 2 Number 1 Spring 2011
South East AsiaSouth East Asia
Covering India, Thailand, Malaysia,
Singapore, The Philippines and Hong Kong
www.globalsmtindia.in
SINgaPore’S HolISTIC
aPProaCH beNefITS
boTH CoNTraCT
MaNufaCTurerS aNd
oeMSParTS MaNageMeNT
How To INCreaSe ProduCTIoN aNd reduCe
CoSTS THrougH oPTIMIzed dyNaMIC
SCHedulINg
21ST CeNTury MaNufaCTurINg SofTware
SoluTIoNS
PS wong
Interview Inside
www.globalsmt.net
SMTSMT
The most highly regarded global assembly journal for SMT and advanced packaging professionals,
Global SMT & Packaging features solution-led technical articles, case studies, insightful columns, event
reports and much more. The print magazine comes out in fi ve editions: Europe, Americas, China, Korea
and South East Asia. We also have websites and newsletters for Mexico and Brazil. Start at
www.globalsmt.net
Volume 4 Number 1 January 2011
FabricatioN oF low cost Flexible solar cells usiNg solutioN-based coatiNg techNiqueshigh reliability oF coNductiVe adhesiVes For thiN-Film iNtercoNNects For ate testiNg
lightweight PV module materials For cost-eFFicieNcy aNd PerFormaNceted sullivan
interview inside
www.globalsolartechnology.com
the global Journal for solar and PV manufacturing Professionals
Tom FalconInterview Inside
www.globalsolartechnology.com
For Solar and PV Manufacturing Professionals
NEW PRODUCTS
INDUSTRY NEWS
INTERNATIONAL DIARY
Volume 1 Number 4 Winter 2010
For Solar and PV Manufacturing Professionals
Southeast Asia
Covering India, Thailand, Malaysia, Singapore, The Philippines and Hong Kong
Southeast Asia
Helping cost-competitive solar power materialize
smt cHallenges in alternative energyinsulation plays a critical role in solar panel manufacturing
Global Solar Technology’s three editions—international, China and South East Asia—bring the latest in solar/PV manufacturing processes, technologies and solutions to manufacturers around the world. Visit globalsolartechnology.com for daily news, back issues, and to subscribe.
Global LEDs/OLEDs is geared toward designers, specifi ers, assemblers and manufacturers incorporating LED and OLED technology into their products. The website, bringing you the latest news and technology every day, is online now: www.globalledoled.com
Global SMT & Packaging, Global Solar Technology and Global LEDs/OLEDs are published by Trafalgar Publications Ltd.Crown House, 72 Hammersmith Rd., London W14 8TH United Kingdom, +44 (0) 207 559 1467 / +1 (239) 245-9264 (USA)
Wherever you are......so are we
globalsmt_wherever_aug2012.indd 1 9/3/12 12:32 PM
12 – Global SMT & Packaging – November 2012 www.globalsmt.net
The modern approach to complex serialization
systems/databases, maintain a log of its operations, and have various user options to configure how it behaves. The program-ming application is not aware how the ESP generates the serialization data but only knows how to retrieve the data in a fixed, agreed-upon format. This approach allows the customer to change the details of how the serialization data is generated without making any changes to the programming application.
Because ESPs allow a standard programming application to obtain unique serialization data, they were readily adopted in the early days of device programming and soon became an essen-
tial part of the serialization process. At the time, only single-tasking PC oper-ating systems like DOS were in use, and the options of how to communicate with the ESP were limited. The ESP would be invoked by the programming application a single time for each serialized device. Command-line arguments passed to the ESP would specify a serial number handle and other context information to give the ESP knowledge of which device in the job was being serialized. Because ESPs are invoked and destroyed for each device operation, this context data gave the ESP useful information that it could potentially use to generate the next piece of serializa-tion data.
ESPs generate the serialization data in the form of an output file known as the serialization data file (or DAT file). In addition to the serial data itself, the file contains meta information indicating which addresses on the DUT should be serialized and in what format the serializa-tion data should be stored. After invoking the ESP, the programming application
parses the DAT file to load the serialization data to the appropriate device addresses prior to programming the device.
This technique has worked very well over the years, but given the modern requirements of security, concurrency, and an even greater need for flexibility, ESPs are becoming archaic. Serialization data, for instance, often contains sensitive IP, which can create a major security concern when using ESPs. The ESP stores this serializa-tion data as plain text in the DAT file, and any casual observer can potentially copy this file to gain access to this information.
The amount of context information that can be specified on the command line when invoking the ESP is also limited. The need may arise for additional context information that is unable to fit in a command line argument. Moreover, since the ESP is invoked and destroyed for each serial number, the ESP cannot store any state information in memory. It must rely on context information passed from the programming application or maintain its
own state information stored on disk or other non-volatile backing stored for each invocation. Some serialization applica-tions must also generate serial numbers in a multiple-step transactional process that requires reading data from the device, passing it to the ESP, taking data returned from the ESP and programming it into the device. This adds even more complexity and security vulnerabilities.
Invoking the ESP in the manner described above prevents concurrency as well. If two different client applications are invoking the same ESP simultaneously, the serialization data from the first invocation might get overwritten by the second before the programming application had a chance to read it. Unfortunately the traditional approach to complex serialization fails to conform to these real-world use cases.
Modern approachTo address the shortcomings of the ESP and leverage the capabilities of modern
Traditional (eSP) Modern (eSS)
Communication Fixed format. Command line argument inputs and plain text file output.
Security Serialization data is stored insecurely as plain text on the hard drive.
Serialization data is not stored on any non-volatile media and is encrypted along the communica-tion channel.
Concurrency Concurrent calls into the same eSP can overwrite serialization data.
each client has a dedicated com-munication channel with the eSS so no data loss can occur.
Context eSP must rely on external context information since it is invoked for each device opera-tion.
Can maintain internal state since eSS remains in memory until the end of the programming session.
Multiple Transactions
Not supported. Communication is one-way.
easily supported. allows rich protocols for making the eSS part of the programming process.
BPWin ESS
IPC
Modern Serialization
Request Serialization Data
Retrieve Data
Call Generic Function
Get Function Result
Comparison of traditional and modern approaches.
Injecting serialization data into the data pattern “on the fly” on a per device basis requires a more sophisticated approach
Global SMT & Packaging – November 2012– 13www.globalsmt.net
multi-tasking operating sys-tems, a new approach to com-plex serialization relies on an external serialization server (ESS). The ESS, like the ESP, is a standalone customer-written executable; however it is invoked a single time at the start of a programming job and remains in memory until the end of the programming session.
To obtain serialization data for the DUT, the programming application makes a call into the already running ESS by using encrypted inter-process communication techniques (IPC). The programming appli-cation can specify any arbitrary data to the ESS, including data read from the device. The ESS then returns serialization data to the programming application using the same IPC techniques obviating the need for writing sensitive IP data to the hard drive that must then be parsed by the programming applica-tion. Because the communica-tion channel between the ESS and the programming appli-cation is encrypted, sensitive IP is secure from copying or tampering. Thread safety is also achieved using IPC by allowing multiple clients to access the same ESS without overwriting each other’s data. Since each client has a dedicated commu-nication channel with the ESS, there are no shared DAT file resources that have to be managed.
An advanced form of ESS makes multiple transactions easy since the programming application can make several calls into the ESS at several points in the programming flow to give the ESS an opportunity to provide any arbitrary infor-mation. This includes informa-tion that is not traditionally referred to as serialization data. More importantly, a program-ming application supporting a known ESS communication protocol allows a third-party ESS to have intimate knowl-edge of and involvement with the programming process itself. In addition to providing seri-
alization data, it can monitor the progress of certain device-specific operations or provide several pieces of information at different points in the program flow on an as-needed basis. The ESS essentially becomes part of the programming algorithm and can provide as much or as little input as the programming process warrants.
conclusionSerialization is a difficult chal-lenge in the device program-ming industry. The novel approach of using an exter-nal application to manage the unique customer-specific aspects of serialization has gone a long way to make seri-alization manageable and reli-able; however there are many issues related to security, con-currency and flexibility that remain unaddressed with the traditional ESP model. The ESS model builds on the success of the traditional ESP approach and modernizes it to address ever-growing custom applica-tion needs while providing a secure framework to protect customer intellectual property.
For more information, con-tact Nader Shehad, Software Engineering Manager, at BPM Microsystems, 5373 West Sam Houston Pkwy N. Ste. 250; Houston, Texas 77041; 713 688 4600; Web site: www.bpmmicro.com.
14 – Global SMT & Packaging – November 2012 www.globalsmt.net
Change is coming to the cleaning industry…again!
For those of us “experienced” enough to remember those good-old days, changing from a solvent-cleaning process that was working to an unknown aqueous-based process was a royal pain. It’s bad enough to research a cleaning process when you need one, but to have the government take away a perfectly good process just because Ant-arctica may get a little too much UV light through a newly discovered ozone hole was tough to bare.1
Well, get ready, because change is coming once again! The Ozone Transport Commission (OTC), an organization of states in the Northeast/Mid-Atlantic region created under the Federal Clean Air Act, is charged with achieving better air quality, in part by decreasing volatile organic compounds (VOCs). OTC has put together a Model Rule for Solvent Degreasing that can be adopted or adapted by individual states. Before you say, “I don’t work in that region, so it won’t affect me,” or “Who cares? I don’t use solvents; I use water-based cleaning,” think again. The EPA cannot mandate specific rules for individual states. However, it has deemed that more areas throughout the U.S. do not have acceptable air quality. This prompts a geographically encompassing chain reaction that is likely to result in lower allowable emissions of VOCs in many areas. 2
The following is an excerpt directly related to cleaning post-solder flux and raw solder paste:
(3)Cleaning solution used to clean post-solder printed circuit boards (PCB’s) as well as critical adjunct processes, including the cleaning of raw solder paste and adhesives from hard surfaces, such as stencils and misprinted boards during the printing process, and baked on fluxes (polymerized fluxes) from reflow and wave solder oven components, such as conveyor fingers and condensation traps, may contain no more than 150 grams VOC per liter of solution and must follow all other provi-sions of this rule.
(A) A cleaning solution greater than 150 g/l VOC content may be
used for PCB cleaning described in 3.0 (a)(3) of this rule if an approved VOC emissions capture and control device is used that will control air emissions to no more than would be experienced if the cleaning solution were 150 g/l VOC in absence of the capture/control device. In determining VOC air emissions from cleaning solutions used in this regulation with VOC contents of 150 g/l or less, it shall be assumed all the VOC is lost through air emissions at some point in the process or in later recovery or disposal steps, even if those steps occur at another location.
The complete Model Rule may be viewed at http://otcair.org/upload/Docu-ments/Model%20Rules/2011%20OTC%20Model%20Rule%20for%20Solvent%20Degreasing.pdf.
The rule contains language nearly iden-tical to that found in the South Coast Air Quality Management District (SCAQMD) Rule 1122 in Southern California. The Rule also takes cues from the Santa Barbara Air Pollution Control District. The VOC limit in the Model Rule is 25 g/L. If a company wanted to use higher VOC limits, “airless” cleaning systems would be required. This will have a tremendous impact on cleaning boards, stencils, screens and pallets in the PCB assembly industry as all cleaning chemicals currently used contain VOCs (except 440-R® SMT Detergent by Smart Sonic Corporation, which is VOC-free). Even chemicals described as “water- based” contain elevated amounts of VOC solvents
Cleaning is once again the focus of government regulation. The last big change in cleaning came in 1995 as a result of the Montreal Protocol, which eliminated the use of chlorofluorocarbon solvents (CFCs) for cleaning everything from PCBs to the aircraft engines. For the PCB industry, the elimination of CFC solvents spurred the introduction of water-washable and no-clean solder pastes and the switch from spraying Freon and 111-trichloroethylene to the use of saponifiers and IPA to clean boards, stencils, pallets and related tooling.
Bill Schreiber, Smart Sonic, Canoga Park, California, USA
change is coming to the cleaning industry…again!
Global SMT & Packaging – November 2012– 15www.globalsmt.net
Change is coming to the cleaning industry…again!
and are targets of the OTC Model Rule. MSDS regulations do not require disclo-sure of VOC content so users should obtain a written statement from their chemical provider disclosing VOC content of any cleaning chemical in use, as the new rule may encourage manufacturers to avoid VOC disclosure.
Smart Sonic’s 440-R SMT Deter-gent (www.SmartSonic.com) is the only VOC-free chemistry used for cleaning SMT stencils. All other chemistries are either solvents or miscible solvents (solvents mixed with water to give the appearance of a “water-based” chemistry). Many solvents naturally mix or suspend into water. One German-based company has even coined a product line name after this naturally occurring phenomenon. Terms such as
“water-based”, “environmentally safe”, “low VOCs”, etc., are not regulated, and many chemical manufacturers use these terms in an attempt to bolster a product’s image.
Solvents, such as isopropyl alcohol (IPA), are 100% VOC. However, IPA can be mixed with water to reduce the VOC total content and then be referred to as a “water-based” chemistry. Unfortunately, dilution is not the solution to pollution. If the MSDS or Technical Data of a product does not disclose VOC information, the user should beware. If a product is VOC-free or truly “low VOC” the manufacturer would likely want to advertise this fact. If a product contains elevated levels of VOCs; the manufacturer may want to avoid the fact.
Many state and federal regulating agencies are notorious for giving short
notice. The prudent assembler would be wise to take a proactive approach to the inevitable change that is coming and begin the selection process sooner rather than later for a cleaning chemical to replace the VOC chemicals targeted by the OTC.
references:1. Bill Schreiber, “From Maintenance to
Precision: The Value of a Stencil Clean-ing Handbook”, IPC Review, Vol. 48, No. 4: May 2007.
2. Barbara Kanegsberg, “OTC Model Rule and Critical Cleaning,” BFK Solutions Newsletter, October 2011, http://www.bfksolutions.com/index.php/newsletter/archived-newsletters/141-otc-progress-productive-manufacturing-and-better-air-quality
Y.CheetahExperience brilliance
Please contact our salesorganization:YXLON International GmbHEssener Bogen 1522419 Hamburg, GermanyPhone +49 40 527 29 -101or visit us atwww.yxlon.com
n Secure your findings with brilliant x-ray images
n Any task in your daily routine solved quickly
n 1-click solutions
Technology with Passion
Please visit us at
electronica 2012
November, 13 – 16, 2012
Hall A1, Stand 260
AZ_Cheetah_178x164_En-rz.indd 1 24.10.12 16:55
16 – Global SMT & Packaging – November 2012 www.globalsmt.net
The upside of flip chip
To electrically connect an integrated circuit (IC) die to a leadframe or substrate within its package, known
as first-level interconnection, the die are generally connected either by wire bond or flip chip. Wire bonded devices have their land pads on the peripheral edges and sit face up to expose the land pads, to allow for a wired connection to the leadframe or substrate on which it sits to carry the elec-trical signal.
Flip chip “flips” the die face (or active side) down so that the circuitry faces the substrate. This requires putting bumps on the pads to make the electrical connectivity points protrude from the face of the chip. The bumps then carry the electrical signal in lieu of wire bonds. Alternatives to single bumps are a double-bump structure or copper columns or pillars. These elongated structures allow for swaying with surges of electrical current, reducing the chances of a connection breaking out in the field. Generally, flip chip devices are underfilled to secure the die to the substrate, an addi-tional time-consuming step that adds cost to the packaging process.
Flip chip is almost always performed on packages with substrates, although a few designs utilize leadframes. The die does not have to be face down with leadframe designs; the leadframe can be designed to reach over the top of the die in a face-up position for interconnection, as is the case with Carsem’s FCOL. This maintains
the face-up position away from the PCB, preventing cross talk with the PCB, which is important with RF chips.
So why go this route? What is the appeal of flip chip?Because the entire face of the die is avail-able for electrical connections, a higher number of I/O (input/output) signals can
“Superior electrical performance can be achieved due to the shorter electrical length and fewer parasitics.”
Sandra Winkler, senior industry analyst, New Venture Research (newventureresearch.com)
Figure 1. Percentage of flip chip by I/O count range, 2011 vs. 2016
2011 2016
43.7%
18.6%
25.3%
5.1% 7.3%
04-‐18 20-‐32 34-‐100 104-‐304 308+
41.7%
18.6%
25.9%
6.3% 7.5%
04-‐18 20-‐32 34-‐100 104-‐304 308+
41.7%
18.6%
25.9%
6.3% 7.5%
04-‐18 20-‐32 34-‐100 104-‐304 308+
I/O Count Range
Figure 2. Percentage of total worldwide IC market by I/O count range, 2011 vs. 2016
Special Feature—
Global SMT & Packaging – November 2012– 17www.globalsmt.net
The upside of flip chip
fit in a smaller footprint. Superior electri-cal performance can also be achieved due to the shorter electrical length and fewer parasitics.
The use of flip chip becomes manda-tory on any die with an I/O count so high that the pads cannot fit around the die perimeter. Though this number is die specific, it almost certainly applies at I/O counts above 700. Due to the shorter inter-connection length, flip chip also has lower signal transmission losses relative to wire bonding. High clock speeds and increasing functionality of the chip drive the need for higher I/O counts and faster package performance than is obtained through wire bonding. Most microprocessors switch to flip chip when their clock speeds reach 400 MHz.
Flip chip is also used for some high-frequency RF devices. RF signals require the electron to follow the straightest path possible, as turns in the signal path only slow the electron down. Flip chip offers the straightest path possible, whereas wire bonding takes the electron on a longer, more bent path.
In which devices is flip chip utilized?Devices that utilize flip chip include:
MPU MCU 32-bit
DSPGate Array
Standard Cell and PLDSpecial-Purpose (SP) Logic—Consumer
SP Logic—ComputerSP Logic—Communications
SP Logic—AutoSP Logic—Other
DRAMSRAMFlash
Communications AnalogComputer Analog
Package types and their I/O count ranges that currently house flip chip devices include:
While flip chip can be utilized on a number of I/O count ranges, it tends to be centered at the higher range of 308+ I/Os for MPUs, or in the 34–100 I/O range for memory and special-purpose logic chips. Flip chip offers higher performance, at a cost, and these higher I/O and higher performance devices justify this expense. Figure 1 displays the I/O percentage break-down for the years 2011 and 2016.
This compares with the I/O distribution of the total worldwide IC market, given in Figure 2. One can see that the lower end of the market is largely wire bonded.
Given its high performance and the demand for high speed and high band-width, flip chip is expanding at a solid growth rate. The compound annual growth rate (CAGR) for flip chip versus wire bonding is shown in Table 1 for the years 2011 through 2016.
Flip chip is still small as an overall percentage of the total worldwide IC unit output, but it is a growing percentage, as seen in Figure 3.
Flip chip on board is a small percentage of the FCOB and TAB figures. The commonality here is that both FCOB and
TAB require bumping for interconnection to take place, just the same as for flip chip in package.
flip chip’s futureFlip chip has grown beyond just a niche market to respectable numbers, and will continue to see growth going forward.
More information on this topic and more can be found in New Venture Research’s Advanced IC Packaging Mar-kets, Materials, and Technologies, 2012 Edition.is growing, but given the expense and time of moving to this interconnection style, it will never replace wire bonding in the majority of cases.
Sandra Winkler is the senior analyst for IC packaging at New Venture Research Corp (formerly Electronic Trend Publications). She began her analyst career as an indepen-dent consultant to the telecommunications industry nearly 20 years ago.
Since 1995, Ms. Winkler has authored all of ETP/NVR widely cited reports on IC packaging. She has spoken at numerous industry conferences and is a contributing editor for Chip Scale Review magazine.
cAGr
Flip Chip in Package revenue 11.8%
Flip Chip in Package units 12.6%
wire bond in Package revenue 8.6%
wire bond in Package units 6.7%
Table 1. Flip chip vs. wire bonding CAGR, 2011–2016
2011 2016
82.9%
4.8%
2.8% 4.5% 4.9%
Wire Bonded IC Package Units Flip Chip IC in Package Units
Wire Bonded DCA Flip Chip DCA and TAB
WLP
80.0%
7.2%
2.2% 4.4% 6.2%
Wire Bonded IC Package Units Flip Chip IC in Package Units
Wire Bonded DCA Flip Chip DCA and TAB
WLP
82.9%
4.8%
2.8% 4.5% 4.9%
Wire Bonded IC Package Units Flip Chip IC in Package Units
Wire Bonded DCA Flip Chip DCA and TAB
WLP
Figure 3. Total interconnection, 2011 vs. 2016
18 – Global SMT & Packaging – November 2012 www.globalsmt.net
Copper is moving inside your printed circuit board
Okay, yes, copper is supposed to be in your printed circuit board (PCB). Without copper, your PCB
would simply be a fiberglass sheet with holes in it (not a very effective raft, by the way). But copper is only effective if it stays put.
The unintended (when is it ever inten-tional?) movement of copper within a printed circuit board actually has a name: conductive anodic filament (CAF) formation. IPC, at least IPC-9691, likes a slightly more complex definition: “A growth consisting of a conductive copper-containing salt. It is created electrochemi-cally and grows from the anode toward the cathode subsurface along the epoxy/glass interface.” Like I said, copper moving in a PCB.
First identified almost forty years ago by Lando at Bell Labs (“Conductive Anodic Filaments in Reinforced Poly-meric Dielectrics: Formation and Preven-tion”), CAF has been befuddling designers and manufacturers of PCBs through its intermittent nature and ability to mask its presence through massive carbonization (i.e., burning). And it takes good design
and good suppliers to prevent CAF in the first place.
When it comes to good design for CAF, we tend to ignore line to line and line to plane because they are relatively low risk and are uncommon failure sites for field failures due to CAF. This is because the material stackup of a nominal laminate/prepreg and an optimized pressing process tends to prevent the glass fiber weave from coming into contact with the copper foil (‘nesting’). Since the glass fiber weave is the site for CAF events, either through triple points, fiber/resin interface, or hollow fibers, the absence of this intersection makes the probability of a CAF event highly unlikely. The possibility of nesting increases as the dielectric spacing decreases below 3 mil (75 microns), which tends to necessitate a single-ply structure, as the copper foil increases above 3 ounces (105 microns).
The more important design feature is the distance between drilled plated through holes (PTHs), often called wall-to-wall or edge-to-edge. The risk of CAF much higher here because • Damage induced during drilling tends
to create migration paths along the
fiber/resin interface• Plating chemistry can wick into the
fiber/resin interface and accelerate CAF formation
• A larger area of copper is exposed to the glass fiber weave
Given these concerns, the electronics industry pays close attention to wall-to-wall spacings to reduce the risk of CAF events. The current industry standard for conservative designs (automotive, telecom, avionics, etc.) is a minimum wall-to-wall spacing based upon a fine-pitch ball grid array with 0.75 or 0.8 mm pitch and a 10 mil or 12 mil drill hole. Worst case, 0.75 mm (30 mil) pitch with 12 mil drill diameter, results in a wall-to-wall spacing of 18 mil (0.45 mm). More aggressive designs (i.e., consumer) can get down to 12 mil spacings (even 10 mil on rare occasions). However, spacings less than the knuckle-to-knuckle distance on the glass weave are not recom-mended.
An additional concern is wall-to-plane spacing. While the number of opportuni-ties is lower, as the total cross-sectional area is smaller, the spacings can be smaller than wall-to-wall and the stress-states can be higher due to differences in the coefficient of thermal expansion between the copper and resin-rich areas of the material stackup.
While absolute minimum spacings are important, relative spacings based upon the applied voltage are also sometimes taken into account by layout personnel. The electric field requirements are typi-cally driven by safety agencies and compo-nent design and capability. The conserva-tive design requirements mandated by safety agencies tend to limit their use to only those companies need certification. Component designs can be separated into digital and power/analog devices.
For digital devices, the finest pitch tends to be on plastic quad flat packs (PQFPs) and chip scale packages (CSPs). A TQFP128 from NXP proscribes spacing between lands of 0.16 mm . A similar spacing can be found with 0.5 mm pitch CSPs. With a maximum voltage of 5 VDC and a more typical voltage of 3.3V to 2.5V
copper is moving inside your printed
circuit board Craig Hillman
Global SMT & Packaging – November 2012– 19www.globalsmt.net
Copper is moving inside your printed circuit board
for today’s silicon technology, this creates an electric field of 15 to 30 V/mm.
For power/analog devices, the highest electric fields for traditional packages can be found on the SOT-23 package. The spacing between the copper bond pads under the SOT-23 is approximately 1.3 mm. The highest voltage found in a SOT-23 is typically 50 V DC , though there are a few products that are rated above 100VDC . Given the commonality of the 50V rating for SOT-23 and the tendency to derate for power/analog components, an appropriate electric field would be approximately 50 V/mm.
The more recent introduction of quad flat pack no-lead (QFN) has, unknowingly, radically changed the paradigm of electric field strength as they bring the pitch of digital components with the voltage levels of power components. One example is LTC4260 from Linear. The output voltages (GPIO), which can be as high as 100 V, are adjacent the supply voltage (INTVcc), which would be no higher than 6.2V. This 94 V differential, across a 0.25 mm spacing (0.5 mm pitch and 0.25 mm wide pads), results in an electric field of 376 V/mm (impressive, isn’t it?). What is even more surprising is that this configuration does not seem to be in violation of IPC-2221 Generic Standard on Printed Board Design. This industry standard allows internal conductors, such as plated through holes, with up to 100V differential, to be as close as 0.1 mm (1000 V/mm!!).
Okay, so step one would seem to be ignore IPC documents (I’m just kidding). Step two is that companies must institute some kind of design check to prevent these kind of design flaws from driving either test or field failures. A good methodology for implementing a design check would consist of• Starting with the industry standard
of either 18 or 20 mil wall-to-wall spacings
• Allow for a reduction if risk mitigation procedures are implemented. These would consist of use of CAF-resistant laminate, CAF qualification testing on some periodic basis (new supplier, new product, new lot), etc.
• Identify all PTH pairs at risk (below the industry standard spacing) and quantify based on spacing and degree of overlap and electric field strength
• Develop a grading system, say 1 to 10, based on all the inputs above to allow for a more managed discussion on the potential risks
Once this design check is fully imple-mented, sit back, relax, and start to worry about the manufacturing side of CAF (DOOH!).
Craig Hillman is CEO and Managing Member for DfR Solutions. Dr. Hillman’s specialties include best practices in Design for Reliability (DfR), Pb-Free strategies for transitioning to Pb-free, supplier qualifica-tion (commodity and engineered products), passive component technology (capacitors, resistors, etc.), and printed board failure
mechanisms. Dr. Hillman has over 40 Publi-cations and has presented on a wide variety of reliability issues to over 250 companies and organizations.
Global SMT & Packaging – September 2012 – 45www.globalsmt.net
SMTA International 2012
Vitronics Soltec 6746 is a selective solder-ing automation work cell that has been optimized for maximum throughput and fl exibility, while minimizing its footprint in the factory. It features an inline design that provides parallel processing for fast cycle times, and intuitive program-ming features enhance the automation capacity of the work cell. � e small size of the 6746 allows it to be easily recon-fi gured into a new production cell or line when changing demands require it. www.vitronics-soltec.com
ZESTRON—Booth 311
ZESTRON will feature its latest cleaning agents, HYDRON® WS 325 and VIGON® N 600. Powered by FAST® Technology, HYDRON® WS 325 is specifi cally designed for water-soluble (OA) defl uxing spray-in-air inline and batch cleaning applications. VIGON® N 600 is a revolutionary pH-neutral MPC® Technology based cleaning agent specifi cally developed for various spray-in-air inline and batch defl uxing applications. To have your cleaning ques-tions answered by accredited ZESTRON engineer Umut Tosun at the Doctor’s Hours or to learn more about ZESTRON’s com-plete line of products, stop by the booth. www.zestron.com
Don’t miss Doctors’ HoursSMTA International’s Doctor’s Hours Program provides solutions and guidance from high-level experts at no-charge to SMTA International attendees. Experts will be in exhibitor booths on the show fl oor at designated times for consultations, to answer questions and solve problems that attendees are currently experiencing. View the full schedule of doctors’ hours at www.smta.org/smtai/drs_hours.cfm or check your Show Directory when you arrive at the event.
Global Technology AwardsPresenting the year’s Best of the Best in electronics manufacturing. � e 2011-2012 Global Technology Awards awards ceremony will be held at SMTA International on Tuesday, October 16th in the Show Floor � eater. http://awards.globalsmt.net
THEREARENOSHORTCUTSTOA5-MILDOTSmall, repeatable volumes area challenge. But not impossibleif you have been creating them aslong as we have. However, to doit well, you need three things:
Dispensing Expertisein a variety of applications:micro-attach, precision fill,highly-repeatable patterns;
Feasibility Testing andprocess verification based on yearsof product engineering, material flowtesting, and software control;
Product Development for patented valves,dispensing cartridges, needles, and accessories.
For Micro Dispensing, there is oneproduct line that is proven and trustedby manufacturers in semiconductorpackaging, electronics assembly,medical device, and electro-mechanicalassembly the world over.
R
www.dltechnology.comDL Technology is a registered trademark of DL Technology LLC. DispenseLink is a registered trademark of DL Technology LLC.HY-FLO is a trademark of DL Technology LLC.
DispenseLink® for MicroVolume Dispensing
Micro Valve
HY-FLO™ Valvewith Thermal Controls
DL Trade Ad 4_9:Layout 1 5/1/09 3:49 PM Page 1
12.9_us.indd 45 9/16/12 11:53 AM
20 – Global SMT & Packaging – November 2012 www.globalsmt.net
Global electronic market data
New electronic supply chain market data and forecasts have recently been released.
World PCB marketThe N. America-based trade organization IPC (www.ipc.org) recently released its estimate of global printed circuit board production for 2011. Chart 1 summarizes IPC’s findings. Its detailed 48-page report “World PCB Production Report for the Year 2011” is available to IPC members. Contact Ms. Sharon Starr ([email protected]) for more details.
Global electronic supply chain marketElectronic Outlook Corporation just released its 2012 Electronic Industry Out-look study.
Topics include global & individual country historical data and forecasts for:
– Electronic equipment production by type
– Semiconductors
– Passive components – Printed wiring boards
Also included: – U.S. economic forecast – World economic outlook – Detailed databases
Here are a few “summary” charts based upon data from this new EIO report:
– World electronic equipment by type for 2012 (Chart 2)
– World electronic equipment pro-duction by region (Chart 3)
– Electronic equipment production by type, 2009-2016 (Chart 4)
For details on obtaining the approximately 400 page EIO 2012 report contact Ed Hen-derson ([email protected]) or visit www.hendersonventures.com.
Monthly electronic equipment shipmentsChart 5 provides Custer Consulting Group’s assessment of world electronic equipment
shipments based upon regional data from the USA, Europe, Japan and Taiwan/China. Note that September 2012 was down 5% compared to the same month last year.
GDP & electronic equipment growth by region (2010-2014)Thanks to Ed Henderson Charts 6 and 7 provide his recent forecasts for annual regional GDP and electronic equipment growth through 2014.
Custer speaking November 13-16 at electronica, MunichWalt will be speaking each day in the PCB Market Place in Hall C1 at the electronica trade show in Munich, Germany. The topic will be “Business Outlook, Global Electron-ics Industry.” For the times of Walt’s daily presentation visit EIPC stand 435 in Hall C1 or call Walt that week at +1 707 843-0440. If you can’t attend, e-mail [email protected] for a copy of his charts.
end marketsGerman IT association raised 2012 sales forecast by 2.8% to 152 billion euros ($199 billion) on increased demand for tablet computers and smartphones.Computers & peripherals• Worldwide PC shipments declined
8.3% y/y to 87.5 million units in 3Q’12.—Gartner
• Global notebook shipments declined 4.5% q/q and 11.6% y/y to 48 million units in 3Q’12.—Digitimes Research
• Global notebook shipments will slip 0.8% y/y to 194 million units in 2012 and then increase 5.9% y/y to 205 mil-lion units in 2013.—MIC
• Ultrabooks shipments will reach 10.3 million units in 2012 with more than half of shipments occurring in 2H’12.—IHS
• Ultra-slim PC shipments will grow from 3.4 million in 2011 to 65.0 million by 2015.—NPD DisplaySearch
• Internet connected devices will reach 9.6 billion devices in 2012.—IMS Research
Walt Custer and Jon Custer-Topai
Global electronic market data
(And Walt Speaks at electronica)
2011 World Rigid & Flex PCB Production by Geographical Area
IPC 9/2012
N America
Europe
Japan
China/HK
Taiwan
S Korea
Rest of Asia
ROW
5.5%5.1%
16.0%
43.1%
12.2%11.5%
6.1%0.5%
Total: $59.1 Billion
20110914
(US$ M @ Average 2011 Exchange)
Chart 1.
Global SMT & Packaging – November 2012– 21www.globalsmt.net
Global electronic market data
• Smart connected device shipments increased 27.4% y/y and 2.8% q/q to 267.3 million units in 2Q’12.—IDC
Mobile communication• World had 6 billion cell phone sub-
scribers and 2.3 billion internet users at end of 2011.—International Telecom-munication Union
• Worldwide smartphone population reached 1.038 billion in 3Q’12.—Strat-egy Analytics
Consumer electronics• Global consumer electronics market
revenues will expand 1.3% to US$361 billion in 2012.—IHS iSuppli
• Overall holiday spending is expected to increase 11% y/y in 2012, with spend-ing on consumer electronics gifts increasing to average of $252.—CEA
• Wearable technology devices ship-ments are expected to grow from 14 million in 2011 to 92.5 million units by 2016.—IMS Research
eMS & assemblyWorld EMS market is projected to grow 9.4% globally and 8.9% in North America in 2012.—New Venture ResearchGlobal EMS market revenue is expected to rise 4% y/y to US$ 217 billion in 2012.—MP Corporate FinanceEuropean EMS revenues are expected to decline by 2% in 2012 to Euro 26.0 bil-lion.—Reed Electronics ResearchAPI Technologies received a $2.4 million order from a prime defense contractor for electronic solutions for EW Systems.Artaflex director Shmulik Vlodinger resigned from its board.Benchmark Electronics was selected by Mutualink for global communications sys-tems.CG’s electronics warehouse and assembly plant in Satungal, Nepal was gutted by fire.
Cicor Group received a long-term aero-space contract from HS Elektronik Sys-teme.Colonial Electronic Manufacturers attained ITAR registration.Creation Technologies purchased Ais-ling Industries of Mexicali, Mexico and El Centro, California.DB Schenker Logistics opened a 12,600 M2 logistics center in Guadalajara, Mexico.Dorigo celebrated its 25 years in the EMS arena with launch of new website.Elektrometal added Essemtec’s CSM7100 flexible SMD pick & place equipment.Enics opened second factory in Suzhou, China.EPR Technopower purchased a complete new production line from Mydata.
Flextronics’ Shanghai factory had 6,000 workers go on strike over the relocation of its factory to Suzhou.Foxconn International Holdings asked component suppliers to extend payment time after delivery to 120 days.General Dynamics received a $250 million infantry radio order from the Pentagon.Harris received a $15 million mission-crit-ical communication system order from a Latin American nation.Jabil promoted COO Mark Mondello to CEO and Timothy Main to chairman.Kimball Electronics Group received a PCBA contract for medical arthroscopy devices from ConMed Linvatec.Kitron received a NOK 350-400 million (47-54 million euros) medical equipment
World Electronic Equipment by Region 2012@ 2011 Exchange Rates
Electronic Outlook10/12
N America
W Europe
Japan
Rest of Asia
ROW
18.7%
14.9%
6.2%
52.1%
8.3%
Total Production: $2,172 Billion
FinalAssembly
20111006
Chart 2.
World Electronic Equipment Production by Type2009-2016
Electronic Outlook Corp 10/12
20121013
BUSINESS
COMMUNICATION
CONSUMER
AUTO COMPUTER
GOVMILITARY
INDUSTRIAL
INSTRUMENT
1.6%27.5%
13.1%
7.0% 25.0%
8.7%
8.7%
8.4%
Electronic Outlook 10/12
20121013
World Electronic Equipment by Type 2012
$2,172 Billion @ 2011 exchange
Chart 3. Chart 4.
22 – Global SMT & Packaging – November 2012 www.globalsmt.net
Global electronic market data
manufacturing contract.KOR Electronics obtained a $58M DRFM Jammer contract from the US Navy.Limtronik added an OptiCon Advanced-Line AOI system from GOEPEL electronic.NBS appointed Andrew Dalisa VP of Operations.Rommtech purchased Viscom’s combined AOI/AXI X7056 test system.Samsung Electronics • will merge with SEHF Korea on
December 1, 2012. • is investing $700 million to build
second handset plant in Thai Nguyen, Vietnam.
Scanfil EMS received a slot machine assembly and proto series manufactur-ing contract from Finland’s Slot Machine Association.Simclar’s North American contract elec-tronic manufacturing assets were acquired by Balmoral Funds and renamed Concur-rent Manufacturing Solutions.SMTC appointed Larry Silber and Claude Germain to its Board of Directors.Solid Semecs opened a 7,000 M2 “Green-field” manufacturing facility in Vráble, Slo-vakia.
PcB fabricationChinese consumer electronics PCB shops are operating at below 60-70% of their production capacity while automotive, cellphone (particularly smartphone) and tablet PCBs are operating at 85-90% load-ing.—Dr. Hayao NakaharaGlobal PCB industry grew 2.4% to more than $59 billion in 2011.—IPC World PCB Production ReportTaiwan PCB makers had “relatively good Q3”, but orders/shipments are expected to deteriorate in Q4.—Dr. Hayao NakaharaAdvanced Printed Circuit Board restored
production capacity to 500,000 SF of PCBs/month for its subsidiary in Ayut-thaya, northwest Thailand.Apex Circuit International plans to invest THB5 billion (US$163.2 million) in its new plant in Thailand.AT&S HQ in Leoben-Hinterberg received EN9100/AS9100 aerospace certification.Atotech & Saarland University developed a self-repairing process to stop wear on tita-nium parts during electroplating process.Axis Electronics invested in two Cyber-optics 3D solder paste inspection SE500 machines.CSI Sud-Ouest added a Rena etch line, Posalux Mono drilling machine, All 4 PCB spray coating line and a Schmoll x-ray drilling machine.
Electrotek received AS9100C certification.Endicott Interconnect Technologies named Raj Rai, CTO.Fujikura is building FPCB plants in Thai-land and Vietnam.HEI • received Zeta® certification. • began producing circuit boards using
Integral’s dielectric films at its Tempe, Arizona.
IPC appointed Jasbir Bath Principal Engi-neer.KCE Electronics’ Lad Krabang indus-trial estate was flooded after a dyke was breached.MFLEX appointed Benjamin Duster IV and Roy Tan to its Board of Directors as non-independent directors.
Global SMT & Packaging – November 2012– 23www.globalsmt.net
Global electronic market data
NCAB Group acquired P. D. Circuits.Photo Stencil added a Speedprint stencil printer in Colorado Springs, Colorado.Spirit Circuits • achieved UL certification for metal
base PCBs.• won three year contract to supply for
LED Lighting Solutions of Southport.Stevenage Circuits UK installed ten addi-tional plating cells. Viasystems achieved TS16949 certification at its Toronto, Canada facility.Würth Elektronik introduced WEdirekt online shop.
Materials & process equipmentConductive inks and pastes, new transpar-ent conductive films, and semiconductor inks will grow the market for printed elec-tronics materials to $2.6 billion in 2017.—Lux Research• Opaque conductive inks will grow
from $1.4 billion in 2012 to $2.4 billion in 2017 with medical and RFID among the fastest-growing segments.
• Transparent conductive films will grow to $705 million in 2017 led by smart-phone touchscreens.
• Printed semiconductors to reach $68 million in 2017 driven by solution-processed OLED emissive materials.
U.S. flame retardants demand is expected to grow 4.6% y/y to 938 million pounds in 2016.—Reportlinker3M restructured into five major business groups, down from six; appointed Execu-tive VP, Mike Kelly to lead the new elec-tronics and energy group.ACD promoted Pamela Rieter to Major Accounts Manager.Agilent signed Constant Wave as Solutions Partner.AIM Metals & Alloys began offering SN100C lead-free bar solder globally.Alpha appointed Krayden its new Channel Partner in North AmericaAssembléon named Tom Tallcott its U.S. Western Regional Sales Manager for Washington, Oregon, California, Northern Idaho and Nevada.Atotech • entered electroless plating collabo-
ration with Semsysco for Xenolyte Chemistry and GALAXY Platform.
• introduced its new electroless copper process Ecoganth.
Cogiscan opened a new facility in Bro-mont, Quebec.DIC Global developed heat resistant hard-ener “EXB-9000 SERIES” for epoxy resins.Enthone appointed Chris Klok as Euro-pean Market Manager, OEM and PCB Fin-
ishes and Jim Hartzell as Director, OEM Marketing—Enthone Americas.I.S.T developed technology for mass-pro-ducing two versions of this polyimide film with different levels of transparency and heat resistance.Insulectro introduced a new PCB drill entry product BULLSEYE® BLU.Juki named HIN A/S, Nordic SMT its rep-resentative for Denmark.Kodak • ended health-care and survivor-ben-
efits program, resolving a $1.2 billion retiree-benefits liability.
• entered discussions with various credi-tor groups on a reorganization plan to emerge from bankruptcy protection.
Kyocera commercialized FFC connector series “6823” with 0.4 mm pitch and 0.62 mm height for terminations of high-den-sity flexible circuits.MicroCoat Technologies established sales representatives for 17 European countries through APR Technologies sales offices.MSC-Polymer appointed Martin Weide CEO.Omron Electronic Components Europe appointed Daniel Janssen as Senior Sales Manager for Central Europe, Benelux and Emerging Markets.Showa Denko developed a printable silver nanowire ink for the manufacture of elec-tronic devices jointly with Osaka Univer-sity.Sony Chemicals changed name to Dexeri-als Corporation.Sun Chemical’s plant in East Rutherford, New Jersey had an explosion that injured seven.Super Dry opened its factory extension in The Netherlands.
SemiconductorCommunications IC market is projected to grow 9.2% y/y in 2012 to US$90 bil-lion.—IC InsightsElectronic Design Automation indus-try revenue increased 10.8% in 2Q12 to $1593.0 million; PCB & MCM revenue decreased 2.7% y/y to $141.0 million.—EDA ConsortiumMobile DRAM revenues hit record high of US$1.85 billion in 2Q12 driven by increased bit shipments and relatively steady pricing.—IHS iSuppliMobile handset IC market is expected to grow 11% y/y to $35.7 billion in 2012.—ABI ResearchNorth American semiconductor equip-ment industry posted September 2012 Book-to-Bill Ratio of 0.81 ($952.9 million in orders and $952.9 million in booking
based on three month average).—SEMISemiconductor materials market is pro-jected to grow from $48.59 billion in 2012 to $50.7 billion in 2013. – SEMIWorldwide wafer fab equipment expen-diture is expected to drop 13.3% y/y to US$31.4 billion in 2012.—GartnerSilicon wafer shipments are expected to grow 1% y/y to 8,901 millions of square inches in 2012 to 9,400 millions of square inches in 2013.—SEMITaiwan’s semiconductor industry is fore-cast to expand 6% to NT$1.64 trillion (US$56.16 billion) in 2013.—MIC
Walt Custer is an independent consultant who monitors and offers a daily news service and market reports on the PCB and assembly automation and semiconductor industries. He can be contacted at [email protected] or visit www.custerconsulting.com.
Jon Custer-Topai is vice president of Custer Consulting Group and responsible for the corporation’s market research and news analysis activities. Jon is a member of the IPC and active in the Technology Marketing Research Council. He can be contacted at [email protected].
24 – Global SMT & Packaging – November 2012 www.globalsmt.net
electronic component counterfeit incidents continue at record pace
Reported incidents of counterfeit elec-tronic component parts this year are main-taining the record pace set in 2011, high-lighting the need for continued vigilance and improved detection and avoidance measures at a time when U.S. defense rep-resentatives are scheduled to update acqui-sition rules, according to information and analytics provider HIS.
Counterfeit incident reports from the beginning of the year through the end of August averaged 107.3 per month, up slightly from 107.1 in 2011. As shown in the figure, on a sequential 12-month basis, a total of 1,336 separate verified counterfeit-part incidents have been made for trans-actions involving a minimum of 834,079 purchased parts. These figures are considered conserva-tive because purchased parts reflect only a subset of all reported incidents.
Counterfeit parts are an escalating global supply chain chal-lenge where a single occurrence represents widespread risk to product cost and quality, human safety, and national security.
These new counterfeit report figures arrive at a time when the U.S. Department of Defense (DoD) is scheduled to update the Defense Federal Acquisition Regula-tion (DFAR) Supplement to the Federal Acquisition Regulation (FAR) on October 3, 2012. These updates are part of measures intended to regulate the detection and avoidance of counterfeit electronic parts as part of the National Defense Authorization Act (NDAA) of 2012.
“Counterfeit parts represent a serious and growing risk to the electronics supply chain in general and to the aerospace and defense industry in particular,” said Rory King, director, supply chain product marketing at IHS. “Each month that passes, more than a hundred counterfeit incidents
comprised of thousands of suspect parts are reported. That’s why the spotlight is shining squarely on tighter policies and procedures aimed at counterfeit detection and avoidance. The good news from all this attention is that an increasing number of supply chain participant companies are joining credible anti-counterfeiting orga-nizations like ERAI—exclusive partner to IHS and an organization that monitors, investigates, and reports on counter-feit electronic components – and filing a greater number of reports that then serve as proactive alerts to others in the supply chain of real counterfeits in circulation.”
Among all reporting entities in IHS figures, sources include the Govern-ment-Industry Data Exchange Program (GIDEP) and ERAI. Consistent with 2011, ERAI represents the significant majority of reports made—88 percent of year-to-date 2012 totals.
As IHS recently noted, incidents of counterfeit parts have quadrupled since 2009. Counterfeit parts often are cheap substitutes or salvaged waste components that fail to meet quality requirements, leading to potential failures. However, each incident can include thousands of purchased parts. On average, more than 1.4 million purchased parts have been involved in suspect counterfeit and high-risk transactions during each year for the past decade.
defense to step up use of known incident reportsAmong other requirements, NDAA Sec-tion 818 seeks to significantly improve systems for the detection and avoidance of counterfeit electronic parts at all tiers in the supply chain, at the same time shifting the burden of costs associated with rework or corrective action for issues involving these parts back upon defense contractors. They specifically spell out new require-ments for analyzing, assessing and acting on these reports of counterfeit electronic parts and suspect counterfeit elec-
tronic parts.A clear
example of the need for coun-terfeit detec-tion and avoid-ance methods that leverage all counterfeit
incidents reports available came in November 2006 when a critical component was first reported to ERAI as being victim of counterfeiting. The use of destructive and non-destructive tech-niques found that these components were very different, had evidence of remarking, and were potentially reconditioned. Infor-mation concerning the die size and date, as well as information received directly from the manufacturer, suggested the parts were counterfeit.
The part was later reported again to ERAI in November 2008 and March 2012. Later in March 2012, and six years since the first of three occurrences was reported to ERAI, it was again reported to GIDEP. That this single part was subject to four separate reports illustrates the complexity of detecting counterfeit parts that are pervasively circulated and re-circulated throughout the supply chain.
The scenario also speaks to the critical importance of increased use of counterfeit
Counterfeit parts are an escalating global supply
chain challenge where a single occurrence represents
widespread risk to product cost and quality, human
safety, and national security.
electronic component counterfeit incidents continue at record pace
Special Feature—
Global SMT & Packaging – November 2012– 25www.globalsmt.net
electronic component counterfeit incidents continue at record pace
incidents reports. Many companies have specific screening processes for compo-nents with matches to instances of counter-feits reported to the marketplace, including everything from more stringent testing of the parts to avoiding the use of those parts altogether. Meanwhile, new NDAA regu-lations specifically spell out new require-ments for analyzing, assessing and acting on reports of counterfeit electronic parts and suspect counterfeit electronic parts.
“Industry’s ability to take advantage of counterfeit incidents reports
is a huge risk mitigation and cost avoidance opportunity for any company, while also playing a vital role in counterfeit detection and avoidance compliance with new NDAA regulations,” King noted. “For instance, a critical compo-nent was first shared with ERAI members in 2006 before again being reported two more times to the organization and once six years later to GIDEP. It’s easy to see how early awareness to all counterfeit incidents involving active and discontinued compo-nents that are continually re-circulated throughout the supply chain is a critical element of proactive risk assessment.”
Significant avoidable expense of counterfeits
As reported previously by IHS, the expense to resolve a single such counterfeit inci-dent can be massive. Testimony given at a November 2011 hearing of the Senate Armed Services Committee revealed how the U.S. Missile Defense Agency learned that mission computers for Terminal High Altitude Area Defense (THAAD) missiles contained suspect counterfeit devices that could have led to an entire system failure. The cost of that fix was nearly $2.7 million.
All told, the
hearing exposed the complexity of keeping pace with the ongoing and increased sophistication of counterfeiters—something that access to more counterfeit incidents reports can help keep pace with.
defense companies must act nowTo help combat the counterfeit problem, President Obama in December 2011, signed the fiscal year 2012 U.S. National Defense Authorization Act (NDAA), which added regulations for counterfeit part detection and avoidance. The pend-ing October 3, 2012 updates to the DFAR supplement will implement portions of section 818 of NDAA that must add defi-nitions specific to counterfeit parts, define
contractors’ responsibilities, and clarify the government’s role.
In March 2012, the undersecretary of defense for acquisition, technology and logistics Frank Kendall issued a Depart-ment of Defense Memorandum, ‘Over-arching DoD Counterfeit Prevention Guidance.’ In the memo, the department laid out an actionable definition of coun-terfeit material and also emphasized the importance of taking immediate action to apply existing policy and procedures, prior to establishing new DoD policy and proce-dures or waiting for forthcoming changes to the Defense Federal Acquisition Regula-tion Supplement (DFARS).
risk assessment a priorityAccording to IHS, a typical bill of materials (BOM) or parts list for a military applica-tion system can have anywhere from a few hundred to more than tens of thousands of purchased parts, of which between 0.5 to 5.0 percent typically match reported inci-dents of counterfeit parts. This is in addi-tion to entirely different risks that exists such as part obsolescence or sole source supply issues. By implementing new capa-bilities that make use of real counterfeit incident reports, electronics makers can avoid risk, while cutting costs and comply-ing with the NDAA.
IHS provides content, software and expert analysis about worldwide electronics for component selection, sourcing, and logistics as well as integrated obsolescence manage-ment, BOM management, environmental compliance, and counterfeit risk mitiga-tion. IHS is exclusive partner to ERAI Inc. and offers a wide range of counterfeit detection and avoidance capabilities as well as counterfeit risk and probability
assessment tools.
A typical bill of materials (BOM) or parts list for
a military application system can have anywhere
from a few hundred to more than tens of thousands
of purchased parts, of which between 0.5 to 5.0
percent typically match reported incidents of
counterfeit parts.
Title
26 – Global SMT & Packaging – November 2012 www.globalsmt.net
Interview—
Trevor Galbraith had a chance to sit down with Semblant CEO Steven Lowder at SMTA International in Orlando. Semblant develops nanomaterials process solutions for the electronics industry using a fusion of science and engineering that blends the disciplines of chemistry and physics with mechanical and electrical engineering.
(Watch the full interview at tv.globalsmt.net.)
interview
Steven lowder, Semblant
To quickly an overview of Semblant as a company—you’re headquartered in Cambridge UK but with manufacturing and labs as well over here in the United States. Is that correct?
Correct. We have materials R&D capability out of our Cambridge facility in the UK as well as our equipment development based mainly here in the US, and that’s to match up the equipment needs, the scale of the equipment, to the customers’ demands.
Basically what you are is a nanomaterials company, that’s your core strength and competency. Can you explain a little bit about that?
Yeah, let me talk about that a little bit. Nano-materials is a growing market. It’s said that those who really understand nanomateri-als in their space will own the industry that they’re in, in the future, whether that’s tex-tiles, electronics, or whatever. There’s been a lot of nanomaterials work that’s been done in the semiconductor space for some time, and we all know that. Semblant is moving nanomaterials into the other areas of elec-tronics, the printed circuit board area as
well as semiconductor packaging, and that’s exciting. Now we do that by having a very strong materials R&D facility in Cam-bridge in the UK. That facility can design materials to meet customers’ needs, to meet specific application needs.
Our first material that we released was our surface finish, or our bare board protective coating. That material was based on some needs that came up early on in Semblant’s life. But we have other customers that are working with us through either joint venture or through efforts to solve problems of theirs in the nanomaterial space. And that’s exciting for them because they’re removing a lot of the macro material type of problems that they have: storage of those materials, hazardous materials, hazardous wastes, all of the things that go along with those business processes go away when you’re working with nanomaterials, especially plasma-deposited nanomaterials.
That’s interesting because your process for the printed circuit board industry is a plasma-based process, which back in the old days was always very hazardous
Global SMT & Packaging – November 2012– 27www.globalsmt.net
Title
to handle and work with. Can you tell us a little bit about the process you’re using?
We use plasma deposition, which is…. The plasma process is fairly familiar to the PCB world from a subtractive point of view, doing desmear and things of that nature, so individuals understand the plasma sys-tems, but we changed that a little bit, and we use it for deposition. Now, deposition can be done with just about any type of material that you can get into a gaseous form, because you move that gas into the plasma state. Those systems then can be used with environmentally friendly mate-rials, and we at Semblant select very envi-ronmentally friendly materials up front: easy to access materials but also materials that won’t cause any problems for humans or the environment, things of that nature, and we make sure that as we send those materials to the plasma recipe that the output of those materials is also very envi-ronmentally friendly. So we’ve got the input material friendly and the output mate-rial friendly, and the process is extremely friendly. The EPA actually recommends the plasma process as something that will help improve the environmental footprint for all PCB shops. If you look at the dif-ference between for instance a metal sur-face finish that you have to put down, for instance a gold surface finish with all of its toxic wastes, individuals that it takes to run those systems, storing the gold in the vaults, the toxic waste removal, and the wastewater, compared to a Semblant system, which is a dry process, you simply put your boards in, 15 minutes later you pull them out, they’re all ready to go and protected with a shelf life that Rockwell has said is indefinite. That’s a pretty pow-erful statement: environmentally friendly and a better performing material.
Absolutely, it certainly is. Now this pro-cess is essentially using two principle benefits. One to get a surface finish, and the other is a protective coating. Is that correct?
Correct. So this material we call SPF can be used in a couple of ways. It can be used as a bare board protective coating over exist-ing surface finishes, such as silver and gold, and those existing surface finishes will become better and perform better with Semblant over top of them. The silver will not tarnish. The silver is protected from creep corrosion. And the gold is protected from things like pitting, so if any harm is going to come to those metal finishes, by virtue of the environment that they’re in,
the Semblant SPF as a protective coating over their finishes is going to make them much better. Their shelf life is going to be extended, solderability will be better, all of those things will end up being a higher performance surface finish.
The SPF material can also be used as a bare copper protector as well, so you don’t have to put any surface finish on it, you can just put SPF over bare copper, and then over that bare copper it protects the copper, keeps it pristine on the shelf for a long period of time, and then right into your assembly processes, and in any case you’ll get a solder joint that is as good as either your existing finish or as good as tin to copper if you’re just over bare copper.
With lovely smooth joints and finishes. Now the obvious question in this process is tin whiskers, that’s one of the big issues. Where are we on that?
We’re doing work right now with a group out of Europe to analyze what some of our different materials do with respect to tin whiskers. Those reports should be coming out in the next few months. We’re excited about that. We’ll not stop developing mate-rials, of course, regardless of what results we get. We’ll look at those results and say, “What do we need to do now to even improve that further?” Even if we get great results, we’ll continue to work to improve it.
We’ll look forward to hearing more about that in a few months’ time. Now on the equipment side, you have a large-scale production system but you’re just now, as I understand it, introducing a lower volume and a medium volume version. Can you tell us a bit about that?
You bet. We released earlier in the year a very large scale high-volume manufac-turing system that works and mainly fits into an environment that you might find in Asia, in China, and those places that are doing a lot of square meters per day or square meters per year, and those systems work very well in those environments.
In looking at that system against the European and the North American markets, we said to ourselves, “Well that might be overkill for those markets.” So at SMTA International, we introduced two systems. One, an SPF1500, which is a medium-volume type system capable of handling the volume that you’d see in any of the larger manufacturers in North America or Europe, and then a high-mix, quick turn system, the SPF1000. That machine
is exactly that: it is a machine that’s meant for quick turns and very high mix where you’re not doing a lot of boards, but you want to protect for those boards for some reason or another, and there are a lot of reasons to do that. One is if you’re building panels and you’re going to build a couple of extra panels because you don’t know if your customer is going to want those, put the SPF finish on top of those in the high mix machine, and then the shelf life is just about indefinite. So if the customer calls back three weeks later and says “I need two more panels,” you can move those right to him and not have to worry about, “Oh, well, we don’t know how good these panels are. We don’t know what kind of corrosion’s happened, we don’t know what kind of problems happened.” They will protect the shelf life of those as well.
So, very quick turn. It’s easy to put any size board into those machines and be able to get out in 15 minutes a board that has a surface finish or protective coating that’s going to last for a long time.
That’s really interesting. So, how afford-able is it?
It’s extremely affordable, so in the high volume systems, when you’re running at full volume on those machines, your prices are going down as low as the OST prices. In the lower volume machines, it’s extremely affordable. It matches up with the needs of the North American manufacturers, whether those are small manufacturers or even some of the mid-tier manufacturers. It matches up with their needs, and it’s very affordable from the equipment side as well as the process side. The base materials are what I’d call inexpensive and easy to access.
Steven, thank you very much for giving us a walk-through on the Semblant system. We look forward to seeing and hearing more about your developments, especially the tin whiskers when we get these reports through.
If you want to find out more information about Semblant, visit www.semblant.com.
interview
28 – Global SMT & Packaging – November 2012 www.globalsmt.net
who ya gonna call?
A few months ago I wrote a piece about partnerships, and I was pleas-antly surprised by the number of
people who have since complimented me on the article, some hoping their customers had seen it too! It shows that this stuff is actually read by many around the world, and that makes it more than a little humbling, so here is more in the same vein.
A few weeks ago I was at SMTA Interna-tional in Florida, attending some tutorials, presenting and working in the PoP Feature Area. It was a great event, a very strong conference and a great focussed show, with hordes of techies adding to their knowl-edge, updating their skills and networking. For me this is one of the top global events, for sure, well worth travelling a long way to visit. I enjoy these events immensely; there is an atmosphere about them that you do not find at the more commercial exhibi-tions. It permeates through the halls and infects us all. We change from hardnosed suits into more relaxed individuals, happy to debate the relative merits of competing technologies with like-minded people over a coffee, rather than focus on sales.
It was during one such encounter that I heard a consultant mention that he was working to a resolve a dispute. I heard
similar comments a couple more times the next day. Now let me say first off that I have nothing against consultants. Many of my close friends earn a living that way, and one day I may choose to do this myself. After talking to several of them, a pattern was developing: over recent years the number of cases in which they were asked to settle disputes had increased quite significantly.
Now, call me old fashioned, but I like to settle my differences directly with those I have those differences with, but there seem to be many cases where the poor rela-tionship between both parties makes this impossible. So back to my original point: when you have strong partnerships, issues should be able to be resolved between you, to the satisfaction of both parties. After further discussions, however, it seemed that there was another dynamic here as well, one of simple communication and under-standing of the other’s point of view.
If I was a board designer, I would want to know if my work was causing problems further on in the process, and I would also like to have at least a basic grasp of what happened to my designs. For everyone involved in SMA, it should be a joined up process, not fragmented, as it often seems to be. However sometimes disputes are
caused because there was more than one thing done wrong, not a single fault but a series of events, involving several different companies.
One horror story went like this:• The PCB maker said the designer
should have balanced the copper better!
• The designer said the PCB maker should have used robber bars to balance the plating!
• The assembler said either the designer or the PCB maker was to blame!
• The end customer said he would not pay for the extra rework caused by the variable plating!
I am sure along the way, the paste, the stencil, reflow profile, the printer and the components were also scapegoated before the root cause was identified. When you drilled down, you found out that the PCB maker was not happy to make the board but never passed his concerns to the designer or his customer (the assembler). Another assembler and PCB maker built the prototypes, both had some problems, but it was easy to fix 10 boards, which the end customer was paying a premium for.
Calling in an expert third party to
Who ya gonna call?
Keith Bryant
Global SMT & Packaging – November 2012– 29www.globalsmt.net
who ya gonna call?
resolve this was certainly the only chance of getting a resolution in this situation where there was no relationship between the parties.
But if there were partnerships between the main players, things could have been very different, and I hope someday it would work like this:• The relationship between the end
customer and his key subcontractor (the volume assembler, who was also purchasing the parts) would be close enough to involve the subcontractor at the start of the project, perhaps even getting them to source the prototypes.
• Partnerships between the other parties would allow them to talk things through between them to improve the design and give the end customer a product that was fit for purpose, without additional costs. Good communication would also
allow them to get an understanding of the other processes in the chain of SMA, which would also improve their skill set. Not to mention all the other things that were blamed as reasons for the problems before
the root cause had been found. I am sure if there was a BGA nearby, that came in for some blame too!
Oh I almost forgot—before a huge quantity of boards had been built, and an even larger number manufactured, the solution would have been this: crosshatch the area of ground plane on an outer layer, dramatically reducing the plating area and giving a much more balanced copper outer layer.
The cost of this would have been five minutes of the designers’ time!
The moral here, if there is one, is that we need to communicate much better, involve all the key players a long way down stream in the project, seek their advice and listen to it. To those involved along the way, please communicate with all those who are key to your success, suppliers, equipment manufacturers—in fact anyone who can help you improve the end product, reduce its costs, get it onto the market faster, etc.
Partnerships are built up over time and with effort and give and take on both sides. There will be times when they come under pressure, but if built on strong foundations
they will survive and flourish.When you have an issue it is easy to
pick up the phone and discuss it with a partner, but more often than not a strong partnership will ensure that things do not get this bad. Working closely together on projects, partners will pick up and resolve potential issues further down the line, long before they become expensive.
This philosophy also holds true for assemblers and others at key stages within the project: if they have strong partner-ships with their suppliers they can also resolve issues before they get escalated. This utopian state actually helps everyone, and try as I might I can see no downside. There will always be a place for expert witnesses and third party experts to rule on marginal issues and to investigate the more complex problems, but it would be great for all concerned to have less divisive disputes.
So next time, if there’s somethin’ strange on your PCBA, who ya gonna call, a partner or a consultant?
30 – Global SMT & Packaging – November 2012 www.globalsmt.net
Quality, efficiency and environmental Friendliness: Stencil Cleaning at Zollner elektronik aG
required standards in environmental friendliness & occupational health and safety Zollner Elektronik AG recognizes its respon-sibility to manage its production plants in an environmentally friendly manner while simultaneously maintaining a safe work-ing environment for its employees that is free of any health hazards. They continually improve their processes with the use of the latest manufacturing technologies, materials and practices in order to increase product quality, improve worker safety and minimize general manufacturing costs.
Within the context of continuous improvement, Zollner Elektronik AG reviewed its stencil cleaning process. Although the process was considered stan-dardized at this point, the company felt it had potential for efficiency and safety improvements.
All stencils at Zollner Elektronik AG at the time were being cleaned with a solvent in an ex-protected single-chamber spray-in-air system. The solvent used had a strong unpleasant odor and a high consumption rate for each cleaning cycle. At Zollner, depending on the manufacturing require-ments, several stencils could undergo the cleaning process each day, and regard-
less of preventive measures undertaken, employees may have direct contact with the cleaning agent that is used within the stencil cleaning process.
Moreover, because the quality of the cleaning process directly impacts the manufacturing process, an increase in the quality of the stencil cleaning process at Zollner should directly increase Zollner’s product quality.
Thus, stencil cleaning was targeted as a process improvement opportunity where the potentially flammable solvent-based cleaning system could be replaced with one that is safer to use and that provides greater cleaning efficiency at a potentially lower operating cost.
Environmental friendliness In contrast to the former solvent-based cleaner, Zollner felt the new cleaning agent should be water-based. Water-based clean-ing agents have the advantage of consid-erably lower VOC (volatile organic com-pound) values, which meet the current regulation for VOC emission limits of <20%. Additionally, water-based cleaning agents do not have a flash point, which is critical to improving occupational safety conditions. As with the solvent-based process Zollner was currently using, the new cleaning pro-
cess solution should not generate wastewater as the selected cleaning agent should be able to be used both to clean and rinse the stencil.
As part of the new process, the cleaning agent should be processed in a closed loop system and filtered in order to remove the contaminants and ensure a longer bath life, as compared to the solvent-based process. Moreover, the new process should reduce consumption per cleaning cycle, such that the total volume of cleaning agent neces-sary is lower, thereby minimizing disposal requirements over time.
Quality, efficiency and environmental friendliness: Stencil cleaning at zollner elektronik AG
Case Study—
Performance profile of the new process
Environmental friendliness • Water-based cleaning agent • No waste water • Very low consumption • The highest degree of occupational
Figure 1. Over a three-month period, Zollner Elektronik evaluated the Systronic CL 500 cleaning machine as part of a new cleaning process.
Stefan Reichhart, Electronic Production Technology, Zollner Elektronik AG
Global SMT & Packaging – November 2012– 31www.globalsmt.net
Quality, efficiency and environmental Friendliness: Stencil Cleaning at Zollner elektronik aG
Efficiency of the new process With respect to efficiency, the new process should first and foremost provide reliable cleaning results at optimal cost efficiency. With lower cleaning agent consumption, a longer bath life and reduced mainte-nance requirements, Zollner Elektronik AG expected a cost advantage with the new pro-cess.
Particular importance, however, was also given to the capacity of the new process. While the solvent-based process had a maximum cleaning capacity of 30 stencils within three shifts, the new process was expected to manage a considerably higher throughput, to meet future fore-casted production volumes.
Additional factors Zollner Elektronik AG also sought a low noise level and reduced cleaning agent odors, features that are critical for an equipment process located on the produc-tion floor.
The new stencil cleaning process Selection and evaluation of the new pro-cess Upon reviewing their process improve-ment requirements, and due to good expe-rience and long-term cooperation with the machine manufacturer Systronic, Zollner Elektronik AG became interested in the stencil cleaning machine CL500. Systronic agreed to install the CL500 at Zollner for a three-month evaluation.
Unlike the single chamber stencil cleaner Zollner was currently using, the CL 500 has three separate chambers: one each for cleaning, rinsing and drying. Drag-out is reduced as only the stencil is rinsed and dried while the cleaning agent on the chamber walls and in the pipes and pumps of the cleaning section remains. This key feature of the CL 500 considerably reduces the cleaning agent consumption and thereby operating costs.
Within the CL500’s cleaning chamber, the cleaning agent is pumped from the supply tank and sprayed onto the stencils using rotating spray arms. The cleaning agent is then filtered as it circulates through the manifold. After the cleaning cycle, residual cleaning agent is allowed to ‘drip off ’ the stencil and return to the supply tank. Using an automatic chain transport, the stencil is then transported through the rinsing chamber into the drying chamber. As the stencil moves through the rinsing chamber, it passes through additional spray nozzles, so that the cleaning agent and any
residues that may remain on the stencil can be rinsed off.
The stencil is quickly dried in a separate chamber using heated circu-lating air generated by a cross-flow blower. Due to the multi chamber configuration, two stencils can be processed within the same equipment simultaneously, thereby greatly improving equipment throughput. Additionally, since the stencil is dried in a separate chamber, cleaning agent evap-oration is minimized, thereby reducing consumption.
During this three-month trial period, a new water-based cleaning agent of the VIGON SC series by Zestron was evalu-ated as well.
Stencil cleaning agents of the VIGON SC series have no flash point and are based on the MPC (Micro Phase Cleaning) Technology. MPC-based cleaning agents remove impurities from surfaces via so-called microphases. When these micro-phases become loaded with contamina-tion, they pass the contaminants onto the surrounding water phase. The contami-nants are then removed from the system by the cleaning machine’s filtration system. In
this way, the cleaning agent is replenished and its bath life significantly extended compared to conventional cleaning agents (Figure 2). This in turn minimizes the total process costs.
The VIGON SC series cleaning agent Zollner selected is suitable for both cleaning and rinsing. It leaves no residues on the stencils or in the machine and hence allows for a wastewater-free process.
During the three-month evaluation period, samples of the cleaning agent were regularly taken in order to measure contamination and the concentration of the cleaning agent. The analysis was carried out in Zestron’s Analytical Centre in Ingol-stadt, Germany. Zestron, in close coopera-tion with Systronic, determined the main-tenance cycle for bath changes based on the values measured. Through further statis-tical test planning, the cleaning parameters were adjusted by Zollner.
The results of these tests, as well as the achieved optimizations of the machine, the process, and the cleaning agent, in terms of consumption, cleaning performance and maintenance, were of the highest quality.
Figure 2. Bath lifetime of an MPC® cleaning agent (top) in comparison with a solvent-based agent (bottom).
32 – Global SMT & Packaging – November 2012 www.globalsmt.net
Quality, efficiency and environmental Friendliness: Stencil Cleaning at Zollner elektronik aG
Advantages of the new process The result of the three-month evaluation process was thoroughly convincing. The new water-based process had significant advantages in all areas as compared with the previously used solvent-based process.
The new VIGON SC series cleaning agent satisfied all requirements with respect to environmental friendliness and occupational safety. The use of the cleaning agent with the CL500 cleaning system led to a dramatic reduction in the cleaning agent consumption. The consumption per cleaning cycle is now only 180 ml. Since the CL500 is a closed loop system with integrated filtration, the cleaning bath lifetime is now well over 2000 cycles, significantly surpassing that of the solvent-based process. This reduces cleaning agent consumption by 55%. Additionally, since the cleaning agent is used for both cleaning and rinsing, wastewater was eliminated and another process goal achieved.
These advantages enabled Zollner Elektronik AG to greatly reduce process maintenance, as fresh cleaning agent no
longer has to be added continuously, and a changing of the bath is only necessary after over 2000 cycles.
The cleaning quality is also consider-ably improved. With the solvent-based process, the stencil was dried using compressed air in the same chamber in which the cleaning and rinsing took place. This resulted in small residue streaks appearing on the stencil surface. Rinsing and drying the stencil with warm air in a separate chamber eliminated this problem.
Another advantage of the new cleaning process is higher capacity. While an entire cleaning cycle (cleaning-rinsing-drying) required 40 minutes using the single-chamber solvent-based process, the cycle time with the new process is now approx. 20 min. Combined with the multi-chamber system of the new cleaning machine that allows a second stencil to be cleaned while the first is being dried, four times as many stencils can be processed.
Regarding cost, the new process is more energy efficient and less costly to maintain. This, combined with the lower
consumption per cycle and the extended bath lifetime of the cleaning agent, greatly reduces operating costs.
Finally, the production floor work environment has been improved due to reduced noise level and less cleaning agent odor.
Ultimately, the new cleaning process has fulfilled all of the process improvement requirements specified by Zollner. Since the installation and evaluation phase in 2011, the process has been performing to the complete satisfaction of Zollner Elek-tronik AG. For regular bath monitoring and process control, Zollner also uses the Bath Analyzer from Zestron.
conclusion Evaluating the CL500 and the water-based cleaning agent of the VIGON SC series was well worth the effort as the improved system provided Zollner with a return on investment within a short time. The close partnership of Systronic/Zestron and Zoll-ner provided an opportunity to deliver to Zollner an integrated system capable of meeting their cleaning expectations while reducing their operational cost and envi-ronmental impact.
Due to the successful implementation, this process has been multiplied several times and has become the new standard for stencil cleaning at Zollner.
zollner GroupFounded in 1965 by Manfred Zollner, the Zollner Group can reflect on over 45 years of success. Throughout their history there has been continuous investment within the business and healthy growth. As time went by, Zollner developed its own technological expertise and established additional locations to better serve their customers as well as new market sectors.
As a partner of global top tier companies within the electric and electronic industries, Zollner has become one of the top electronic manufacturing services providers world-wide. With a system solution approach to problem solving they support the entire product life cycle, from develop-ment through production as well as after-sales service. With core competencies in advanced manufacturing tech-nology, Zollner offers printed circuit board and inductive component production, plastic technology, construction of moulds and tools, metalworking, surface technology and system integration. These technologies are available at all Zollner production sites. In Germany, Zollner produces individual components, modules, devices and complex systems. With approximately 8000 employees, the Zollner Group manufactures in 17 countries including Germany, Hungary, Romania, China, Tunisia and the USA. As an innovative company, it offers individual system solutions at its international sites.
cleaning Agent Solvent/Sys 152 VIGoN/cl500
consumption (per cycle)
0.4l 0.18l
lifetime Constant refilling of fresh cleaning agent
> 2000 cycles
Process time (total)
approx. 40min approx. 20min (10/10min)
Table 1. Comparison between the old and the new process.
Global SMT & Packaging – November 2012– 33www.globalsmt.net
Conflict, consolidation, and cooperation
We learned of further signs of consolida-tion, shifting in manufacturing bases, and cooperative activities while attending the TPCA-IMPACT event in Taipei October 24-26. The new MOU between the JPCA and TPCA will provide booth space for TPCA members at the JPCA show at JPCA member prices as part of a new reciprocal relationship.
Taiwan’s ITRI continues to work with domestic companies in the development of new processes and materials to meet the real impending roadmap requirements of 10, 15 and 30 micron lines and spaces for oncoming 3D and other packages.
In general, bare board production remained at a depressed level in China while continuing to decline in Japan. Nan Ya Plastics spoke of copper-clad laminate sales of “about 25% less” than last year. Japan was reported to be no longer the dominant source of flip chip multilayer boards (MLBs) or MLB-flex circuits. Taiwan owned fabricators (in Taiwan and on thea mainland) were forecasted to become #1 in the manufacture of microvias in 2013. Japan’s Cu-clad laminate production in 2011 was stated to be only 50% of that of 2000 (in square meters).
Chinese mobs attacked 100 Japanese factories due to the squabble between Japan and China over the Diaoyu Islands which were returned to Japan by the U.S. after World War II. It is still a “ticking time bomb” according to China. The United States has stated that in the event of conflict, the islands are covered by the mutual defense treaty between Washington and Tokyo. The chairman of Panasonic recently visited it’s still inoperative Chinese factory damaged by the recent attacks. Japan’s industry is now actively seeking “other locations” for its present and future “off-shore” manufac-turing sites. The Philippines will most likely be one of the beneficiaries of these recent events and flare-ups.
China’s customs departments are “delaying” the processing, inspection, and clearing for delivery imported equipment and spare parts from Japan. This negatively affects Chinese as well as Japanese and other companies operating on the Mainland.
We saw few, very few, Westerners at the TPCA show as many companies discussed the new technologies and accelerating growth and conversion of automotive elec-tronics from ceramics to high tempera-ture epoxies (organic substrates) - from China and Taiwan to Thailand. We wonder how this meshes with the stated wishful thinking of Americans talking about reshoring production. It is evident to us that without major investment in facilities and technology to actually produce parts there will be little reshoring of note. America has not yet begun to do what is necessary to compete in the next electronic interconnect arena.
KCE Chairman Ongkosit said that there is high local PWB demand in Thailand for automotive and other applications. He also iterated that Japan is building a lot of facto-ries there. He stated that the U.S. “is gone” as a supplier to Thailand’s electronic industry. He bemoaned the lack of after sales service and the difficulty of obtaining new mate-rials there. KCE has had to train its own employees to provide the services normally expected of suppliers—but the pipeline difficulties (and opportunities) still exist. He explained that Thailand is at the hub of the ASEAN market and offers great oppor-tunities for those wishing to set up there.
Ongkosit stated that the country’s Board of Investment offers eight years tax credits to new ventures there. It also does NOT tax imported materials used in production.
rebuilding bridges while breaking new groundIPC’s new CEO/president John Mitchell has been seen “everywhere” forging new alliances and establishing cooperative activities at a record pace with trade groups around the world. We are wondering if he has been cloned.The announcement of ongoing cooperative activities in their fall programs by the IPC and the SMTA is hopefully just a forerun-ner of things to come under the new leader-ship. It was an excellent first step in repair-ing the damaged relationships between the two organizations. This was followed by
the news release that the two organizations will partner in hosting a High Reliability Cleaning and Conformal Coating Confer-ence November 13–15 at the Crowne Plaza Hotel-O’Hare in Chicago.
The revitalization of the IPC has become evident with the declaration of its inaugural IPC Electronic System Technolo-gies Conference to be held in Las Vegas May 20-23, 2013. The event will bring together the entire electronics industry—from printed board materials to component packaging and semiconductor design to complete systems. Dr.Senol Pekin, Intel Corporation, will be general chair of the event.
WonderingWhy has Foxconn backed down from its highly publicized commitment to build a fully automated “lights-out” factory? Was it concerned about further labor unrest? Did the threat of losing some of Apple’s busi-ness to a different EMS company stall the plans? Has the slowdown in China’s rate of increase in its GNP given it pause? What do you think?
Editors comment: “Beware the Foxpad”!
Gene H. Weiner is a member of the IPC’s Raymond E. Pritchard Hall of Fame, and of the SMTA since the year after it was founded. He has spent more than 55 years in the elec-tronic interconnect (PWB and IC) industry. His positions have ranged globally from student technician, to researcher, to sales and service manager, to corporate president and member of the Board of Directors at a number of well-known corporations. He built the world’s first working solderless cordwood package and the first 3D print-wired memory plane with additive processing. He introduced the first aqueous processing dry film resist as well as the first alkaline etchant. He is presi-dent of the Weiner International consultancy and serves on several boards and advisory boards including that of Post University, a 100+ year old business school.
conflict, consolidation, and
cooperation Gene Weiner
34 – Global SMT & Packaging – November 2012 www.globalsmt.net
reflow soldering—energy efficiency and economic efficiency in the focus
For today’s electronic production indus-try, “Green Electronics” is more than only a buzzword. Right next to the economic factors, it has firmly established itself as an important and integral element. For years now, policy guidelines such as WEEE, RoHS, EuP, ELV, REACH and battery direc-tives determine, to an increasing degree, the processes of electronic production. Over the last few years, extensive and fun-damental measures have been decreed by law, measures that are today considered as commonly accepted standards. It is for this reason that the developments of our indus-trial society, and here especially electronic products and tools, are characterized by an ever growing degree of sustainability.
In light of exploding prices for the base materials and for energy, and the finiteness of our fossil resources, our modern society is forced to utilize the resources available with much greater care than was done in the past. Especially for the European coun-tries, where only limited sources of both raw material and fossil fuels are available, sustainable use of these precious materials is gaining in importance.
This importance is heightened further by a global shift of the cost of labor, of rising energy prices and foreign exchange risks, which together give rise to immense cost pressures and a subsequent reduction in profitability. And all this while demands on the quality of the electronic products manufactured are increasing.
To face these global challenges and to maintain the competitive edge, the manu-facturing lines, and the reflow systems found therein, need to provide stable and reproducible operation and low resource consumption while at the same time maxi-mizing the productive per square meter floor space.
Energy—as well as economic effi-ciency—is therefore the central points on which the purchaser of a system focuses, with the final goal being to minimize the total cost of manufacturing a printed circuit board.
It is for just these reasons that Ersa has invested in developing new reflow systems with a focus on improving process safety, raising the throughput and lowering the operating costs. In the standard version
already, Ersa’s reflow systems make avail-able features improving energy efficiency that cannot be found by any system of the competition.
The success of the new reflow systems, which have come out of evaluations by numerous large EMS suppliers as the winner, are proof that the road taken by Ersa‘s drive towards heightened efficiency is setting new standards in its field of appli-cation.
efficient reflow systems for maximum performanceThe HF 3/20e – 3/14e are the newest reflow systems in the Hotflow family, deliver-ing superior soldering results on account of their thermal performance and their excellent cross profile and optimal zone separation. The “e” in the name stands for “efficiency”.
Parallel to the systems of the e-series, the premium models HOTFLOW 3/20 – 3/14 differ from the e-series in that they are laid out for the use of N₂, and have all features necessary integrated.
Dipl.-Ing. (FH) Jürgen Friedrich, Ersa GmbH, Wertheim, Germany
reflow soldering—energy efficiency and economic efficiency in the focus
Technology Focus
Global SMT & Packaging – November 2012– 35www.globalsmt.net
reflow soldering—energy efficiency and economic efficiency in the focus
When designing the systems, the complete know-how and experience gained by Ersa during 25 years of success-fully building reflow systems was incorpo-rated. The HOTFLOWs of the e-series are therefore the result of an ideal combination of technological and economical solutions. The HOTFLOW “e” excites also on account of its very attractive purchase price, which, when considered together with its superior system uptime, ensures an excellent TCO (total cost of ownership) value as well as a quick ROI (return of investment)
focus on low energy consumption—the basic system already is extremely economicalIn the course of developing the system towards more energy efficiency, the reflow systems were equipped with a number of new functions. Some of these smart options are integrated into the standard versions of the systems and do not need to be ordered as additional options. Ersa is very proud of the fact that these options are setting new standards in the industry, since in comparable equipment of competitors they are presently not available.
As is the case with the PC, the systems can be placed in stand-by or in a dormant state. In stand-by mode, the temperature of a number of heaters and the RPMs of a number of drives is reduced, so that energy is conserved. Returning to the operating mode, the reduced temperatures and RPMs are raised again to the programmed values. All of this takes only very few minutes, and then the system is again ready for produc-tion. The stand-by mode is ideal for short downtimes—for example, when the line is set up for a new product or a malfunction in the line is being repaired. The dormant state is intended for extended downtimes. In it, some heaters and drives are shut down completely. In either case, the mode can be terminated at all times by a click of the mouse, and the system will return auto-matically to the program from which the energy saving function was initiated.
In addition to these measures, the units are also provided with very good thermal insulation. High quality insulation material reduces the temperate of the skin of the system, thereby reducing the emission of heat into the manufacturing area to a minimum. The AC of the production area is not tasked having to remove this addi-tional heat.
Another feature rests with the oper-ating modes of the cooling unit to cool
down the printed circuit boards in the cooling zone. Through a click of the mouse, a selection is possible between an internal and an external cooling aggregate. During those months where the production area has to be heated, the waste heat of the internal cooling unit can be used to heat the factory environment. During times with high outside temperatures, when cooling the air of the production area with an AC unit is necessary, the reflow system can be switched over to the external cooling unit. The waste heat of the board assem-blies is transported directly to the outside, and does not increase the load on the AC system. Additional heat exchangers in the exhaust ducts support these measures.
As a rule, power consumption of a reflow system depends on the option level. The sum of the measures realized to increase the energy efficiency has led to a remarkable level of energy saving.
Energy consumption of a system with a connected power of 50 kW, operating in the steady state mode, could be reduced to 5–7 kW.
To further lower the costs of the elec-trical infrastructure, an intelligent power management system has been added to the software, which allows reducing the power draw of the system during start-up. The power draw can be substantially reduced.
heating technology—a measurable advantage An extensive evaluation of reflow systems presently on the market was performed by a customer. In the evaluation, complex
power electronics boards with high heat capacity were used. Profiling these boards showed very minor temperature differ-ences between solder joints with high and low heat capacity. The HOTFLOW from Ersa was able to provide this customer with the largest process window for his assemblies. His decision on which system to purchase was therefore made easy – he ordered the HOTFLOW.
In the reflow process, the efficiency of the heat transfer has a deciding influence on all quality-, productivity- and operating cost aspects, which, taken together, directly influence the profitability. The effective rate of heat transfer of the HOTFLOW’s ensures a minimal ΔT while requiring only a small amount of energy for the operation of the heaters and the fan motors.
One of the measurable advantages of the Ersa Multijet-Convection technology is the smallest ΔT in the cross-the-belt profile (over the full process width of max. 580 mm), which is within the range of the measuring tolerances of the thermocou-ples.
Process stability regardless of the load factor as well as between systemsThe highly efficient reflow heating system ensures reproducibility at the highest level regardless of the load factor. The improved Multijet heating technology does not require that a gap of a certain length between boards be maintained, regardless of the type, size and mass of the assem-blies, so that absolute process stability is
View into the process zone.
36 – Global SMT & Packaging – November 2012 www.globalsmt.net
reflow soldering—energy efficiency and economic efficiency in the focus
achieved. The type of loading, whether spo-radically or continuously, does not influ-ence the long-term process stability of the system, even in three-shift operation.
Ersa reflow soldering systems are build conformist. That means that all systems possess the same temperature charac-teristics. Whenever a product is moved from one line to another, there is be need to adapt solder programs and tempera-ture settings. With Ersa reflow they can be transferred 1 to 1.
Maximized production volume per m² floor space.Early on, Ersa’s designer realized that a multitrack option would be the future for mass production. Multitrack systems open up the possibility for a new line layout, since now a number of lines/pick-and-place units can feed into one reflow system with multiple, independently operating conveyors.
The successful advancement in the heating technology, as well as the compa-ny’s long-standing experience with dual track conveyors, enables integration of a maximum of four separate conveyors into the process tunnel without experiencing any detrimental impact on the thermal characteristics of the systems. Productivity increases of up to 400%, when compared to customary systems, can be achieved. Different products, of different sizes and at different conveyor speeds, can be processed in one and the same reflow system.
The length of the process zone of the HF 3/20 allows conveyor speeds of up appr. 140 cm/min. Then the throughput of a product of 200 mm length in a three-shift operation is, with a single conveyor, 8,000
assemblies. With a dual track conveyor it rises to 16,000 assemblies, and with a “Quatro” track it is 32,000 assemblies in 24 hours.
This ensures not only that the highest throughput is achieved, but it also maxi-mizes cost effectiveness and flexibility per m².
ultra-low mass center supportThe new, ultra-low mass center support (protection of industrial design granted) offers a mechanically stable, continuous support of the assemblies over the whole length of the process zone. It allows to transport also very thin PCBs through the process tunnel. The specially developed, ultra-low mass support elements automati-cally tuck themselves under for the return to the infeed section, so that the distance of the lower heating zones to the underside of the board is kept at a minimum. In this manner, the maximum possible heat trans-fer from the lower heater cassettes is being achieved. Additional substantial advan-tages are the high mechanical stability at a minimum space requirement and that there is no impact on the thermal charac-teristics in the process zone.
Active coolingThe newly developed “Power Cool“ system offers, for the first time, the feature best described as controlled adjustable cool-ing gradients. In it, the temperature of the first cooling zone is actively controlled to maintain a nominal value as stored in the soldering program. If desired, cooling gra-dients of over 6 K/s are possible. This high
cooling capacity permits that assemblies are cooled down to a temperature of lower than 40 °C. The need to install additional, external cooling units is eliminated.
Returning the assembly to a tempera-ture as close as possible to the ambient temperature can be of great importance. In the following AOI system, for example, the pseudo defect rate will drop, and func-tional tests of the assembly or the program-ming of memory modules can only be performed at these lower temperatures.
condensate management—maintenance with production stopMaintenance implies normally nothing else but a system downtime and the stop-page of production. Not so with the HOT-FLOWs from Ersa.
With the “maintenance-on-the-fly” option, the condensate management systems can be cleaned with the system still in full operation. This means that there is no system downtime and therefore no loss of production because of the need to maintain the system. The “maintenance-on-the fly” concept of the HOTFLOW series reduces the actual downtime of the system to an absolute minimum.
The condensation management system of the HF 3/20 is designed as a multi-stage system. Preheat- and Peak zone have separated systems, which effectively clean the process atmosphere and deposit the contaminants in the filter, thereby reducing the contamination in of the atmosphere in the process zone.
Nitrogen controls with N2 consumption displayThe advantages of soldering in a nitrogen atmosphere are absolutely convincing, but nevertheless, the N₂ consumption, and therefore the cost, has to be kept as low as possible. An improved N₂ consump-tion monitoring and control system, that incorporates a controlled N₂ consump-tion monitoring system with display and alarm function, can effectively reduce the N₂ consumption. When controlling the rest oxygen value of the atmosphere, the system takes into account the load factor present as well as actual conveyor width of the reflow unit. To monitor the stability of the atmo-sphere, a number of monitoring points are located in the process zone. In combination with the very efficient Multijet technology, an extremely low N₂ consumption can be achieved.
“Quatro Track” quadruples throughput.
Global SMT & Packaging – November 2012– 37www.globalsmt.net
reflow soldering—energy efficiency and economic efficiency in the focus
The innovative ersa process control system (ePc)For the first time in the history of the reflow technology, Ersa applies in the HOTFLOW series the revolutionary Ersa process control system (EPC). This con-trol system for the heat transfer monitors not only the temperature of the individual heated zones, but also the convection. This way, the system can monitor and display the value, in real time, the actual heat trans-fer in the individual heating zones in the process tunnel. The result is a continuously monitored reflow process, which ensures the necessary heat transfer independent of the load factor, the thermal mass and run-ning time of the system.
The Ersa process control system EPC (patent pending) open the door to completely new reflow process monitoring and control.
Process visualization and data managementThe user-friendly system software offers a new process control program, a process data recorder as well as the Ersa Auto-pro-filer for a quick offline programming. This software package simplifies the operation of the system, it offers a complete process monitoring and visualization, a reduction in the time required for configuring of process parameters as well as the search
for profiles, complete process- and product data administration as well as documen-tation and archiving of all process- and system relevant data for future tracing.
An interface for the integration of a traceability system as per ZVEI standards is present, as is the possibility to connect to a commonly used MES (manufacturing executive system).
off-line profiling increases productivityThe AutoProfiler is an Ersa-specific soft-ware tool, which substantially reduces the effort to find the correct temperature pro-file. It is based on a comprehensive data base, in which the thermal behavior of typical components and of board material in relation to the reflow system is being calculated. With it, it is possible to gener-ate a “virtual board” and send this through a “virtual oven”—all fully off-line. The accuracy of the prediction lies above 90%. The downtime of the system due to profile generation is therefore drastically reduced. Customers report that with generally only one or two temperature profile runs need to be performed, to control and optimize the simulation result.
SummaryIn the era of green electronics, the mea-sures undertaken to improve the energy
efficiency of the HOTFLOW series reflow units serve actively reduce of the emis-sion of greenhouse gas. Ersa views it as its responsibility to offer to its custom-ers equipment that exceed the norms set by laws, that satisfy the drive government policy and industry for increased environ-mental awareness.
Today, the economics of a soldering system are no longer defined by an appar-ently low purchase, but primarily over low operating costs and a high system uptime. This is the reason why energy efficient system with low energy consumption, high flexibility in the generation of profiles and a high uptime are the first choice when looking for a system to install in electronic production departments.
Under these conditions, process stability and reproducibility of RoHS conform process can be ensured for a broad spectrum of boards. High quality of the processed electronic assemblies, and low operating costs are the key to success-fully counter the worldwide cost pressures, to ensure profitability and to maintain a competitive edge.
The HOTFLOW reflow soldering systems from Ersa are an active contribu-tion for a raised environmental awareness, since they assist its user when following the goal to save resources and to protect the environment.
Ultra low mass center support offers a mechanically stable, continuous support of assemblies over the full length of the process zone.
38 – Global SMT & Packaging – November 2012 www.globalsmt.net
industry news
such as the latest smart phones, digital cameras and MP3 players. With today’s portable devices demanding an increasing amount of power, engineers must now con-sider a number of safety risks in new and existing designs. Qi-compliant contact-less charging is an option for any device that is powered by a USB or 5V/19V DC adapters. www.element14.com
rommtech B.V. installs combined optical and x-ray inspection from ViscomAlready in its second generation, Rom-mtech B.V., headquartered in Halsteren in the Netherlands, offers its customers support in the manufacture of electronic assemblies. With the increasing complexity of assemblies after thorough evaluations, a decision was made by Rommtech in favor of Viscom’s combined AOI/AXI X7056 test system. With Viscom’s X7056, the company can save floor space and remain flexible in the long term. Moreover, because of the consistent user interface system, operators do not have to cope with different software. www.viscom.com
Surface Technology International invests in x-ray inspectionYXLON is pleased to announce that Sur-face Technology International Limited, based in Hook (UK), has chosen to pur-chase 3 Y.Cheetah x-ray systems. Altus, the UK agent, has supplied the three top x-ray machines—one has been shipped and installed in STI’s Cebu plant in the Philip-pines and the other two, one equipped with CT (Computed Tomography), will be used in STI’s Hook facility. All XYLON x-ray systems for electronics applications can be equipped with CT which is a standard option so customers have the ability to upgrade their machines. www.sti-limited.com
ePr Technopower invests in new, complete production lineWith business growing and a positive outlook for its future success, EPR Tech-nopower has made a major investment in SMT capabilities by purchasing a complete new production line from MYDATA. The line includes two pick-and-place machines from MYDATA’s latest high performance MY100 range, together with a MYDATA
MY500 solder paste jet printer that applies paste without the need for costly and inconvenient stencils. After carefully evaluating the available options, EPR Tech-nopower concluded that the MYDATA products offered by far the best and most cost effective way of meeting this require-ment. www.mydata.com
Aegis Software brings traceability, tracking and an integrated paperless environment to NorautronNorautron Group AS is a USD 125 M global technology group, which provides flexible electronics manufacturing services into the Maritime, Offshore, Defence & Aerospace, Data, Communications, Indus-try, Energy and Medical sectors. They have recently purchased complete Aegis soft-ware installations for three sites in Norway, Sweden and China. Norautron has chosen Aegis software to solve a number of issues, including component traceability, better WIP tracking and improved documenta-tion handling and distribution. The soft-ware’s paperless environment will become the operators’ main source of information. www.aiscorp.com
Nordson ASyMTeK expands distribution network
Nordson ASYMTEK has expanded its rep-resentation in Poland. In addition to the sales, technical support, and service pro-vided by AMB Technic, Scanditron will
also provide sales and service in this region for Nordson ASYMTEK’s conformal coat-ing, jetting, and dispensing equipment and systems. Nordson ASYMTEK systems are used in semiconductor packaging, printed circuit boards, LEDs, flat panel displays, medical and biotechnical devices, and solar and photovoltaic products. Scanditron is a supplier of machines, material, support and training for the manufacture of electronic products in the Nordic and Baltic countries and Poland. www.nordsonasymtek.com
Accelonix Ibérica is the new JuKI representative in Spain and PortugalAt the end of July 2012, Accelonix Ibérica signed an exclusive distribution agree-ment for the whole JUKI portfolio in Spain and Portugal. Accelonix has established a unique supply position in the electron-ics industry, providing JUKI’s innovative manufacturing solutions in SMT assembly. With over 30 years of experience, Accelo-nix is now recognized as a key partner for JUKI to provide timely solutions, assuring the highest quality and flexibility for this increasingly demanding industry. www.accelonix.es
Industry consortium looks at whole-line collaborationAn informal industry consortium is col-laborating on a common approach to whole-line electronic equipment assem-bly. A two-day industry seminar chaired by Assembléon on September 4-5 brought together suppliers of screen printers, reflow ovens, inspection systems, convey-ors and software. Sixteen leading suppliers attended. The seminar included talks and presentations by industry experts on topics including dual-lane production, software, standardization, knowledge transfer, road-maps, and trends. The companies plan to produce white papers, set up task groups, share roadmaps and present common rec-ommendations to standards committees. www.assembleon.com
Nordson dAGe x-ray Systems announces european distributor of the year 2012Nordson DAGE, a division of Nordson Corporation, has revealed that St. Peters-burg, Russia-based Dipaul Technologies is the winner of its X-ray Distributor of the Year Award for 2012. The Award was pre-sented at a Gala Dinner attended by Nor-dson DAGE European X-ray distributors. www.nordsondage.com
Industry News— Continued from p. 7
Global SMT & Packaging – November 2012– 39www.globalsmt.net
Title
Association & institutes news
association & institutes news
SMTA International 2012 A Success The SMTA released a summary of the SMTA International Conference and Exhibition, which took place October 14–18, 2012 at the Walt Disney World Swan and Dolphin Hotel in Orlando, FL. Total attendee regis-tration of 1000 (from over 520 companies) is on par with the past two years. Interna-tional representation was at a record high with attendees coming from 26 countries other than the US. The technical confer-ence was well-received and continued the SMTAI tradition of having the strongest technical conference in the industry. The Lead-Free Soldering Technology Sympo-sium continued to be a big draw. The Open-ing Keynote Address by Brooks R. Kimmel, NASA, provided a touching description of the numerous advancements and spi-noff technologies developed from NASA’s research over the past decades. 155 exhib-iting companies packed the sold-out exhibit hall, a 20% increase from last year. More large equipment was on display than ever before. The Package on Package Assem-bly and Design Center demonstrated the entire PoP process and was well received by attendees. Hal Hendrickson, Nord-son DAGE, SMTA International Exhibitor Committee chair, said, “It was another good show. The extra efforts made this year to drive attendees from the conference to the show floor were laudable. We are looking forward to Fort Worth in 2013.” The 2013 SMTA International Conference and Exhi-bition will be held at the Fort Worth Con-vention Center in Fort Worth, Texas on October 13-17, 2013. For more informa-tion on SMTA International please contact SMTA administrator JoAnn Stromberg: [email protected] or 952-920-7682 or visit www.smta.org/smtai/.
Industry advancements, life in the year 2100 and a trip to Mars highlight IPc APex exPo 2013Delivering answers, solutions and opportu-nities for future innovation in electronics manufacturing, IPC APEX EXPO® 2013 will take place February 19–21, at the San Diego Convention Center. Information and online registration are now available.
Unlike any other show, IPC APEX EXPO hosts an exhibition with more than 400 of the industry’s top suppliers, profes-sional development courses, standards development meetings, executive manage-ment meetings as well as the world’s most highly selective technical conference in electronics manufacturing.
In addition, IPC APEX EXPO features many free activities, including technical BUZZ sessions, poster presentations, keynotes on a vision of life in the future and an inside look at the Curiosity rover mission, networking opportunities and new this year, a Printed Board Assembly Cleaning & Contamination Center that will be on the show floor. Also on the exhibition floor, the highly popular New Products Corridor and the IPC APEX EXPO Hand Soldering Competition will again be featured. In 2013, IPC APEX EXPO will also welcome hand soldering champions from around the world as it hosts the IPC Hand Soldering World Championship on February 21.
To help attendees plan their itineraries for the show and to focus in on the products and services of most interest to them, IPC offers My APEX EXPO, an online interac-tive planner that enables users to effectively and efficiently make appointments with exhibitors and schedule their time at the show. My APEX EXPO allows users to view the more than 400 exhibiting companies on the show floor, read up on exhibitors’ products and services and even commu-nicate with exhibitors and colleagues in advance of the show.
Access to the exhibit hall is free to pre-registrants, a savings of $25 on-site. Individ-uals who register by January 25 will save 20 percent off registration fees. A new registra-tion option for 2013, the Maximum Value Package (MVP), offers a savings of more that 75 percent over individual item prices. www.IPCAPEXEXPO.org
IPc, SMTA to host cleaning and conformal coating conferenceIPC — Association Connecting Electron-ics Industries® in partnership with Surface Mount Technology Association (SMTA) will host a High-Reliability Cleaning and Conformal Coating Conference, November
13–15, 2012, at the Crowne Plaza Hotel-O’Hare in Chicago. The conference will provide a focus on electronics assembly reliability and the influence of cleaning and coating on the production of reliable hard-ware.
Prior to the conference, a half-day tech-nical workshop will be held on November 13 to introduce the fundamentals of conformal coating and coating processes. Doug Pauls, Rockwell Collins and Jason Keeping, Celestica, will address popular myths and misconceptions as well as common causes of coating problems. During the second half of the workshop, Collins and Keeping will discuss conformal coating in the manu-facturing environment.
The conference will begin in the after-noon of November 13 with technical presentations on nano-coatings, plasma polymers for protective films, chemically vapor deposited polymer coatings, and elec-tronic device reliability. Rounding out the day, Dave Hillman, Rockwell Collins, will deliver a keynote on “Printed Circuit Board Reliability—Design and Assembly Deci-sions for High-Performance Electronics.”
Day two of the conference will include sessions on conformal coating, mobile elec-tronics, cleanliness assessment and process control, localized extraction methods for ionic analysis, cleaning challenges in an HDI world, environmental standards and regulations, and VOC emissions and alter-natives to toxic conformal coatings.
During the half-day portion of the conference on November 15, industry experts will present information on elec-tronics assembly and PCB failure mecha-nisms and reliability, the influence of ionic contamination and tin whiskers, creep corrosion of PCB assemblies, assembly cleaning and challenges, no-clean flux residues, assembly cleaning process charac-terization, and more.
Registration for the conference includes a copy of the proceedings, luncheons and a networking reception. www.ipc.org/cleaning-and-coating
Title
40 – Global SMT & Packaging – November 2012 www.globalsmt.net
Tropical Stencil enhances products, adds full-service sourcingTropical Stencil has recently added several new product enhancements, along with full service printed circuit board (PCB) sourcing. Product enhancements include nano coating, step stencils, electroformed stencils, nickel stencils and Datum PHD/ Datum PHD fine grain stainless. Now also available is full-service PCB sourc-ing to ensure that customers’ stencils and PCBs are delivered together on time. From engineering to negotiating the most com-petitive price, Tropical Stencil handles all
of the communication and import logistics (freight and customs) to ensure that cus-tomers receive a quality product on time. www.tropicalstencil.com/products
100% inspection for minute etched componentsPrecision Micro now offers 100% inspec-tion on all parts as a result of investment in automated optical inspection (AOI). Utilizing and modifying technology devel-oped for the electronics manufacturing industry, Precision Micro has developed a bespoke AOI system. The system scans the work piece, acquires millions of data points (pixels) in a fraction of a second, and compares the data to a ‘first article, known good sample’. The results of the AOI are also fed back into the company’s con-tinuous improvement program, enabling appropriate remedial action to be taken. www.precisionmicrodrives.com
Powerful performance is required: MT2168 for high-power applicationsMultitest announces that its MT2168 pick-and-place handler has been selected for a challenging high-current application by an IDM that is leading in this segment. Multitest will provide a “more than Plug & Yield®” solution, i.e. the MT2168 will be delivered with a Multitest contactor. Additionally, Multitest experts are work-ing closely with the docking supplier and the tester company that specializes in this type kind of application. The flexibility of the MT2168 allows for an optimal con-figuration of the handler in order to ensure best performance of the entire setup. www.multitest.com/MT2168
New productsNew products
KIc introduces ProBot—the profiling robot that perfects your AoI and batch x-ray inspectionShipping beginning October 2012, KIC’s new ProBot automatically verifies whether each PCB is processed to specification in the reflow oven. The suspect PCBs then can be sent off to batch x-ray. Since the typical batch x-ray machine only inspects a fraction of all assembled PCBs, the ProBot allows for a more effective sampling. The ProBot’s software will store the relevant solder paste and component temperature tolerances and check that each PCB was processed in accordance with these process windows. www.kicthermal.com
Global SMT & Packaging – November 2012– 41www.globalsmt.net
New products
Manncorp brings high-precision, selective soldering and fluxing to the bench-top with the new ulTIMA series
The ULTIMA Series Selective Soldering and Fluxing Systems offer a new solution for soldering through-hole components and connectors to surface mount and mixed technology PCBs. Numerous engineering and design innovations have resulted in compact, bench-top systems loaded with features that deliver a level of performance that, until now, would have made selective soldering cost-prohibitive for many low- and medium-volume PCB assemblers. www.manncorp.com/selective-soldering/
Microscan releases ultra-compact 2d imaging engine with dual optical fieldMicroscan announces the availability of the MS-2D imaging engine with dual opti-cal field for linear barcode, 2D symbol and direct part marks (DPM) decod-ing applications. The new MS-2D engine offers advanced technologies for decoding and is designed specifically for embedded applications. The engine is equipped with
a 1.2 Megapixel CMOS sensor (960 x 640 pixels), and thanks to the dual optical field it offers reliable reading of codes ranging from large 1D barcodes to tiny high-den-sity 2D symbols. www.microscan.com
Stand-Alone Process Machine for automated, precision-controlled and standardized production stepsWith its SPM 1000 stand-alone process machine, IPTE Factory Automation (FA) has introduced a highly flexible production solution in an efficiently operating work cell. The SPM 1000 delivers a large variety of high-quality, precision-controlled man-
ufacturing process steps, with standardized and automated routines that are, of course, fully documented. The work cell features a linear axes system (XY) and a spindle axis (Z-movement, height). The work-piece holder is a switch-actuated rotating plate with two basic seatings for the products. Loading is safeguarded by a light grid system. www.ipte.com
3.0V to 4.2V ISM band Tx/rx module with diversity transfer switchRFMD’s new RFFM6904 is a single-chip front-end module (FEM) for applications in the 868MHz/900MHz ISM Band. The RFFM6904 addresses the need for aggres
colored polyimide label materials for printed circuit board trackingPolyonics has developed a series of col-ored polyimide labels, for manufactur-ers looking to color code production/process lines. These labels survive lead-free wave soldering processes on the top and bottom side of the board. Our col-ored polyimide labels are coated with an aggressive pressure sensitive adhesive and high opacity, medium gloss top-coat. These labels are available in 6 tinted colors; pink, yellow, orange, blue, green and violet. www.polyonics.com
SIPlAce Smart Pin SupportMore and more often electronics manu-facturers have to deal with large, heavy or very thin boards, which frequently require support pins for the placement process in order to prevent warping or vibrations. With its SIPLACE Smart Pin Support, ASM Assembly Systems pro-vides a hardware-software combination that simplifies this previously cumber-some and complex support pin place-ment process for all boards. The newly developed pin picker picks up the sup-port pins from the magazine during the placement process. It then places them quickly and accurately on the lifting plate. www.siplace.com
42 – Global SMT & Packaging – November 2012 www.globalsmt.net
New products
sive size reduction for typical portable equipment RF front-end design and greatly reduces the number of components outside of the core chipset, thus minimizing the footprint and assembly cost of the overall solution. The RFFM6904 contains an inte-grated 2W PA, Tx/Rx transfer switch, LNA with bypass mode, and matching compo-nents. www.elgris.com
Vco: V846Me24-lf features linear tuning Z-Communications, Inc., announces a new RoHS compliant VCO (Voltage Con-trolled Oscillator) model V846ME24-LF in the S-band. The V846ME24-LF oper-ates at 3100 to 3500 MHz with a tuning voltage range of 1 to 12 Vdc and provides better than 1.1:1 tuning linearity. This high performance VCO features a spectrally clean signal of -114 dBc/Hz @ 100 kHz offset and a typical tuning sensitivity of 62 MHz/V. www.zcommunications.org
fox’s new xpresso Tcxos provide custom frequencies up to 250 Mhz with quick deliveryFox Electronics has enhanced its innova-tive XpressO line of low jitter configu-rable oscillators with the XpressO-TC, a new TCXO version with custom frequen-cies up to 250 MHz. As with all XpressO oscillators, the new TCXOs can be deliv-
ered in less than ten working days, a major improvement over the standard lead times of competitive offerings.
Part of the FXTC-HE73 series, the new HCMOS XpressO-TC oscillators offer a tight frequency stability of ±2.5 ppm across an extended temperature range of -40°C to +85°C. www.foxonline.com
Join thousands of your colleagues from more than 50 countries andmore than 400 exhibitors at IPC APEX EXPO 2013 in beautiful San Diego.Learn about new technologies and processes, see new products, work on industry standards, network with industry experts and participate in the world’s premier technical conference for electronics manufacturing. Register today! Find solutions that will help you save time and money and gain a competitive advantage.
INFORMATION that INSPIRES INNOVATION
Scan for your chance to win a three-night hotel stay or an
MVP registration.
IPC APEX EXPO provided my company with valuable information and contacts to move us into the next generation of products.
Charlie DavisQuality Engineer Electronics Assembly
Crown Equipment Corporation
International diary7-8 November 2012IWLPC (International Wafer-Level Pack-aging Conference) Santa Clara, California, USAiwlpc.com
13-16 November 2012electronica Munich, Germanyelectronica.de
5-6 December 2012Printed Electronics USA 2012Santa Clara, California, USAprintedelectronicsusa.com
16-18 January 2013INTERNEPCON Japan Tokyo, Japannepcon.jp/en/
30 January - 1 February 2013SEMICON KoreaSeoul, Koreasemiconkorea.com
19-21 February 2013IPC Apex ExpoSan Diego, California, USAipcapexexpo.org
22-24 February 2013Pan-Pacific MicroelectronicsMaui, Hawaii, USAsmta.org/panpac/
13-14 March 2013Smart Systems IntegrationAmsterdam, Netherlandssmartsystemsintegration.com
18-22 March 2013DATE—Design, Automation & TestGrenoble, Francedate-conference.com
Join thousands of your colleagues from more than 50 countries andmore than 400 exhibitors at IPC APEX EXPO 2013 in beautiful San Diego.Learn about new technologies and processes, see new products, work on industry standards, network with industry experts and participate in the world’s premier technical conference for electronics manufacturing. Register today! Find solutions that will help you save time and money and gain a competitive advantage.
INFORMATION that INSPIRES INNOVATION
Scan for your chance to win a three-night hotel stay or an
MVP registration.
IPC APEX EXPO provided my company with valuable information and contacts to move us into the next generation of products.
Charlie DavisQuality Engineer Electronics Assembly
