Reliability Matters

A conversation with media personalities Mike Buetow (Circuits Assembly Magazine), Trevor Galbraith (Global SMT & Packaging), Phil Stoten (Scoop TV), and Eric Miscoll (EMC Now). During our conversation we covered various topics including post pandemic production, innovations within our industry, supply chain and labor shortages, and more.My guests may be reached here:Mike Buetowmbuetow@upmediagroup.comTrevor Galbraithtgalbraith@trafalgarmedia.comPhil Stotenphil@wearescoop.comEric Miscollemiscoll@emsnow.com

Episode 75: Matric Group's Patrick Stimpert on Lean Manufacturing with a "Lean-In" PhilosophyEMS provider Matric Group's Patrick Stimpert incorporated the Toyota Production System’s Lean principles into his contract manufacturing business. Patrick states “Results are Important. How do I get my results? With the use of the Toyota Production System’s Lean principles and my simple rule “don’t waste time rearranging deck chairs on the Titanic, go fix the problem”. I believe in the "LEAN-IN" processes and gain improvements through RIPs (Rapid Improvement Projects) These projects are based on a standard of identifying problems, brainstorming solutions, attempting those solutions, and adjusting from there. “If we are going to fail, we are going to fail fast and cheap.”Matric Grouphttps://www.matric.com

Worthington Assembly's Chris Denney speaks about the electronic contract manufacturing business.• How to select an appropriate contract manufacturer• Evaluating a contract manufacturer's capabilities• Mistakes made when selecting a contract manufacturer• Advantages and disadvantages of selecting a US-based contract manufacturerChris may be contacted here:cdenney@worthingtonassembly.comWorthington Assembly's website:https://www.worthingtonassembly.com

Episode 73: A Conversation with Solder Paste Expert Tim Jensen of Indium.Tim Jensen talks about: • Solder paste selection best practices • Low temperature solder • Common mistakes made when using solder paste • Solder paste jetting / micro-dispensing • And much moreTim Jensen may be reached here:tjensen@indium.comIndium Corporationhttps://www.indium.com

ECD's Mark Waterman discusses thermal profiling best practices. • Common mistakes made when using profilers• In-use best practices• Common applicationsMark may be reached here:mailto:mwaterman@ecd.comECD's Website:https://www.ecd.com

Episode 71: A Conversation with Manufacturer's Representatives About Sales and Support Post Covid 19Four manufacturer's representatives share their experience in supporting their customer's needs. They share how sales and support has changed over the years and review the "new normal".My guests are:David LeventhalRestronicsdleventhal@restronics.comJoan Carrol-Kennedy Restronicsjcarroll@restronics.comMurray Percival Jr.Murray Percivalmapercival@murraypercival.comTodd WittmerWittco Salestoddwittmer@wittcosales.com

My guest today is AMIT DRORCo-Founder of Nano Dimension Ltd. and Customer Success Officer. Amit served as Nano Dimension’s Chief Executive Officer from 2014 to 2019. Nano Dimension has produced a product which, arguably can be best described as a true disruptive force within the electronic assembly space.We’re all experienced with inkjet printers. Ink jet nozzles travel from left to right back and forth over a sheet of paper. When the printing process has been completed, out shoots a sheet of paper with text or images deposited on the paper’s surface. Now, imagine a different type of printer. Instead of four-color ink cartridges there are two basic inks, one a dielectric ink and the other a silver-based conductive ink. The print heads travel back and forth and, when the printing process is finished, out pops a multi-layer circuit board complete with vias, through-holes, ground planes, and conductive traces, and markings, ready for component placement and reflow. Need another board, just press print. This technology gives new meaning to "printed circuit board".Amit DrorCo-Founder of Nano Dimension Ltd. and Customer Success OfficerNano Dimensionnano-di.comNANO DIMENSION USA INC.13798 NW 4th Street, Suite 315Sunrise, FL 33325, United States NANO DIMENSION (ISRAEL) 2 Ilan Ramon St. Ness-Ziona Science Park Ness Ziona 7403635, IsraelNANO DIMENSION (HK) LTD.Unit 202. 2/F, Lakeside 2, Phase Two,Hong Kong Science Park, Pak Shek Kok,New Territories, Hong Kong

I was privileged to be a guest on the Pick-Place Podcast with Chris Denney (Worthington Assembly) and Melissa Hough (CircuitHub). This is the second of a two-part interview.In this episode we are joined by Mike Konrad to chat about board cleaning. Mike founded Aqueous Technologies in 1992 in response to the Montreal Protocol and the resulting international treaty banning most popular cleaning/defluxing solvents. Their board cleaning equipment assists manufacturers with increasing product reliability while saving both water and energy, reducing the industry's environmental impact.In addition to being the President of Aqueous Technologies, he is also a fellow podcaster and runs the Reliability Matters Podcast, which discusses reliability of circuit assemblies, reliability "best practices" and success stories.In the first part of this conversation we delve into the history of board cleaning, the electronics the industry's transition to primarily using no-clean flux, and why more and more companies are reintroducing board cleaning back into their assembly process. This episode gets us into the nitty gritty details of how to implement a proper circuit board cleaning process.Chris Denney may be reached here:cdenney@worthingtonassembly.comMelissa Hough may be reached here:melissa@circuithub.comMike Konrad may be reached here:konrad@aqueoustech.com

I was privileged to be a guest on the Pick-Place Podcast with Chris Denney (Worthington Assembly) and Melissa Hough (CircuitHub). This is the first of a two-part interview.In this episode we are joined by Mike Konrad to chat about board cleaning. Mike founded Aqueous Technologies in 1992 in response to the Montreal Protocol and the resulting international treaty banning most popular cleaning/defluxing solvents. Their board cleaning equipment assists manufacturers with increasing product reliability while saving both water and energy, reducing the industry's environmental impact.In addition to being the President of Aqueous Technologies, he is also a fellow podcaster and runs the Reliability Matters Podcast, which discusses reliability of circuit assemblies, reliability "best practices" and success stories.In the first part of this conversation we delve into the history of board cleaning, the electronics the industry's transition to primarily using no-clean flux, and why more and more companies are reintroducing board cleaning back into their assembly process. If you want to listen to us get into the nitty gritty details of how to implement a proper circuit board cleaning process, make sure to listen to the second half of this episode.Chris Denney may be reached here:cdenney@worthingtonassembly.comMelissa Hough may be reached here:melissa@circuithub.com

Episode 67: A Conversation with Rework/Repair Expert Norman Mier of Best Inc.Norman Mier is a U.S. Marine Corp. retired veteran with over 20 years of experience in the electronics rework and repair industry. He received his training through the Navy's Micro Miniature (2M) Electronic Repair Program. He has progressed through every level of rework and repair recognized in the industry. Norman has also earned the highest certifications awarded by IPC in electronics training, being certified as a Master Instructor in IPC A-610, IPC J-STD-001D, IPC/WHMA-A-620 and IPC 7711/7721.He has worked through BEST for several electronics industry leaders and created tailored courses for their equipment. This also includes providing training to technicians and engineers in surface mount and advanced surface mount technology. The knowledge Norm has brought to these companies has been invaluable to their process improvement efforts. His skill has also been a major factor in keeping BEST training at the forefront in the electronics-training field. Norman may be contacted here:nmier@solder.net