Reliability Matters

Today, we're going to talk about cleanliness testing of post-reflowed circuit assemblies. In late 2018, IPC shocked the electronic assembly community by introducing an amendment to section 8 of the J-STD-001G. This amendment radically changed the way industry determines cleanliness. Now, assemblers must prove their assemblies are clean enough not to experience electro-chemical migration events which would cause the assembly to fail. This new process of obtaining objective evidence has been met with a considerable degree of confusion. To help clear up the confusion, I invited Graham Naisbitt to be my guest. Graham is an IEC 1906 Lord Kelvin Award Winner, IEC TC91 WG2, 3 and 10 Maintenance Leader of 4 Standards. Graham is Vice-Chair of the IPC 5-30 Cleaning and Coating Sub-Committee which oversees 15 IPC Standards Development Committees and recipient of 14 IPC Standards Awards. Graham is also a British Standards Institution EPL-501 Member.Graham is a specialist in Surface Insulation Resistance Testing, Ionic Contamination Control, Solderability, Conformal Coating materials and application systems, Cleaning, Inspection and Test. Graham's Webinar:"Predicting Reliability in Electronics" with experts Graham Naisbitt and Chris Hunthttps://iconnect007.com/index.php?cID=854Graham's Book:"The Printed Circuit Assembler's Guide to Process Validation"https://iconnect007.com/my-i-connect007/books/process-validation/Graham's Contact Info:graham.naisbitt@gen3systems.comBe part of our Reliability Matters 100th episode. You can watch it here on this channel on YouTube:https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=fcnA_7G-GRA Or, watch on LinkedIn using the following link:https://www.linkedin.com/video/event/urn:li:ugcPost:6916632834543681536/

Jen Fijalkowski works for Aim Solder. Jen obtained her B.S. from the University of Rhode Island in Chemical Engineering and is a certified Lean Six Sigma Green Belt. Prior to her role as a Technical Marketing Engineer, she interned as a SMT Process Engineer, where she analyzed various reports regarding solder paste printing and co-authored "Comparison of Aperture Designs, Solder Pastes, Nanocoatings and Print/Inspection Systems", published in Circuits Assembly Magazine. Jen also produces a video blog titled “Line Down” where she discusses common questions about solder paste best practices and how to avoid solder paste induced line-down situations.I spoke with Jen about solder paste best practices as well as some of the latest advances in solder pastes such as low temperature, low voiding, and high reliability solder pastes.Jen Fijalkowski may be contacted here:jfijalkowski@aimsolder.comhttps://aimsolder.comTechnical Article:https://tinyurl.com/3xt2cejfLine Down Video Series:https://www.facebook.com/AIMSolderMaterials/videos/?ref=page_internal

In this episode I speak with four experts about best practices for purchasing X ray equipment.There are numerous manufacturers of X ray equipment each with multiple models with varying capabilities. Which type of X ray equipment is right for your application? What are the price ranges? What are the specific capabilities? What questions should I ask when speaking with manufacturers of X ray equipment? How do I define my needs? These and other questions will are answered by our expert panel.Our expert panel includes:Keith Bryant of Keith Bryant Consultancy. Keith has more than 30 years in the electronics industry and has worked for and with X ray equipment manufacturers. Keith may be contacted here:keith@smta.orgDr. David Bernard of David Bernard Consultancy. Dr. Bernard has more than 20 years of experience in the X ray industry and has worked for and with X ray equipment manufacturers.Dr. Bernard may be contacted here:dbc@bernard.abel.co.ukDavid Kruidhof is the Sales Manager for Creative Electron, a manufacturer of X ray equipment.David may be contacted here:dkruidhof@creativeelectron.comRobert Boguski is the President of Datest, an analytical laboratory specializing in failure analysis. Robert is a user of X-ray equipment.Robert may be contact here:rboguski@datest.com

Episode 96: A Conversation with Industry Gurus Phil Zarrow and Jim Hall about their New BookA couple of episodes ago, I talked to Dr. and Professor Ron Lasky about a couple of books he wrote. He also recommended a book he didn't write. That book is titled Troubleshooting Electronic Assembly: Wisdom from the BoardTalk Crypt by industry gurus Phil Zarrow and Jim Hall available on Amazon (both were prior guests on this show). Well today, we’ll have a conversation with Phil and Jim about their book. If you’ve been in the electronic assembly industry for some time, there’s little doubt that you haven’t heard of Phil Zarrow and Jim Hall. Phil has been involved with PCB fabrication and assembly for more than 35 years. Phil is the President and Principal Consultant of ITM Consulting. Jim Hall has been involved in the electronic assembly industry for the past 26 years. He’s a principal consultant and resident Lean Six Sigma Master Black Belt with ITM Consulting. He’s also an instructor in the Lean Six Sigma programs offered at Dartmouth College. Together with Dr. Ron Lasky, Phil and Jim designed the SMTA’s SMT Processes Certification Course. Phil and Jim host the popular audio series “Board Talk” on Circuit-Insight, available here:https://www.circuitinsight.com/channels/board_talk.htmlHere is a link to Phil and Jim's "Lessons Learned from the Trenches of SMT Assembly and a Decade of Board Talk” technical course:https://tinyurl.com/board-talk Here is a link to Phil and Jim's book:https://tinyurl.com/board-talk-book Contact Phil and Jim:Phil Zarrowphil_zarrow@itmconsulting.comJim Halljim_hall@itmconsulting.comITM Consultinghttps://itmconsulting.com

I spoke with Dr. Ron Lasky and Jim Hall, authors of the SMTA SMT Certification Courses (along with Phil Zarrow) about the content of these courses. I also spoke with two course students, Claire Hotvedt of Indium Corporation and Tom Watson of Kimball Electronics about their experience taking the courses and the value they received.SMTA offers two certification courses:• SMT Processes• Lean Six Sigma Green BeltEach SMTA Certification program is a three-day offering consisting of a 1.5-day workshop on topics in SMT Processes or Lean Six Sigma Green Belt. The program concludes on days two and three with an open and closed book examination (SMT Processes) and open book examination (Lean Six Sigma Green Belt.)This is not an entry-level program. Basic algebra will be used in the workshop and examination. This challenging examination requires both written answers and calculations with the intent to enable the attendee to establish competitive credentials as "Certified" by the SMTA in SMT Processes or Lean Six Sigma Green Belt.More information on the SMTA certification courses is available here:https://smta.org/page/certification

Dr. Ron Lasky talks about the many books he has authored on SMT processes and production efficiencies. Dr. Ron Lasky is a Senior Technologist at Indium Corporation, as well as a Professor of Engineering at Dartmouth College, where I have twice had the privilege of speaking on the Dartmouth campus to his students. If you're like some people who view the next generation of young adults skeptically and pessimistically, I can assure you your view would quickly change after spending time with his students. Dr. Lasky has more than 30 years of experience in electronics and optoelectronics packaging at IBM, Universal Instruments, and Cookson Electronics. Additionally, he has served as an adjunct professor at several colleges, teaching more than 20 different courses on topics ranging from electronics packaging, materials science, physics, mechanical engineering and science, and religion.Dr. Lasky holds numerous patent disclosures and is the developer of several SMT processing software products relating to cost estimating, line balancing, and process optimization, all subjects of paramount importance in today's hyper-competitive environment. He is the co-creator of engineering certification exams that set standards in the electronics assembly industry worldwide. Dr. Lasky was awarded the Surface Mount Technology Association’s (SMTA) Technical Distinction Award in 2021 for his "significant and continuing technical contributions to the SMTA." He was also awarded SMTA's Founder’s Award in 2003.Dr. Lasky holds four degrees, including a Ph.D. from Cornell University in materials science, and is a licensed professional engineer.He has authored six books, and contributed to nine more, on science, electronics, and optoelectronics, and has authored numerous technical papers and today, I'm going to talk with Ron about some of those books.Here's how to get Dr. Ron's books:Handbook of Electronic Assembly and A Guide to SMTA Certificationhttps://smta.org/store/viewproduct.aspx?id=16304955The Printed Circuit Assembler's Guide to Solder Defectshttp://iconnect007.com/index.php?cID=852Troubleshooting Electronic Assembly: Wisdom from the BoardTalk Crypthttps://www.amazon.com/Troubleshooting-Electronic-Assembly-Wisdom-BoardTalk/dp/1732283680Patty and the Professorhttps://www.mikekonrad.com/patty-and-the-professorDr. Ron's Contact Information:ronald.c.lasky@dartmouth.edu

Dr. Kunal Shah is the President and Chief Scientist at Lilotree, a manufacturer of novel surface finishes for circuit boards. Dr. Shah explains the advantages of surface finishes utilizing the thinnest thickness of gold as well as Ni-Less ENIG surface finishes.Lilotree:2904 266th Ave NE,Building B,Redmond, WA, 98053https://www.lilotree.comcontact.us@lilotree.comPhone: +1-425-780-2732

Thank you to my friend and colleague Trevor Galbraith of Global SMT for allowing me to broadcast from his studio at the IPC APEX Expo in San Diego. Today's episode features conversations with two guests:Marco Sanchez from SMT North America talks about thermal control of reflow ovens.marco.sanchez@smtna.comColin Harper of BPM talks about automatic device programming.colin_harper@bpmmicro.com

Thank you to my friend and colleague Trevor Galbraith of Global SMT for allowing me to broadcast from his studio at the IPC APEX Expo in San Diego. Today's episode features conversations with four guests:Jesper Lykke from Viscom talks about inspection systems.jesper.lykke@viscomusa.com Greg Papandrew from Direct PCB talks about PCB buying and his new book "PCB Basics for Buyers"greg@boardbuying.com Kevin Huo from EM Solutions talks about fast-turn contract assembly.kevinh@emsolutionstech.com And, our very own pirate, Michelle Ogihara from Saika USA talks about the advantages of joining trade associations. michelle@seikausa.com

While it may seem like an untimely topic given the current supply chain shortages, storage systems for electronic components are an important part of the electronic assembly industry. While we are still in the midst of a supply chain crisis, sooner or later this will be solved and the question of where to put all of our components will be waiting for us to answer. It's often said we don't have time to work on the important because we're so busy working on the urgent. My guest today is Mike Adamson, Product Manager for Inovaxe Corporation, a provider of material handling products and services for the electronic assembly industry. In today's hyper-competitive electronic assembly industry, efficiency and optimization are key to maintaining competitiveness. Mike received a BS in physics from the University of Wisconsin La Crosse as well as a BS in Electrical Engineering from the University of Minnesota Twin Cities. In addition, Mike also earned an MBA in Marketing from Lynn University.Mike Adamson may be reached here:michael.adamson@inovaxe.comhttps://inovaxe.com