Reliability Matters

My conversation with Automated Optical Inspection (AOI) and Solder Paste Inspection (SPI) system supplier Brian D'Amico covers AOI and SPI best practices. Modern circuit assemblies are difficult, if not impossible, to inspect without the aid of advanced inspection systems. Brian has been in the electronic assembly equipment industry for thirty six years. His knowledge (and passion) for inspection technology is truly impressive.

SMT-WARSLessons Learned from a Contract Manufacturer and Their Customer Who Sued ThemWhat happens when an electronic contract manufacturer follows their customer’s instructions to the detriment of the product? Product failures, blame, drama, and a really big lawsuit. Mike Konrad reviews the trials and tribulations of a contract manufacturer and their customer. Assembly residue-related failures (ECM) contributed to product failures, product recalls, and, ultimately, a multi-million-dollar lawsuit. Misguided “best practice” techniques only made matters worse. This podcast will discuss what factors contributed to the “perfect storm” of product failures. Factors that go as far back to original product designs, printed circuit board fabrication, storage and handling, assembly, testing, and coating. While mistakes were made all along the way, product failures could have been avoided with a few simple process changes, adding mere pennies to the cost of each assembly while saving hundreds of thousands of dollars in litigation.

Welcome to another episode of Reliability Matters. I’m coming to you from Baltimore MD where I am speaking at the IPC High Reliability Conference. This is our 16th episode. We began this podcast journey in January 2019. Every week this year, we released a new episode. Many of the past 15 episodes featured interviews with various industry experts in a variety of subjects including X-ray, thermal management, cleaning and cleaning materials, failure analysis, design for reliability and other best-practice topics. I’ve had a great time hosting this podcast and I hope you have found it valuable, relevant, and perhaps even entertaining. We are gearing up for another season of Reliability Matters episodes. We’re lining up new guests and topics. If there are any topics you’d like me to cover, or guests you’d like to hear from, please let me know. Shoot me an email at mike@mikekonrad.com and let me know what you want to hear.Moving forward, we’ll be airing new episodes twice each month, on the second and fourth Tuesday of each month. Today’s episode turns the table on our usual format. Normally, I interview an industry expert. Today, I’m the subject of the interview. My friend and colleague Phil Stoten from Scoop TV interviewed me a few months ago where we discussed cleaning and cleanliness testing as method to improve reliability. This interview took place on a crowded and relatively noisy trade show floor, so pardon the background noise. Here’s that interview.

An interview with reliability expert Fred Schenkelberg. Fred Schenkelberg is an international authority on reliability engineering. He is the reliability expert at FMS Reliability, a reliability engineering and management consulting firm he founded in 2004. Fred left Hewlett Packard’s Reliability Team where he helped create a culture of reliability across HP to assist other organizations. His passion is working with teams to improve product reliability, customer satisfaction, and efficiencies in product development; and to reduce product risk and warranty costs. Fred has a Bachelor of Science in Physics from the United States Military Academy and a Master of Science in Statistics from Stanford University.

Most of our episodes feature guests representing specific segments of the electronic assembly industry. Today’s episode is no exception. My guest on this episode is MB Allen from KIC. KIC provides thermal profiling hardware and profiler software tools that help define, measure, monitor, and improve thermal processes for electronics manufacturing services. Today, more than ever, thermal management is vital to ensuring a proper reflow or soldering process. There is a direct link between proper reflow profiles and reliability, which makes this topic relevant for any conversation about reliability. MB Allen is the Manager of Applications and Sales for the Americas and Europe. Formerly a Product Manager MB coordinated the advancement of new products and features to accommodate customer needs. Her technical expertise, relationships with valued partners and customers, and many years of experience aid in the future development and improvements of her company's product offerings.MB has worked in the electronics industry for 31 years and been associated with KIC for 30 years with both national and international positions.We discuss thermal management and assembly thermal profiling as a means to better reliability.

An interview with US Ambassadors of FLITE (Female Leaders in Tech Everywhere), Michelle Ogihara and Sherry Stepp on the subject of women in electronics and FLITE's mission to build a platform based on real-life experiences to help raise the visibility of females in technology.

Tips & Tricks for Successfully Cleaning Circuit AssembliesIn the last half of the 20th century, cleaning of circuit assemblies was a standard assembly practice. The abolishment of popular CFC-based cleaning solvents ushered the introduction of "no-clean" assembly processes. For much of the electronic assembly industry, cleaning became nonexistent. Due to assembly and component miniaturization and the explosion of both IOT and automotive electronics, which places many circuit assemblies into harsh environments, the practice of removing harmful ionic contamination from circuit assemblies has once again become a mainstream practice. Today, the majority of electronic assemblies are cleaned. And, for many assemblers, cleaning is a new process. This podcast will present modern best-practice cleaning techniques including:- An historical look back at cleaning- The reason for cleaning- Reasons for cleaning no-clean flux residues- Conventional cleaning technologies- Estimating throughput capabilities on batch and inline cleaning systems- Do's and don'ts of cleaning circuit assemblies- How to choose a cleaning chemical (if needed)- How to determine the assemblies are clean during the cleaning process- How to determine the assemblies are clean after the cleaning process- New IPC Cleanliness assessment standards- Environmental mitigation techniques- Calculating the per-assembly cost of cleaning- Keeping your cleaning machine in top-working order

X-ray has come a long way since its discovery in 1895. Originally used in the medial field, X-ray technology has been integrated into many industrial sectors including the electronic assembly industry. Dr. David Bernard is an expert in X-ray technology within the electronics industry. Dr. Bernard and I discuss the modern use of X-ray technology, applications within the electronic assembly industry and the skills required to interpret the images produced.

Episode 9 features an interview with Dr. Mike Bixenman. We’ll be talking about cleaning for reliability, challenging components and fluxes, methods to determine how clean is clean enough, and how and why he co-founded Kyzen Corporation.Mike is one of the founders of Kyzen Corporation and serves as its Chief Technology Officer. Mike is well known within the electronic assembly industry and is a featured speaker at industry conferences and symposiums around the world.Mike is the Chair of the IPC Cleaning and Coating Conference held once every two years in Chicago and is the Technical Chair for SMTA Europe’s Electronics in Harsh Environments Conference held annually in Amsterdam. Mike has also received the IPC President’s Award and has chaired the IPC Cleaning Handbook Task Group.

On this episode, we’re hosting a roundtable discussion on the subject of cleaning circuit assemblies after reflow. After all, contamination removal is exclusively performed to increase the reliability of circuit assemblies and the products they are installed in. With the rapid expansion of electronics due partly to automotive and IOT, cleaning of circuit assemblies has increased dramatically and with that, challenges to cleaning have also increased. Because cleaning is commonly an “end of the line” procedure, it frequently falls victim to assembly procedures earlier in the assembly process. As a result, cleaning technology (equipment, chemical, processes), must be reactive to overcome the challenges presented by the assembly process.Today, we’re going to discuss some of the challenges to cleaning and to do so, I’ve recruited a panel of experts. Today’s cleaning roundtable features a number of experts from Zestron, a company known for manufacturing innovative chemical solutions for the electronic assembly and semiconductor markets.