THE DIGITAL FACTORY - Global SMT & Packaging …...4 – Global SMT & Packaging – October 2014...

Paul WoodInterview Inside

PLUS: A BRIGHTER FUTURE FOR TWO-COMPONENT MATERIALS FOR ELECTRONICS & more

The Global Assembly Journal for SMT & Advanced Packaging Professionals

www.globalsmt.net

THE DIGITAL FACTORY

Volume 14 Number 10, October 2014ISSN 1474 - 0893

Includes 2014 supplement edition of Global LEDs/OLEDs magazine—starting on page 19

Smart SonicTHE “ONLY” STENCIL CLEANERTHE ONLY stencil cleaning process guaranteed to clean any type of solder paste from any fine-pitch stencil.

THE ONLY stencil cleaner verified by the U.S. EPA’s Environmental Technology Verification Program for environmental safety, user safety and cleaning efficiency.

THE ONLY 100% closed-loop aqueous ultrasonic stencil cleaner. Close-loops the rinse AND wash waters.

THE ONLY stencil cleaner able to wash and rinse a 29-inch stencil in less than two minutes.

THE ONLY stencil cleaning chemistry containing no VOCs, 440-R® SMT Detergent.

THE ONLY ultrasonic stencil cleaner recommended by Permali, makers of Durostone pallet material, for the safe and effective cleaning of Durostone pallets.

THE ONLY stencil cleaning process established and remaining unchanged for over 25 years.

The original ultrasonic stencil cleaner

Web: www.SmartSonic.com E-mail: [email protected] Tel.: +1-818-610-7900

SIX MODELS FROM WHICH TO CHOOSEALL PROVIDING 100% CLEAN ABILITY

ErgoSonic Model 6000Model 1550 Model 2003 Models 520 & 529

THE ONLY stencil cleaner using low power density ultrasonic technology for the safe and effective cleaning of populated misprinted boards.

THE ONLY stencil cleaner providing a complete proprietary process from one source: The right machine, the best chemistry and the correct waste management.

THE ONLY stencil cleaning process able to clean every solder paste introduced since 1990.

THE ONLY stencil cleaner able to clean solder paste stencils, misprinted PCBs, pallets, oven radiators and SMD adhesive stencils.

THE ONLY stencil cleaner used by more SMT assemblers than any other stencil cleaner.

THE ONLY stencil cleaner company specializing exclusively in stencil cleaning technology.

Global SMT & Packaging – October 2014 – 1www.globalsmt.net

Smart SonicTHE “ONLY” STENCIL CLEANERTHE ONLY stencil cleaning process guaranteed to clean any type of solder paste from any fine-pitch stencil.

THE ONLY stencil cleaner verified by the U.S. EPA’s Environmental Technology Verification Program for environmental safety, user safety and cleaning efficiency.

THE ONLY 100% closed-loop aqueous ultrasonic stencil cleaner. Close-loops the rinse AND wash waters.

THE ONLY stencil cleaner able to wash and rinse a 29-inch stencil in less than two minutes.

THE ONLY stencil cleaning chemistry containing no VOCs, 440-R® SMT Detergent.

THE ONLY ultrasonic stencil cleaner recommended by Permali, makers of Durostone pallet material, for the safe and effective cleaning of Durostone pallets.

THE ONLY stencil cleaning process established and remaining unchanged for over 25 years.

The original ultrasonic stencil cleaner

Web: www.SmartSonic.com E-mail: [email protected] Tel.: +1-818-610-7900

SIX MODELS FROM WHICH TO CHOOSEALL PROVIDING 100% CLEAN ABILITY

ErgoSonic Model 6000Model 1550 Model 2003 Models 520 & 529

THE ONLY stencil cleaner using low power density ultrasonic technology for the safe and effective cleaning of populated misprinted boards.

THE ONLY stencil cleaner providing a complete proprietary process from one source: The right machine, the best chemistry and the correct waste management.

THE ONLY stencil cleaning process able to clean every solder paste introduced since 1990.

THE ONLY stencil cleaner able to clean solder paste stencils, misprinted PCBs, pallets, oven radiators and SMD adhesive stencils.

THE ONLY stencil cleaner used by more SMT assemblers than any other stencil cleaner.

THE ONLY stencil cleaner company specializing exclusively in stencil cleaning technology.

Global SMT & Packagingis published monthlyby Trafalgar PublicationsLimited. The journal is FREE to qualified professionals and is available by subscription at a cost of $180 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.

ISSN No. 1474-0893 © Trafalgar Publications LtdDesigned and Published by Trafalgar Publications LtdPrinted by Presstige Printing, Bonita Springs, FL

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Contents

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.

Volume 14, No. 10

October 2014

ContentsEDITORIAL2 Monitor, measure, improve—the new metrics that will drive tomorrow’s factories Trevor Galbraith

TECHNOLOGY FOCUS12 A brighter future for two-component materials for electronics Per Orla Jensen, Nordson ASYMTEK

SPECIAL FEATURES10 The Digital Factory—German engineering on steroids!34 Interview—Paul Wood, OK International38 Show floor preview—SMTA International 2014

LED SUPPLEMENT20 LED Industry News22 Avoid the “achilles heel” of LED assembly production Michael Ford, Mentor Graphics, Valor Division26 New LED products

REGULAR COLUMNS4 Joining components to substrates in SAFE products Joe Fjelstad18 Is a low cost market a market for low cost equipment? Philip Stoten28 Muted growth— Hopefully accelerating in fourth quarter Walt Custer and Jon Custer-Topai36 Think twice about that low Tg underfill Craig Hillman

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2 – Global SMT & Packaging – October 2014 www.globalsmt.net

Editorial OfficesEuropeTrafalgar Publications Ltd.Globals SMT & PackagingCrown House, 72 Hammersmith Rd, Hammersmith, London, W14 8TH, UKTel: +44 (0) 207 559 1467 Fax: +44 (0) 207 559 1468E-mail: [email protected]: www.globalsmt.netUnited StatesTrafalgar Publications Ltd.Global SMT & PackagingPO Box 7579Naples, FL 34102, USATel: +1 (239) 245-9264Fax: +1 (239)-245-9268AsiaTrafalgar Publications Group Pvt LtdM-161/1 G.L. House, Gautam NagarBehind India Oil BhawanNew Delhi – 110049Office: +86 351 652 3813Fax: +86 351 652 0409Editor-in-ChiefTrevor GalbraithTel: +1 (239) 245 9264 ext. 101US Cell: +1 (239) 287 5401Fax: +1 (239)-245-9268Skype: [email protected] EditorTel: +1 (239) 245-9264 [email protected] EditorLu [email protected] Asia Technical EditorDebasish [email protected]: +1 (239) 245-9264 [email protected] DeveloperTorrence GermanyTel: +1 (239) 245-9264 [email protected] AdvertisingEurope—Trevor GalbraithTel: +1 (239) 245 9264 ext. 101UK Mobile: +44 (0)7584 072926German Handy: +49 (0)1573 278 [email protected] AmericaSandy DaneauTel: +1 [email protected] Asia—India, Singapore, Korea & MalaysiaDebasish ChoudhuryTel: +91 120 6453260Mobile: +91 [email protected], Taiwan & Hong KongPaul ChenTel: +86 [email protected]

Trevor GalbraithEditor-in-Chief

Monitor, measure, improve—the new metrics that will drive tomorrow’s factories

Track, trace, and control has been around as an industry phrase for a number of years. This effectively

means using sensors and software systems to monitor board assemblies as they tra-verse through the assembly line, reporting where they have been, where they are cur-rently and where they are going.

Other companies, such as Siemens, Mentor Graphics/Valor, and Aegis, have their own MES software for controlling the manufacturing process. And test compa-nies such as Agilent have long been pursu-ing the goal of “predictive testing” on the basis that the sooner you detect the defect in the manufacturing line, the less cost you will incur. All of these vendors are produc-ing valuable offerings, but far too often when you walk into an EMS plant you see a home-grown MES software controlling the workflow through the factory. Some of these systems are excellent and would be commercially viable in their own right, but nobody wants to do that—they consider it their IP, their hidden gem that differentiates them from the EMS factory down the road.

Introduce to this mix government-driven initiatives such as Industry 4.0 (Germany) and the Smart Manufacturing Leadership Coalition (SMLC) from the United States. Their stated aim is to create standardization, an internet-driven elec-tronics backbone that will enable machines to offer meaningful data that will increase automation, efficiency, and yields within the factory environment.

One example of how increased auto-mation and the intelligent handling of big data can yield enormous results is at the Siemens Electronics Works factory in

Amberg, Germany. Read the article on page 10 and you will gain an insight to the future of electronics factory automation.

An essential element in making this level of automation possible is standardiza-tion. Not only across internet backbones and software platforms but in the level of interconnectivity in the machines them-selves. SMT assembly equipment is very mature. There are subtle differences sepa-rating the speed, accuracy, and reliability of the machines, but future gains will come from making these machines communicate better and with less human intervention. 3D metrology from SPI systems and accu-rate and measurable profiling data will play a key role in controlling production lines in the future.

Strategies such as the ASM acquisition of SIPLACE and DEK and the JUKI col-laboration with JT and GKG are setting the stage for what will become commonplace in the future—the turnkey solution that can produce the best quality boards at the fastest speed with the least number of oper-ators and the highest reliability and yield.

—Trevor Galbraith.Editor-in-Chief

[email protected]

© 2014 Panasonic Corporation of North America. All rights reserved.

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Joining components to substrates in SAFE products

Previous columns on this subject matter have provided guid-

ance on the compelling rationale for eliminating solder from the electronics manufacturing process and offered guidance on com-ponent and material selec-tion for SAFE products. For those who might be exposed here to the SAFE concept for the first time, it is an acronym which stands for either solderless assem-bly for electronics or solder alloy free electronics. The simplicity of the approach opens doors to significant advantages in terms of manufacturing cost (by the obviating of many manu-facturing, cleaning, inspect-ing, and testing steps) and improved reliability by the elimination of the major cause of electronic failure… the solder joint.

Having discussed com-ponent type preferences (QFN and LGA having a common grid ptich) and substrate options (there are many substrate alterna-tives because high temperature exposures required for leadfree alloy soldering is sidestepped) in previous columns, the next step is to join components and sub-strate material to create what can be best described as a “component board.” In final form, the component board is a substrate wherein components (preferably low pro-file and ideally with common grid pitch terminations, with the components being fully tested and burned in) are integrated into a single structure. The leads of the components are facing up rather than, as is the case with traditional circuit assem-

blies, down. The component leads are also most desirably flush with the surface of the component board when the elements are combined. As noted in earlier discussions, the finish on the component leads is ide-ally copper. This obviates need for special finishes for the components along with the vexing and seemingly omnipresent con-cern about lead finish solderability.

With respect to the processes which might be used to accomplish the objec-tive of joining components and substrates to create a component board, there are a number of options depending on the components selected. As previously men-tioned, in the ideal situation, all the com-ponents have a common height; however, this is not likely to be happening any-

time soon because of the diversity of legacy compo-nents. One method used to make early prototypes was to accurately place the components into posi-tions defined by the cir-cuit design. Components were placed on a tacky but non-contaminating release film. This assembly was then placed into a walled container, and a low tem-perature encapsulant was poured over the assembly. Degassing removed any entrapped air. When cured, the substrate, with now-embedded components, was removed and separated from the tacky carrier. The terminations of the com-ponents were exposed and planar with the surface of the joining substrate. One of the unique attributes of the process was that it allowed for the inclu-sion of a lithium ion bat-

tery, a proposition that would be highly risky were solder to be used, owing to the potential of exploding the battery due to high temperature exposure. With the ter-minations exposed, circuit patterns were drawn onto the substrate using conductive ink dispensed from a computer controlled XY dispensing tool, such as those used to dispense glue dots to hold components in place during assembly. In the early proto-type, a switch was surface-mounted using conductive adhesives to operate the simple device, but there are many options that do not require such high profile components, nor surface mounting. This early prototype can be seen in Figure 1. Obviously there are many potential variations on this general

Joe Fjelstad

Joining components to substrates in SAFE

products

Read ListenWatch

Figure 1. A small and simple prototype SAFE assembly created by placing components on a tacky carrier and then pouring a clear encapsulant over them. Note the battery was also embedded. The high temperatures associat-ed with soldering would not allow such. The circuits were “drawn” using silver ink to interconnect exposed terminals using a programmable XY dispensing tool. (Photo courtesy Promex Industries, Inc.)


Joining components to substrates in SAFE products

theme, including the use of a permanent insulating and bonding material rather than temporary bonding material. In such cases, a laser or controlled-depth drilling step would be required to provide access to the component leads though the insulat-ing material.

Another method for joining compo-nents to substrate is by molding cavities of accurate depth into which the compo-nents can be placed. Such substrates could be organic or metal in construction. As a refresher, aluminum, which is the third most plentiful element on earth, seems ideally suited owing to its light weight, low cost, and machinability. It should be remembered that aluminum can also be anodized, making its surface an insulating one. Once the cavities have components placed in them, the entire assembly can be coated with an organic film that holds the components in place and serves as a base for circuits that are formed using an additive or semi-additive process. One of the highly attractive features of SAFE con-structions is that copper peel strength is a much lower order concern because the ter-minations do not need to support the mass of the component. Stated in simplest terms,

while it may be possible to shake com-ponents off circuit boards that have poor copper peel strength, it is highly unlikely that anyone will ever shake the circuits off a circuit board, especially if the circuits are encased in a polymer, such as a solder-mask-like material.

Materials in need of further study for SAFE assemblies include some of the pho-toimagable materials that were developed for HDI applications in the mid-1990s. These materials produced some very nice multilayer build-up circuit structures in economical fashion without the need for a laser. A simple photoimaging process was all that was required to create the vias needed to access the copper lands when building up layers. There is an added advantage that the overall planarity of the finished circuit is of a lower order concern as no soldering step is required because the interconnections are being made directly to the cooper terminations on the compo-nents, which are exposed during a devel-opment step. This discussion will continue next column.

Verdant Electronics founder and president Joseph (Joe) Fjelstad has more than 40 years of international experience in electronic interconnection and packaging technol-ogy 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 elec-tronic 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 corpo-rate fellowship for his innovations. He has 150 US patents to his credit.

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Interplex Industries is now an Amtek Engineering Company

With the recent completion of Amtek’s acquisition of Interplex, the combination of the businesses creates a truly global precision engineering company that offers some of the most comprehensive and inte-grated precision engineering solutions in the industry. With the enlarged geographic footprint and expanded product and ser-vices offering, we are even better positioned to serve our customers’ evolving needs. www.interplex.com

ZESTRON announces new regional sales manager

ZESTRON is pleased to announce the addi-tion of Mr. Ted Hersey as a Regional Sales Manager. In his role, Mr. Hersey will focus on growing ZESTRON’s products and ser-vices business while expanding the current customer base. Mr. Hersey joins ZESTRON with over 20 years of sales and techni-cal experience in the electronics assem-bly industry, most recently working as a Director of Program Management for CR International, Inc. www.zestron.com

Panasonic Factory Solutions welcomes Koh Young Technology to the PanaCIM® Certified Technology ProgramPanasonic Factory Solutions Company of America announced the certification of Koh Young Technology Inc. solutions and

equipment through the PanaCIM Certified Technology Program. For twelve years Koh Young has offered innovative solutions to electronics manufacturers around the world in 3D Solder Paste Inspection (3D SPI) and 3D AOI equipment.www.panasonicfa.com

Speedline signs FUJI for MPM printers in Brazil; Altrade to keep CAMALOT, Electrovert, AccelSpeedline Technologies Inc., announces the appointment of FUJI BRAZIL (FUJI do BRASIL) to represent, distribute, and service Speedline’s MPM line of printers in Brazil. The move is a ‘sharing’ of increas-ing responsibilities with Speedline’s current and continuing representative, Altrade, to accommodate Speedline’s growing market share in Brazil. Altrade will continue to represent the CAMALOT, Electrovert, and Accel lines in Brazil, according to Chris Hill, Americas Eastern Sales Manager, Camalot and MPM. www.speedlinetech.com

Celestica achieves increased flexibility with Ersa’s VERSAFLOW 3/45 Kurtz Ersa North America announces that it has configured a VERSAFLOW 3/45 selective soldering system with double solder modules and Z variable for Celestica De Monterrey, S.A. De C.V. in Mexico. The VERSAFLOW 3/45 will allow Celestica to run two alloys (tin lead and lead-free) in one machine on-the-fly. www.ersa.com

Averna and JOT Automation announce a technology partnership for the AmericasAverna and JOT Automation announced today a technology partnership for the Americas. Under the terms of the agree-ment, Averna will act as a lead distributor and integrator of JOT Automation prod-ucts for the Americas. The partnership will focus on the M10, G3, and Tiny Test Handler products for manufacturing and return-logistics clients and will provide a single source for automation, handling,

Industry news—AmericasIndustry news

Mycronic delivers dual head MY200DX-14 to QPEHaving used Mycronic products for 15 years, PCB manufacturer and turnkey solution provider Quality Precision Electronics (QPE) recently purchased a new generation MY200DX-14 machine. The new piece of equipment is set to boost the company’s pro-duction capacity and improve their already outstanding lead times. The new twin-head machine can handle up to 40,000 placements per hour, giving QPE a great yield and help-ing them stand out from other PCB manufacturers. www.mycronic.com


Industry news

and test of the various devices. As part of this collaboration, Averna will also inte-grate some of JOT’s products into existing Averna test platforms to extend its product offering. www.averna.com

Photo Stencil selects Joe Wilcox as senior vice president, operations

Photo Stencil, LLC, has selected Joe Wilcox as senior vice president, operations. Wilcox will be responsible for Photo Stencil’s man-ufacturing, engineering, quality, and con-tinuous improvement operations. Wilcox has over 20 years of management experi-ence in various manufacturing enterprises. He most recently served as senior director for operations at Quantum Corporation, Colorado Springs, CO.www.photostencil.com

Inovaxe gains new customer in Javad EMS

Inovaxe announces that Javad EMS (San Jose, CA) has purchased and received two Two Bay InoCart units, along with the Inovaxe InoView inventory/kit manage-ment software. Inovaxe provided installa-tion and training with the Javad EMS team onsite. The Two Bay InoCart is material handling equipment that provides the ben-efit of Single Package/Single Location in varying sizes and configurations to be used in the stockroom and on the manufactur-ing floor. www.inovaxe.com

Indium Corporation’s Andy Mackie named president of IMAPS Empire Chapter

Indium Corporation announces that Andy C. Mackie, Ph.D., MSc, has been named president of the Empire Chapter of the International Microelectronics Assembly and Packaging Society (IMAPS). Dr. Mackie’s responsibilities as president include coordinating all activities for Empire Chapter members and organizing local technical meetings, tours, and net-working activities with the members, cor-porate members, and universities and labs in the region. www.indium.com

DDM Novastar welcomes new mechanical engineer

DDM Novastar is pleased to announce that Xiangxingyu Lin (“Lucas”) has recently joined our team at DDM’s headquarters in King of Prussia, PA, as a Mechanical Engineer. Lucas will play a key role within our engineering department. With more than 5 years of electromechanical inte-gration system design, including control system experience, he will help lead our engineering team in new product develop-ment as well as provide engineering sup-port for our existing product line of pick and place machines, stencil printers, reflow ovens and related equipment.www.ddmnovastar.com

Davron wins contract for indexing conveyor oven for tier 1 automotive supplierDavron Technologies, Inc. has been selected by a global manufacturer of auto-

motive safety components to design and manufacture an indexing conveyor oven. The customer chose Davron for the proj-ect because of the industrial oven solutions provider’s expertise with building indexing conveyor ovens for the automotive indus-try, as well as its ability to provide a system that is more energy efficient than alterna-tives. The oven will be commissioned in the fall of 2014. www.davrontech.com

Tech Systems to represent Europlacer in SoCal and Baja territoriesEuroplacer, a manufacturer of flex-ible SMT placement machines, appointed TechSystems LLC, as its manufacturers’ representative throughout Southern CA, Nevada and Baja Mexico.For more than 25 years, TechSystems has represented the industry’s best known placement equipment. The Europlacer line is the perfect match for TechSystems world-class portfolio. “TechSystems has always endeavored to represent advanced and relevant equipment platforms that provide exceptional value and meaning-ful upgrade paths for our marketplace,” commented Eric Baker, Sales Engineer at TechSystems. “This value is quickly revealed in Europlacer’s outstanding low cost-of-ownership, high flexibility of their systems, and the quality of the people who stand behind it. We consider Europlacer a perfect fit for TechSystems.”

TechSystems will represent Europlacer’s complete line of flexible SMT printing and placement machines. www.techsystems.com, www.europlacer.com

Circuit Technology Center receives ‘Outstanding Performance’ Award from RaytheonCircuit Technology Center was recog-nized for their outstanding performance as a supplier to Raytheon Integrated Defense Systems (IDS) at the Supplier Excellence Conference held in Waltham, Massachusetts on June 4, 2014. Raytheon’s Integrated Defense Systems (IDS) business instituted the annual Supplier Excellence Awards program to recognize suppliers who have provided outstanding service and partnership in exceeding customer requirements. www.circuitmedic.com, www.circuitrework.com

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Industry news—EuropeIndustry news

Nordson ASYMTEK Turkey representative, Esman Elektronik, expands R&D and applications labNordson ASYMTEK announces that Esman Elektronik, Inc, Nordson ASYMTEK’s rep-resentative for Turkey, has a new, expanded lab for research and development and dis-pensing, jetting, and conformal coating applications. Trained technicians assist with applications, service, and support. Customers are encouraged to bring their circuit boards, semiconductor packages, or parts to Esman’s lab, discuss their applica-tions, and engage in real-time simulations.www.NordsonASYMTEK.com

Seica SpA celebrates the opening of a new manufacturing departmentOn Friday, April 11, Seica SpA’s new man-ufacturing department, Seica Custom Manufacturing, was officially inaugurated. The products are ancillary and/or comple-mentary to the testers for electronics. The new department has more than a dozen people workforce, and stretches on a 500 sq. m. manufacturing area, split between a fully-equipped engineering workshop and a wiring lab. www.seica.com

WEdirekt configurator built into a new online quotation tool for mounting PCBs The Pforzheim-based mounting service provider M. Richter rolled out an online price calculation feature for its mounting operation. At the core of the quotation tool is a move to integrate the PCB configura-tor from WEdirekt, the Würth Elektronik online shop. www.we-online.com

New distribution cooperation for French market between GOEPEL electronics and Orion Industry GOEPEL electronics introduces a new dis-tribution partner for sales of Automatic Optical (AOI) and Automatic X-ray Inspection (AXI) systems on the French market. The company named Orion Industry, located in the region Île-de-France, is now responsible for the distribu-tion of inspection systems from GOEPEL electronics. www.goepel.com

Yamaha motor IM Europe appoints Altus Group Ltd as partner for UK and Ireland Yamaha IM have an extensive range of Electronics production equipment from printing and dispensing, through compo-nent “pick & place” to inspection and in-line x-ray. Their appointment of Altus for the UK and Irish market, is part of a broader European initiative to continue to build the Yamaha brand name, and installed base throughout Europe, to the same extent, as its dominant presence in Asia. www.yamaha-motor-im.eu

CMOSIS acquires AWAIBA, maker of innovative industrial and medical image sensors

CMOSIS has acquired all outstand-ing shares of the Swiss AWAIBA Group. AWAIBA develops and markets innovative line-scan CMOS imagers for industrial web inspection, sub-mm CMOS camera mod-ules for endoscopy, and on-board automo-tive cameras. The transaction was closed August 4, 2014. www.cmosis.com

congatec Signs Contract with Russia’s Leading Electronic Component Distributor, Eltechcongatec AG, has entered into partnership with Eltech Ltd, a key distributor of elec-tronic components and modules in Russia and neighboring C.I.S. countries. The new partnership will significantly strengthen congatec’s position as a leading provider of Computer-on-Modules (COMs) in the region. www.eltech.spb.ru

LPKF confirms full-year guidanceSpecialist mechanical engineering company LPKF announced record figures for both incoming orders and orders on hand in the first six months of the current year. In con-trast, revenue and earnings remain down on previous year’s figures. Revenue in the first six months of the year was EUR 45.6 million, falling 35% short of the unusually high prior-year figure (EUR 69.9 million). At EUR 1.6 million, earnings before interest and taxes (EBIT) were also lower than the previous year’s figure of EUR 15.0 million. www.lpkf.de

TELTEC to represent Akrometrix LLC surface measurement tools in EuropeAkrometrix LLC appointed TELTEC as its representative throughout Europe. TELTEC is Europe’s semiconductor equip-ment, materials distributor and represen-tative. Since its foundation in 1983, the company has been a stable and reliable partner to its customers, offering a superior product portfolio and support infrastruc-ture. TELTEC offers its complete suite of sales and after-sales support to manufac-turers seeking one single organization as their extension in Europe. www.teltec.com, www.akrometrix.com

GCT GmbH adds new production manager and reported sales up 36% GCT has announced the appointment of Markus Nierada as production manager for the diamond coating department. He has long term experience in the development and production of diamond coatings and coating devices. He replaced the PM who gone into age-related retirement.www.gctool.com

Cree expands European distribution via APC NovacomCree, Inc., is enhancing its support of the European market by extending its partner-ship with APC Novacom. APC Novacom now stocks all Cree® RF devices that do not require an EU license, including GaN HEMT die, and actively supports Cree’s European market through both volume distribution and small volume stock for network representatives. www.cree.com

High Performance @ Low Cost

YCP10 High Performance Compact PrinterWith built-in features from our high-end printers, like the unique Yamaha 3S-head (SwingSingle Squeegee), the new YCP10 printer delivers high performance at the lowest cost.

Yamaha’s original 3S head automatically adjusts the squeegee angle between 45° and 60° to suit the printing conditions, to maximize speed and performance at all times throughout production.

Contact your local Yamaha sales office today:Europe:Phone +49 2131 2013 520www.yamaha-motor-im.eu

America:Phone +1 (770) 420-5825www.yamaha-motor-im.com

14081601 Yamaha YCP10 en203x275 DU.pdf 1 16.08.14 11:37


The Digital Factory—German engineering on steroids!

Fifty miles to the east of Nuremberg lies the city of Amberg, where Siemens has two facilities, employing around 4,600 people. The Automation Systems divi-sion, where Siemens manufacture motors and switches for industrial and automotive applications as well as some command and signal devices, is one of Siemens most successful sites.

Industry veteran Prof Dr Buttner, head of Siemens Electronics Works in Amberg, is a firm proponent of greater automation on the factory floor and believes that future generations of factory will be driven by an interconnected world of machines and components that are stored and delivered to the point of manufacture automati-cally. Every action point is monitored and measured, and data is fed back to the MES system, which in turn tweaks the machines to produce the optimum reliability and yield.

At the EWA (Electronics Works Amberg) facility, the priorities are qual-ity first, logistics second. The company boasts 24-hour delivery, with materials being delivered from the warehouse to the machine in 15 minutes. EWA uses 3 bil-lion components per year, which is a huge inventory to maintain and manage. They achieve this by employing a Kanban system with a high level of automation and manag-ing and measuring a huge number of data points taken from every corner of this mas-sive 100,000 sq. ft. factory. Over the years they have maintained a key workforce of 1,150 that have increased the work output by a factor of eight without increasing the number of employees.

Siemens started their approach to automation using relays. Their early suc-cesses were then expanded into other industry areas, such as automotive, aero-space, energy, etc. This move required a common software platform (SIMATIC) and approach to controlling Siemens sys-tems.


ListenReadWatch



EWA vision and strategyThe vision was simple—they demanded perfection for their customers and the strategy was Quality First: provide the highest delivery performance, coupled with Innovation, sustainability, and cul-ture. These are all the factors that influence the cost of the product.

The EWA approach to failure analysis is not to look for the guilty person but to find the root cause of every failure. EWA has a continuous improvement strategy that cuts across all areas of the business and its sup-pliers. Employees are constantly challenged on how they can improve their area of the process. Cumulatively, this results in a con-tinuous improvement culture throughout the factory.

The results are demonstrated with a constantly reducing DPM (defects per mil-lion), from 500-600 in 1990/91 down to 12-15 DPM today. The quality rate is an amazing 99.9988%.

One of the key things that enabled them to achieve this level of quality is the automation of more than 75% of the pro-cess, utilizing more than 1,000 SIMATIC applications.

Where do the 12 DPM come from? “Unfortunately, they come from human beings. A good engineer will generally

return a 500 DPM rate,” says Prof. Dr Buttner. The engineers who work at EWA are required to monitor and measure the processes and make informed decisions on the non-automated areas.

The basis for the measurement pro-cess is that every part, product, and human being needs to have an ID. This ID follows the products through the factory, where all process parameters such as tempera-ture, torque, time, etc. are recorded and fed back into the SIMATIC system. “If you want to improve you need to measure,” says Buttner. “In 1995 we recorded only 5,000 items of data per day. In 2000 it was 50,000. Today the factory generates greater than 50,000,000 pieces of data per day.”

Part of the EWA approach is to main-tain some commonality in equipment. They like to have a close working relation-ship with suppliers and agree on quality levels and targets that they expect to last at least 20 years. Consequently, the same brands of machines are used in each of their 17 lines. Suppliers need to agree to create an interface with the SIMATIC MES software. To enable this, EWA has developed their own web service called COMESCO, because there is no world standard at present. Each year 20% of the factory equipment is replaced. Names such

as SIPLACE, DEK, Rehm, Vi Technology, and Koh Young are prevalent throughout the factory. One impressive machine was a four-lane reflow oven from Rehm that had to be custom-manufactured to keep up with the output from four SIPLACE X series machines.

Over the years, the number of online checkpoints, scanners, and machines has increased to over 1,000 each. At inspection, EWA uses augmented reality, where an image showing the pin count and polarity is placed over an image of the board. The software produces real-time reporting and sends alerts to the engineer and, in the case of repetitive errors, stops the line.

The level of automation in this factory is impressive, but it also provides many benefits to the employees. Part of the pro-cess towards zero failures is to help reduce stressful situations for the employees. The automatic monitoring, measuring, and alert systems take a lot of the “guess work” out of the manufacturing process, making it one of the most successful and friendly factories in Europe.

Catch Trevor Galbraith’s interview with Prof. Dr Buttner on http://globalsmt.tv.


A brighter future for two-component materials for electronics

Nordson ASYMTEK has been researching two-component materials and how to dis-pense them for several years. We recently spent time with several fluid formulators to discuss the advantages and disadvan-tages of using two-component materials vs. single-component materials. Some of the issues we tackled were:

• What are the main benefits to using two-component materials

• What are the main challenges or roadblocks

• Which materials are most condu-cive to two-component mixing

• Which applications can benefit the most

• What do we foresee as the future of two-component materials

The fluid formulators we spoke to were Cytec Industries, Delo Industrial Adhesives, Epoxy Technology (EPO-TEK), HumiSeal, Lackwerke Peters, and Wacker-Chemie Benelux B.V.

We hope others will join our discus-sion.

A conversation with the fluid formulators—benefits of two-component materialsThe main benefits of two-component over single-part materials are their chemical resistance and thermal performance, con-cluded David Greenman and Chris Palin of HumiSeal. Two-component is new for our industry (electronics) even though it’s not new. No one is thinking along those lines. Two-component can produce mate-rials that have better performance. They have a short pot-life, but if you’re mixing the material right at the dispense head, you can give high reliability and high volume to electronic manufacturers. The military has low volume activity, but has been using two-component where they need the high resistivity of the material. With the right dispensing and mixing system, high-vol-ume applications and the production envi-

ronment can move into the high reliablity area.

The main goal for conformal coating is to have less mechanical stress on the com-ponents and a higher resistance in terms of chemical load, for example to protect against benzene and other chemicals that attack conformal coating. It also needs to protect against humidity, explained Dr. Manfred Suppa of Lackwerke Peters. Given the higher chemical resistance and higher load that’s possible for several properties, there are advantages to using two-com-ponent materials. It is easier to formulate a high dielectric material than a single formulation, so for chemical stability and interactions there is a need for two-com-ponent mixing in the electronics industry. Mixing two components just before dis-pensing them, instead of using a single-part solution, gives significantly better confor-mal coating performance in these areas.

Two-component material dispensing was developed in 1964, explained Rick Jordan of Cytec. The hurdle to expand-ing growth has been in the processing. In most cases two-component materials were premixed, rested, charged to a system, and you had to clean it really quickly to make

Two-component materials (also referred to as two-part or 2K) have been around for over 50 years but have been considered mostly for large potting applications or for applications where higher reliability was needed than could be obtained using a single-part formulation. Emerging expectations for fluid performance in electronics are challenging the capabilities of current solutions for high volume production in regard to peak temperature, thermal cycles, chemical resistance, elasticity, volatile organic chemical (VOC) free, cost, and curing—or any combination of these. While two-component materials have the potential to solve some of these problems and offer new options for electronics manufacturers, the equipment to mix and accurately dispense two-component materials for precise and accurate dispensing and conformal applications is not available. Because of that, fluid formulators have been hesitant to create new two-component formulations. Without the formulations, equipment designers have been reluctant to design and manufacture new equipment.

Per Orla Jensen, Nordson ASYMTEK


ListenReadWatch

Fluid formulators discuss the issue



sure it didn’t harden. That’s why it stayed in higher reliability applications, because the need for reliability was greater than the process drawbacks. We need to more conveniently handle two-component fluids so we can broaden and expand two-com-ponent material markets. Two-component materials give a more reliable system that’s more robust. The chemistry provides more reliable protection for the board against moisture, abrasion, resistance, and chemi-cals. Two-component is the most con-sistent, controlled reaction so you’re not relying on moisture in the atmosphere for single-part materials or on UV that doesn’t work well with shaded areas or areas that aren’t coated.

A big advantage relates to shelf-life, continued Suppa. With a single-part mix, the shelf-life is short, so there’s limited time before it has to be consumed. With a two-component machine, the fluids are in dif-ferent containers, but they can be mounted on the machine and used like single-part materials.

The speed of curing and/or the pos-sibility to process or cure at low tempera-ture or room temperature are what Johan DeWitte, of Wacker-Chemie Benelux B.V., sees as their main advantages. The pot-life, when compared to one-component thermal curing materials, is significantly shorter. Another major advantage is that compared with one-component, no special expensive logistics are needed. Companies that need high performance and high output will benefit most, so for applica-tions that have a high number of parts that require a short cycle time and use highly reactive materials, where process time is critical, and/or that use high volumes per shot.

A customer would consider two-components if there is a performance improvement of cured material compared with what is currently available, said Chris Brightwell of HumiSeal. The variables are going to be the chemicals and the driving force will be performance-related. Some single-part fluids that give good chemi-cal resistance have performance that’s not as good in harsh testing regimes. We have customers who would use two-component mixtures because of their performance advantages if the materials were available and the equipment was suitable. They have applications where requirements for chem-ical resistance is very strong and the one-part materials struggle to deliver. We see people bang their heads on specifications and limitations in performance. They want the temperature and heat cycle advantages

of two-component, but manufacturers haven’t focused on that because there’s no way to apply the materials and the equip-ment manufacturers haven’t made the equipment because the materials aren’t there.

The new materials could take a couple of directions. Traditional 1:1 mixtures could be used to provide materials with excellent properties but improved shelf life. Alternatively, a two part mixture might be comprised of a bulk plus an activator. Both would be interesting materials to develop.

Jetting technology is also getting more important. You can only get fluid drops of a certain size with a needle. If companies could mix the materials and jet the fluids with the same performance results in dot size and lines with two-component as they can with one, they’d do it.

According to EPO-TEK, benefits for two-component materials are typically related to jetting or for use in large scale manufacturing, such as in the automotive industry, especially for materials that need to cure quickly.

Having two parts easily dispensed gives customers a greater choice in selec-tion and use. The advantages of two-component materials are best illustrated in terms of their final material properties.

By using two different materials you can change what the loading level is in each component of the filler, so you can create a specific viscosity. Single-part material has a single mix viscosity.

Meter-mix always has the same fresh-ness of materials, so you always get the same formulation deposited every time. With a single-part syringe, one could expe-rience some settling or separation if not handled correctly which could result in the first and last dots of the day being different.

Hardening/curing time is another factor, added EPO-TEK. Electronic manu-facturers prefer as short a processing time as possible. They would like to mix, easily dispense, and after the oven process want it dry, free of solvent, and cured to its final state.

Heat curing materials have an inherent issue because there’s heat everywhere. With two-components they won’t start cross-linking until they’re together, said Robert Boks of Delo. Two-component is good for chemical cross-linking. UV materials are also chemically cross-linked, but in most cases it cross links when you subject it to UV light. Some chemicals will cross-link as soon as they’re combined. Two-component can give you a quick cure without the need for additional equipment, but it’s not as quick as UV.

There is potential for a two-component UV solution, especially if it can complete a full cure and reach final dielectical prop-erties within 24 hours, noted HumiSeal. Current material typically takes in excess of 72 hours to reach optimal properties. It can take three months for polyurethane to reach its maximum quality if not acceler-ated. If two-component can provide high chemical resistance, a fast cure, and you don’t have to buy a UV oven because you can cure it in your workcell, that would be very appealing. You can reduce your expenses and your footprint without a UV oven.

Lackwerke Peters agrees that it could replace low cross-linking systems. Cross-linking time is important. There can be a large savings in time and money if a UV material can be used, but the UV oven can be eliminated for the curing. This would, however, require a production environ-ment that can handle very short pot-life formulations. The alternative would be to have significant “work in progress” inven-tory. There’s also a push to get rid of VOCs that result from solvent evaporation and the need to improve properties of the elec-trical bond. Two-component can replace solvent materials like oil and benzene

If companies could mix the materials and jet the fluids with the same performance results in dot size and lines with two-component as they can with one, they’d do it.



and perhaps others. Solvent evaporation takes away the properties that are good for chemical resistance. Besides the environ-mental and health issues, if you don’t have solvent evaporation there might be less shrinkage and the coating will work better at high temperatures.

Challenges for two-component materialsThere are challenges to the process, accord-ing to Cytec. Two-component materials have to be mixed in the right ratio so dis-pensing equipment is a key in this technol-ogy. Usually, for high reliability military applications, a +/- 2% accuracy or less is recommended. With two-component, the older systems were formulated with a very long work-life that’s greater than 5 hours to give enough process time to apply it. Cytec would like to shorten cure time for high volume production and even get it to 15 or 30 minutes so there’s no clogging.

I think that people haven’t gone down the two-component line because of the inconvenience, said Brightwell of HumiSeal. You also get a lot more hassle now about using two-components because it’s a risk. You have to make an investment. Risk is complexity. If something fails or you forget to purge the system you have a solid block and you have to throw things away. They have static mixers, but high precision needs dynamic, not static mixing. If there is the luxury to mix the fluids in the appli-cator, we will develop more high-perfor-mance materials. Now it’s not convenient.

Another problem with two-component materials is achieving the correct ratios, commented EPO-TEK. Having the correct mix ratio is an important aspect of reach-ing the best performance of the adhesive. Unique mix ratios often allow the most opportunities in optimal performance from an adhesive and can maximize for-mulation options.

Additionally, viscosity differences between the two parts are another factor to be considered in mixing and dispensing properly. One example would be a system with all the filler in Part A and liquid only in Part B; the two massively different vis-cosities could be difficult to mix properly in normal mixing equipment.

Finally, people often mix it by hand themselves and then try to package the material into syringes, which is very chal-lenging. They soon find out that it is not that easy to do properly. They can end up with air bubbles, gas, contamination, sepa-ration, etc., so if it can be more effective to be done accurately in a mixing system, it’s

an advantage. We found that a 10:1 ratio can have

better mixing and better results for UV curing materials. With a 1:1 ratio there is little room for deviation. If you have good control of dosing, it’s not a problem, but if you have slight mistakes then it has a big effect on the curing properties. Because silicones are permeable for air, and due to gas solubility, degassing is needed or you get gas bubbles. If mixing is done by hand it is likely to get air inside. This can be expensive to avoid. Humidity can also be a problem so the materials will have to be stored in special containers. Purging will be needed periodically to move aging material.

Mixing ratios are an issueEveryone mentioned that mixing ratio problems were a common concern for using two-components.

We’d like to see small dot dispensing and accuracy using two-component mate-rials, but single-part materials are often considered better because they’re mixed by the factory. Mixing of two-components has been a problem. You need a mixing solu-tion of high accuracy and repeatability, said Delo.

While Lackwerke Peters said, until now, the industry has been reluctant to use two-component materials because of the difficulty and complexity to mix them. There’s a big challenge in maintaining con-sistent mixing ratios. 1:1 is the best ratio, but it’s hard to get the correct proportions

and there is risk involved if the ratio is off, so people don’t want to take the risk. There are also material compatibility issues that will need to be resolved. There is the com-patibility with the materials themselves, but an even larger concern is compatibility with the production equipment. The main aggressors are the solvents and polytetra-fluoroethylene (PTFE) materials, which are more readily used.

I see more companies moving to sin-gle-part than two-component materials, said Robert Boks of Delo. That could be because we focus on adhesive applications where the amount used is low, the parts are small, and there is a smaller bonding area because requirements for adhesive neces-sitate that it is stronger. The probability of mixture failure is greater when it’s a small amount being mixed manually. Companies aren’t getting high enough reliability for small amounts with two-component sys-tems. Small droplet dispensing technology isn’t there, so we want to give our custom-ers the chance to make that small droplet by offering single-part products.

However, transport costs have become a big issue. noted Boks. Manufacturing projects in Europe are trying to avoid freezing single-part formulations. So much has to be done to keep the fluid frozen that transport costs are often more expensive than the adhesive. Companies would like to use two-component materials to save these costs, especially when they’re ship-ping around the globe.

Others concurred. Primarily, two-component solutions will be most ben-eficial for large-scale manufacturing because it’s much less expensive to ship and pack two components than shipping premixed frozen formulations on dry ice. Transportation costs have gotten prohibi-tive as have logistics for storage. The timing of the shipment is another consideration.

So which materials are most conducive to two-component mixing?As for the fluids for conformal coating that would benefit the most, Lackwerke Peters thinks of two-component mixing more for use with polyurethane than with epoxy. Epoxy is hard, strong, and becomes brittle in the conformal coating application, so it is not as good for coating of components in two parts. Two-component polyurethane can formulate better compatibilities than established solder-based materials in the market. Silicones could be another possible application, but the ratios would have to be

Until now, the industry has been reluctant to use two-component materials because of the difficulty and complexity to mix them.



a much wider range. Two parts might be good for coating LED boards as well.

According to Wacker, silicones are the best materials for two-component applica-tion. For curing two-component silicones, the reaction starts when both components are mixed. The curing can be accelerated by heat (an oven). No trigger is needed for UV-based two-component silicone formu-lations. The reaction is triggered by UV. Manufacturers want to avoid having to use an oven because of the time and expense and because some electronic components are temperature sensitive. UV-based for-mulations have a long open time.

Conformal coating is just a small seg-ment of the two-component market, says Cytec. There’s also potting, adhesives and sealants, and it can be used in microelec-tronics for very small droplets. Currently, most silver epoxy and underfill have to be put on dry ice and shipped across the world, so using two-component materials will eliminate those costs.

Gluing and bonding might work better with two-component materials, offered HumiSeal, but they’re not considered because the equipment to dispense fine lines with two-component isn’t available.

Future markets or applicationsIn terms of future markets for two-com-ponent development, there is the drive to go solvent free. Two-component should be able to help that, commented Cytec. In high-volume production, UV is promi-nent because of the rapid cure rate; how-ever, there are still issues with UV. Shadows and secondary cure mechanisms are still a problem and the high-reliability market won’t accept UV coating. They want a material that’s chemically cured, but they need a process mechanism to apply it and a system and process that’s as good as UV, but eliminates the problems with UV. Two-component might be the answer.

Applications that can see somewhere like a 20% performance improvement in using two-component materials are the ones where the conformal coating has to be the most chemically resistant, such as airplane electronics that need to be chemically resistant to jet fuel, ammonia, hydraulic oil, and anything it comes into contact with. The same for a car and parts exposed to antifreeze or brake fluid, added HumiSeal. More robust materials would be advantageous. Two-component materi-als would be more resistant, so customers would have more flexibility in the design.

Lackwerke Peters agreed that for con-

formal coating, the applications that will benefit the most are the ones where the final products are subjected to oil, those that have a high aggressive atmosphere, such as under the hood of a car and in industrial plants, and especially those where a high chemical resistance is needed. Applications that are high-volume, high-speed will also benefit.

EPO-TEK notes, however, that there is always the availability from adhesive manufacturer’s of pre-mixed and frozen syringes (PMFs). This way a customer can receive a single syringe product that, after proper thawing, is ready to use. If a user prefers the convenience of a pre-mixed syringe, they’ll use it. However, it’s a cost driven matter. The costs associated with

PMF syringes can be higher due to the need for shipment in large dry ice boxes as well as the need for on-site storage in a -40°C freezer.

High-volume applications in the medi-cal area, fiber optics, underfill, or any high-throughput items like with SMT (because manufacturers want very fast cure and short pot-life material) would benefit the most from a mixing and dispensing system.

EPO-TEK definitely see an increasing need for meter-mix systems and a growing desire to cost-down materials, which can start with eliminating dry ice shipments. Customers want a mix ratio system that’s done right. Newly developed metering sys-tems can be the difference between getting it kind of right and 100% right.

Boks from Delo sees two-component materials on the roadmap because it’s cost driven. Two years ago it wouldn’t have been on the roadmap, but now because of ship-ping costs, it is. He said he had a customer that wanted to use two-component mixing for an application with a small bonding area. He couldn’t find someone who could help him do it so they had to settle for a single-part solution. Everything is minitu-rization and current two component solu-tions don’t support it. Manufacturers are not considering two parts because it isn’t

viable, but maybe it will be if the equip-ment is available.

In our discussions with the fluid for-mulators, we mentioned that Nordson ASYMTEK is testing a dynamic mixing system it has developed for two-compo-nent materials. It actively mixes two-com-ponents at the dispense head in 1:1 to 1:60 part ratios with +/-2% accuracy. It attaches directly to Nordson ASYMTEK’s single-part dispensing, jetting, and conformal coating systems and uses the same applica-tors, so the two-component fluids are dis-pensed or jetted in the same fine lines and dots with the same speed, accuracy, and precision as can be done with single-part systems.

Having a dynamic mixing dispensing system available, numerous possibilities and advantages for using two-component materials surface, reacted Boks. When using a single-part die attach formula-tion, the life of the material is 1-4 days, so whatever hasn’t been used has to be thrown away. If you don’t have to throw away the two-component solution because it’s a mix-and-go system, you save money, and using two-component materials sounds very appealing. Applications that could benefit from two-component materi-als, if the ratio is accurate and the fluids could be dispensed correctly, are automo-tive sensors and boards. UV coatings are the main ones used today, but there have always been problems with shadow zones because you can’t cure 100% with light. If two-component formulations can be made that can cure without using a UV oven or light, there are numerous possibilities for two-component materials in the future.

HumiSeal said that having this type of equipment to mix and apply two-component opens up a lot of possibilities to explore other options for formulating and using two-component materials and a chance for creativity in the industry. Different chemistries might have possibili-ties we don’t yet know about. This equip-ment gives the conformal coating compa-nies a new brush. We can think of the next generation of conformal coatings and have a broader palette to work with.

Without exception, each formulator said that if equipment is available that can handle two-component materials in the ratios that they specify, they can formulate a material to work for the applications that are needed.

“This is a game changer,” said Chris Brightwell. “It’s not an evolution. People can think two component. What can we do that we don’t have today? For a chemist, the

Customers want a mix ratio system that’s done right.



possibilities are endless.”ParticipantsCytec Industries Rick Jordan, Global Technical Services and R&D Manager, Formulated ResinsShirley Go, Global Marketing Manager, Formulated ResinsMario Maccarrone, European Sales Manager, Formulated ResinsCytec, Woodland Park, NJ deliv-ers specialty material and chemi-cal technologies to serve a diverse range of end markets including aerospace and industrial mate-rials, mining and plastics. www.cytec.com

DELO Industrial Adhesives Robert Boks, Regional Sales ManagerDELO is a manufacturer of tai-lored industrial adhesives used within the automotive, aviation, optoelectronics as well as indus-trial and consumer electronics industries. Headquartered in Germany, DELO has subsid-iaries in the USA, China and Singapore. www.DELO.de

Epoxy Technology, Inc. (EPO-TEK) Joan Bramer, Director, Sales and Marketing,Robin Dickie, Strategic Sales ManagerBrian Bruce, Applications EngineerTristan Baldwin, Applications EngineerKevin Frasca, Applications Engineer Mike Hodgin, Director, Strategic ApplicationsEpoxy Technology Inc. (EPO-TEK®) has manufactured high quality specialty adhesives for advanced industries worldwide since 1966. They produce a full range of premium epoxy adhe-sives and coatings for a broad range of markets. Headquarters is in Billerica, MA. www.epotek.com

HumiSeal Chris Brightwell, Chief ChemistDavid Greenman, Managing Director

Chris Palin, Sales ManagerHumiSeal® is one of the original creators and innovators in con-formal coatings, having been in business over 50 years. Its sole business is the development and supply of conformal coatings. Global operations are based in Westwood, MA with European manufacture and R&D based in Berkshire, UK. www.humiseal.com

Lackwerke Peters Ralf Schwartz, General Manager Dr. Manfred Suppa, Head of Research and DevelopmentLackwerke Peters GmbH + Co KG produces coating materials and special lacquers for elec-tronics and distributes them worldwide. They specialize in the development and produc-tion of special lacquers for the manufacture of printed circuit boards as well as in conformal coatings and opaque as well as transparent casting compounds for electronics. Their products are made in Kempen, Germany. www.peters.de

Wacker-Chemie Benelux B.V. Johan DeWitte, Sales Manager, Business Team Industrial Solutions WACKER is a chemical company that has 5 divisions that make silicones, polymers, biosolutions, and polysilicons. With a range of over 3,000 silicone products, WACKER SILICONES ranks among the world’s largest manu-facturers of silanes and silicones. www.wacker.com

alpha_branding_ad_smtp_outlined.indd 1 8/25/14 4:20 PM


Is a low cost market a market for low cost equipment?

At August’s NEPCON show in South China, we saw more European com-panies launching lower cost equip-

ment to compete with the Chinese manu-factured equipment. Is this a smart strategy or a dilution of their brands, and can they really compete with the locally designed and manufactured products?

I spoke to a number people at the event on this topic and got some interesting views and insights.

The traditional vendors’ positionThese companies have had a strong hold on the China market for some time, owning the technology lead and providing the same products they provided worldwide as Chinese assemblers strived to achieve the same quality, capacity, and capability of their global competitors. Then locally made copies came along, and they were poor reflections of the products made in the West: not strong competition in the majority of the market, not of the quality or technical specification of their products, and not initially seen as a huge threat.

Fast forward a few years, and the Chinese equipment makers have grabbed a substantial market share, producing ‘good enough’ products for those that are on a budget. Meanwhile they have improved their quality, reliability, and technology, and built a solid service and support net-work. Now we find ourselves in a market with some serious Chinese brands pro-ducing good equipment, with a substan-tial installed base, and with new products being regularly developed and launched. What’s more, some are starting to enter the European and American markets.

The traditional vendors’ response has been to maintain their position of tech-nology leadership while being inevitably drawn to the lower cost market of the local manufacturers, with its attractive volumes. Most have launched scaled-down prod-

ucts targeted at this market, perhaps with a limited upgrade path, different sales and support channels, and in some cases even different brand names.

Their Challenge: Build a product that can compete with lower cost Chinese-made products, which leverages the brand without threatening the brand promise—a product that brings new customers without stealing existing business and, critically, a product that contributes real margin.

The Chinese vendors’ positionThe market was initially obvious: produce lower cost versions of the existing machines in the market, use lower cost parts, manu-facture in China with lower cost labor and a cheaper supply chain, and sell to those that wanted the western kit but couldn’t or didn’t want to afford it. Once a pres-ence was established, other opportunities became clear, including developing prod-uct, competing on technology, and selling beyond the local market. Many companies have done this successfully and now offer innovative alternatives to the traditional offerings from the western vendors. Now these Chinese companies have real devel-opment teams, sales and service networks, and even marketing teams.

Their Challenge: Develop products that are truly innovative and unique to compete with the traditional vendor base whilst managing rising costs of labor and parts as they move up the quality and per-formance curve, and make enough money to consider expanding into new global markets and support a growing overhead.

The users viewAll this seems to be ideal for the end user. Vendors battle for market share and prices are driven lower, specifications and qual-ity rise by comparison, and they get more bang for their buck, or better price perfor-mance. But beware an overcrowded mar-

ketplace. There is always a correction, and the number of vendors has to fall, resulting in acquisitions, mergers, and even failures. Backing the wrong horse in this race can be a very expensive mistake, leaving the user with unsupported equipment that has no route to upgrade and no secondhand value.

The trusted observers’ viewThere are a handful of people I always talk to in China when I want to get a handle on this kind of issue. They know who they are, and I thank them for their insight and observations. The view of many seems to be that the real battleground will exist when these companies meet in the middle, when western vendors with cost control and the right business model reduce their prices to meet the rising prices of the Chinese ven-dors as they move their product to a level that competes head on.

For me, the strategy of the tradi-tional global vendor needs to provide a completely new business model. And I mean new from start to finish, a different approach to manufacturing, to distribu-tion, to sales, support, and even to business management. The Chinese vendors are agile and entrepreneurial. Few, if any, of the traditional vendors are; they are tied by corporate demands and structures that slow them down and make them less able and less keen to tough it out with lower cost competitors. Yes, they have the technology lead right now, yes that have the heritage, and yes they have the scale to take on these markets, but do they have the heart and the tenacity? Perhaps partnerships will prevail, with traditional vendors partnering with newer Chinese vendors; perhaps those who put in the right local management will pre-vail; I don’t know, but it will certainly be an interesting battle over the coming years…

And the winner is: Simple: the best product, from the best vendor, with the most appropriate business model…

Philip Stoten

Is a low cost market a market for low cost

equipment?

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ing accounted for 31 percent of market revenue each. Mid-power devices are pro-jected to represent 48 percent of packaged LED revenue in lighting applications in 2014 and 81 percent in terms of units. This represents a major change since 2010 when high-power LEDs, such as 1 Watt devices, dominated. Excluding lighting, the rest of the LED market is almost completely flat from year–to-year, and is forecast to stay that way to 2019. www.ihs.com

Plessey expands its distribution network in Europe with Solid State Supplies partnership for the UK and IrelandPlessey entered into a distribution agree-ment with Solid State Supplies Ltd., an electronics distributor and provider of advanced complete solutions head-quartered in Redditch, UK, to expand its European network with coverage in the UK and Ireland market for its GaN-on-Si LED products. Plessey’s MaGIC™ (Manufactured on GaN-on-Si I/C) High Brightness LED (HBLED) technology has won numerous awards for its innovation and ability to cut the cost of LED lighting by using standard silicon manufacturing techniques. www.plesseysemi.com

Xicato expands its sales team with new U.S. and U.K. appointmentsXicato, enablers of the Internet of Lights, continues to expand its sales team, adding LED lighting specialists Charles Scheibler and Nick Gibbs. Charles is based in the

New operations director for HarvardHarvard Engineering appointed Andrew Winter as operations director to con-tinuously improve the company’s pro-cesses and manage performance within all aspects of day to day operations. Winter has more than seventeen years experience working in the manufactur-ing sector. A Lean Manufacturing expert, Andrew is developing a Lean Enterprise Development System which will help to develop a culture to relentlessly drive out all forms of waste to achieve indus-try best practice, developing and main-taining a highly organised and effective working environment, with repeatability in all manufacturing processes.


LED Industry News

Kansas City Metropolitan Area and will serve Xicato’s customer base through-out the mid-west. Nick is based in the United Kingdom and will serve cus-tomers in the UK and Nordic regions. Charles and Nick are expert at support-ing customers’ luminaire programs and helping end-users and lighting design-ers achieve the lit effect they desire. www.xicato.com

Veeco expands compound semiconductor R&D portfolio with Agnitron Technology strategic partnershipVeeco Instruments Inc. has formed a strate-gic partnership with Agnitron Technology, Inc., a focused compound semiconductor research and development company spe-cializing in the refurbishment and upgrade of Veeco legacy metal organic chemical vapor deposition (MOCVD) equipment. This partnership will allow universities and institutions to obtain low cost, reliable MOCVD systems for materials research and development applications. Additionally, Veeco R&D MOCVD system users will be able to upgrade to Agnitron’s innovative IMPERIUM™ software platform and have access to Agnitron’s technical support team. www.veeco.com, www.agnitron.com

OLED materials market to reach $3.7 billion by 2019The ongoing penetration of OLED dis-plays in mobile phones and wearables and renewed prospects for the OLED lighting market will catapult the OLED materi-als market from around $900 million in 2014 to $3.7 billion in 2019. According to the new NanoMarkets report, “OLED Materials Markets– 2014” by 2019, almost 45 percent of the materials revenues for OLEDs will come from the core functional materials (EML, ETL, HTL/EBL and HIL), while the rest comes electrode, encapsula-tion and substrate materials. Nonetheless, solution processing still poses challenges with regard to luminance uniformity and current stability. The market for solution processed OLED materials is expected to leap from aound $40 million in 2014 to $335 million in 2019 (excludes encapsula-tion, electrodes and substrates). www.nanomarkets.net

Xicato chooses UL for faster, lower-cost LM-79 LED luminaire testing programXicato announced an exclusive LM-79 testing program that lowers testing costs

by 50% per luminaire and reduces test-ing turn-around time to just five business days, in comparison to industry norms of approximately four weeks. This unique program, in cooperation with UL, is open now to all manufacturers whose luminaires have passed Xicato’s thermal validation, a complimentary program offered by Xicato to all its customers. The new LM-79 test-ing program supports Xicato’s goal to make LED lighting as foolproof and future-proof as possible. The company’s whole-product approach, thermal validation program and this new LM-79 program contribute to end-user confidence in solutions that pro-vide high quality light with demonstrated color, consistency and light output perfor-mance. For more information regarding LM-79 Testing at UL, please visit www.ul.com/lighting or submit a request for quote directly to equote@lumin airetesting.com.

Brian Onody joins Luminis as vice president of salesLuminis, a independent luminaire manu-facturer with a focus for designing inno-vative, reliable and aesthetically conscious products, is pleased to announce the appointment of Mr. Brian Onody as Vice President of Sales effective immediately. Mr. Onody brings more than 20 years of successful sales management experience in the lighting industry, having previously held key sales management positions at Beta Calco. Brian will oversee sales repre-sentative agencies, territory managers, and the Luminis in-house sales service team. www.luminis.com

IRunway Research report reveals market leaders in LED technologyiRunway, a technology consulting firm spe-cializing in patent litigation and licensing, has released a comprehensive new report revealing those companies that control the LED technology that will drive growth in the semiconductor industry and lead the transformation of a broad range of indus-tries, from lighting and mobile display to healthcare. According to the report, which analyzes the scope and strength of the patent portfolios held by top players in the LED domain, a handful of companies are poised to dominate the industry as manu-facturers of mobile devices and displays turn to LED for functionality and energy savings. Global electronics suppliers such as Samsung and LG have built a large LED patent portfolio. Philips Lumileds and Cree

have significantly strong set of patents in the LED domain.

The strengths of the different LED patent portfolios are highly relevant as this swiftly evolving industry has seen aggressive patent prosecution, licensing and litigation practices in recent years. In fact, there are currently more than 22,000 granted U.S. patents relating to LED tech-nologies, most of which were filed in the last 5 to 10 years. Litigation is so prevalent that, on average, all the major players are involved in nearly three active legal dis-putes, and in numerous additional licens-ing agreements.

Cree, Philips Lumileds, Samsung and LG have established a significant advan-tage over competitors from patenting during the early stages of growth in LED lighting. Philips Lumileds and Cree were early movers in the industry, and their R&D programs have delivered impressive results. Samsung and LG, meanwhile, have recently solidified their position through the incredible scale of their R&D opera-tions and their interest in developing LED display technology.

Samsung has the highest number of patents, with 1369, followed by LG, 737, Philips Lumileds, 599, and GE, 328. However, Philips leads the pack in seminal LED patents, controlling 120, or 6.9 per-cent of all seminal patents, while Samsung and LG control 3.97 percent and 3.34 per-cent respectively. www.i-Runway.com

Thomas Research Products moves into new facilityThomas Research Products announces that it has moved to a new larger headquarters and distribution facility. Thomas Research Products is a leading manufacturer of SSL power solutions. The key benefit for cus-tomers is the expanded warehouse and shipping areas, which allow for increased volume and efficiency. TRP already main-tains a large product inventory of one of the most comprehensive LED driver prod-uct lines available in North America. The new 48,000 square foot facility in Elgin, Illinois allows for even greater stocking levels.

The building also functions as a show-case: The production and warehouse areas feature advanced LED lighting all powered by TRP’s drivers. Customers are invited to visit and see for themselves. TRP’s engi-neering, quality testing labs, and manufac-turing capabilities have also grown in the move. www.trpssl.com


Avoid the “achilles heel” of LED assembly production

The “Achilles heel” of working with LEDs, however, is the variation in brightness between individual LEDs. This has to be managed during assembly production, usu-ally on surface mount technology (SMT) machines, as a dynamically changing bill of materials (BOM). This can seriously chal-lenge an already over-burdened shop-floor and supply-chain operation, for which ERP systems can provide little support.

The solution is to create a production and supply chain operation with built-in automated management of LED-centric dynamic BOM management, and more importantly, their dependent materials. This system would be one that the whole of SMT production could benefit from, reducing line stoppages caused by unex-pected material shortages and reducing the need for carrying bloated excess inventory, especially as shop-floor WIP.

The problem of ensuring consistent brightness and color across a 2D LED arrayElectronic sign boards in stations and air-ports using 2D arrays of LEDs have been popular for many years, displaying both static and scrolling information. Looking closer at these signs, especially as mes-sages pan across, some individual LEDs often appear brighter than others. This can also manifest as slightly different colours because the levels of each of the primary colours differ. This effect can worsen over time, especially where older LEDs have been pushed to their limits to deliver acceptable brightness levels. It can also be visible in new signs, where manufactur-ing has not been controlled effectively. It is distracting, looks unattractive, and is a key issue for the quality of the assembly of LED-based products.

In most cases, brightness variations between individual LEDs are caused by an inherent uncontrollable variation in the way that the LEDs are manufactured. This variation ultimately needs to be compen-

sated for during the assembly of panels. New panels exhibiting brightness varia-tions are of poor quality and are generally not acceptable in today’s market.

It is not only the variation of brightness between LEDs within a single panel that is of concern, variation of brightness from one panel to another is also important. In many cases, LED panels may even be put together to build arrays of arrays, which all must have the same brightness as each other. LED brightness has to be consistent across all instances where LEDs are used, across all units produced of any particular product.

The areas of 2D array LED adoption are increasing as LED technology is applied in more applications. Although higher power single LEDs are becoming available, LED arrays are most likely to continue to increase in popularity, for applications such as traffic lights, automotive brake lights, kitchen cabinet illumination, etc.

The Challenge of keeping track of which and how many LEDs are needed during panel assemblyThe assembly of LED-based panels is usu-ally based on surface mount technology, where hundreds or even thousands of dis-crete LEDs are placed in a 2D grid onto a PCB. At the same time, other surface mount components are added, providing interfaces and driver circuitry. The whole PCB with a large-scale LED array can pass through regular SMT machines, like any other PCB, without any physical issues.

The driver circuitry can be individual for each LED or, where LEDs are arranged in series on a higher voltage supply, appli-cable for that chain of LEDs. The driver cir-cuitry is designed to provide a controlled current through the LED devices in accor-dance with the full brightness required. Because of the nature of LEDs, dimming is usually performed using pulse width modulation, effectively turning the LED

Clean, efficient, instantly bright and colorful, with a long lifetime of use, LEDs are rapidly becoming the world’s most common light source. LEDs are most often today implemented simply as surface-mount devices placed alongside other electronic materials onto regular printed circuit boards (PCBs).

Michael Ford, Mentor Graphics, Valor Division

All LEDs are not created equallyAvoid the “achilles heel” of LED assembly production

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fully on and off many times per second; the ratio of the times on and off determines the dimmed level, so this does not affect the choice or characteristics of driver circuitry as it relates to individual LED characteris-tics.

The values of components, such as resistors, in the driver circuitry are directly dependent on the full brightness profile of the LED. A certain LED may need, for example, 15 mA to achieve the required brightness, whereas another of the same type may need 16 mA. Changing a resistor in the driver circuitry to adjust the amount of current can mean that both LEDs will work on the same panel with the same levels of brightness.

It is not practical, of course, to have to adjust the driver circuitry for each indi-vidual LED. The LED manufacturer has created categories, called BINs, into which LEDs are filtered according to bright-ness to reduce the number of variations. Every LED within the same BIN should have a consistent brightness profile within a defined tolerance. LEDs from differ-ent BINs will have a noticeably different brightness.

When supplying LEDs of a particular

type to assembly manufacturing, all of the different BIN categories are represented by the same part number. Thus, when the assembly factory orders LEDs from their suppliers, the order process is based on part number only. The supplier will ensure that on each material carrier, normally a reel, all of the LEDs will be from the same BIN. The reel will be labeled with the BIN number. The total delivery of LEDs may be made up of multiple reels that each has a randomly selected BIN. It is not gener-ally possible, without significant additional cost, to ensure that all LEDs delivered have the same BIN. This is usually not a sustain-able or practical option.

Once the LEDs are received into the assembly manufacturing site, the local standard ERP system will not be able to differentiate between the different reels and their BINs, or track them, because ERP is driven by part number. In many opera-tions, it is left until the time at which the materials need to be selected for produc-tion to determine the actual BIN that will be used, depending on which reel is picked, and hence, which dependent driver circuit components will be needed.

This is where the problem exists for

assembly. To compensate for the different LED BIN brightness characteristics, the PCB designer creates a table of variations in key driver components such that, for example, where a particular BIN is used, a certain dependent material, such as a dif-ferent value resistor, is used in the driver circuit. The materials then provided from the warehouse to the SMT machine must change depending on the LED BIN used.

Apart from the manual effort needed to manage the correct material flow, the verification system for the materials when setting up the machine must also take these changes into account. As the LED BIN changes, the feeder delivering the depen-dent driver materials must change. The verification system has to make sure that no production can be made unless the LED and the correct associated driver materials for the LED BIN are present simultane-ously.

Changing materials on the SMT machine frequently can be a problem, because repeated verification, handling, and storage of part-used reels adds cost to the operation. In many cases, this can be avoided by assigning feeders positions for all driver material variations on the

Figure 1. LED binning material flow.



machine at the same time. In this case, as the LED BIN changes, the machine pro-gram changes to pick the dependent mate-rials from the correct feeder. This can be seen as a significantly higher risk solution, however, because there was no automated verification process; unless there is a way to verify that the machine program was changed exactly in accordance with the actual LED BIN used.

Both of these methods are dependent on manual management of the materials, verification, and machine program setup, which can become much more complex where the LEDs and dependent materials are placed by different machines in the line. The nature of the LEDs and driver mate-rials in regard to their size and shape can be quite different, which may suit different machines for speed and placement accu-racy. Maintaining control over materials for each PCB passing through different machines at different times becomes a sig-nificant challenge if done manually. There are also cases where the dependent materi-als are placed on the opposite surface of the PCB, and so the LED and associated driver components will be placed during com-pletely different processes at a completely different time.

Compounding these problems is the frequent probability that the LED BIN likely needs to be changed part-way through the production work-order. Manual effort to maintain supply of reels of LEDs from consistent BINs can help, but this cannot be guaranteed or sustained. A hurried swap-out of the dependent materi-als will often need to take place.

From the ERP perspective, this is also a very significant issue. Often, ERP may assume that one particular dependent material is being consumed as part of its fixed BOM setup associated with the prod-uct work-order, when in fact it was several different materials. This quickly results in very significant inventory errors for these materials, which compound over time. The MRP engine will then not know accurately which dependent materials to order. It is an issue that has to be managed manually, whenever time is available. With oppor-tunity for frequent mistakes and timing issues, unexpected material shortages often result.

Enhanced ERP with lean material management means better LED BIN management For the management of LEDs and their dependent materials during assembly, an automated solution provided as an

enhancement of ERP is the best way for-ward, positioned in between the demand of materials to the machines during operation and the supply of materials from the ware-house, removing the need for manual man-agement. Because of the dynamic nature of the BOM, the enhancement needs to work on a live basis. Solutions provided by tra-ditional MES systems are usually not suf-ficient because they support the pre-issue, or “pushing,” of materials from the ware-house out to the machines ahead of time, rather than allowing the machines to “pull” the materials as needed. The inevitable build-up of shop-floor material WIP where the “push” mechanism is used with SMT assembly production makes it extremely difficult to yield a live efficient solution.

The required ERP enhancement is best realized instead in the form of a Lean Manufacturing engine with a focus on materials logistics, so-called Lean Material Management. Lean Material Management uses several pieces of simple live information to provide an overall solu-tion. Generating a “pull” signal from the machines fed into a managed logistics operation ensures the delivery of the cor-rect materials to the machines as needed, including of course, the exact LED BIN dependent materials. The “pull” method-ology eliminates almost all material WIP on the shop-floor, providing a close opera-tional link between the machines and the warehouse material pick operation, which can be applied to gain benefit with all materials, including LEDs.

The several pieces of information needed by the Lean Material Management system should ideally be integrated as part of one overall system, linked or interfaced with other key manufacturing processes, in a way that brings additional control and benefit to each.

Lean material management of individual material reelsSerialization of the individual material reels is performed to differentiate accord-ing to BIN number. The BIN assigned to each reel of LED materials is stored as an attribute of each unique reel ID, together with other key pieces of information, such as remaining quantity, supplier, status, loca-tion, etc. The Lean Material Management system then knows exactly where the LEDs are, which BINs there are, and the exact quantity available of each. This informa-tion can be shared with ERP to provide a far higher level of accuracy and visibility of the material inventory, especially outside the warehouse structure across the shop-

floor, in terms of LEDs and their depen-dent materials.

Lean material management uses a product model to define materials setup and requirementsThe product model from the point of Lean Material Management is the definition of the materials requirement and setup infor-mation for the materials on each machine or process. For LED BINs, a table is needed that identifies the LED part numbers; and for each individual BIN variant, that asso-ciates the set of dependent materials to be used for each. This table need not be cre-ated for each individual product. Where many similar products use the same LEDs and driver configurations, one table can be created to manage all variants together. This is the definition of the dynamic BOM that the system can follow, and must be applica-ble across machines and lines, throughout the work-order for the product.

Lean material management verifies correct LED BINs and materials setup The LED BIN table is used to verify the setup of materials on the machines. Using the setup information from the product model, the verification process will ensure that every material is set up on the machine correctly, before the machine is allowed to produce. This ensures that there will be no mistakes, reducing re-work. The verifica-tion logic compares the setup requirements from the product model with the attributes of the unique material ID that was sup-plied, which includes the BIN definition in the case of LEDs, meaning that the machine cannot execute with the incorrect combination of LED BINs and dependent materials set up correctly.

Lean material management provides individual IDs for PCBsThe combination of BIN and dependent materials for each individual PCB has to be remembered because it is possible that the SMT machine that is used to place the LEDs on the PCBs is not the same as the one used to place the dependent materials. When Lean Material Management is in place, the materials to be used are determined for each PCB at the first process event of plac-ing either an LED or a dependent material. Where the LEDs and dependent materi-als are on different surfaces of the PCB, it becomes crucially important to remember



which BIN-related BOM should be needed by each PCB at subsequent assembly steps. This is especially important where there is not enough physical stock of LEDs of a certain BIN or their dependent materials to complete the whole work-order, such that the BIN has to change part-way through. Managing the synchronization of the BOM changes at the right points across poten-tially several machines or lines can only be made possible with unique PCB panel identification.

Lean material management means a smoother workflowA particularly high risk scenario occurs when the dependent materials are placed before the actual LEDs, which commits the use of which LED BINs will be sub-sequently used. Issues can arise if the expected BIN is no longer available. Thus, the Lean Material Management system has to have knowledge of the schedule, in terms of sequence and timing of work-orders, of the whole shop floor to correctly manage LED BIN flow ahead of production needs.

To manage this, the relevant Product Model is specifically attributed to each work-order, which defines also the quan-tity of each product to be made, with some indication of when the work-order will start and how long each product will take to build. The Lean Material Management system will look through all schedules for LEDs and dependent materials so that, when making decisions to prepare mate-rials for any specific requirements on the machine, commitments of certain BINs can be fulfilled. BIN supply within a work-order also can be more consistent, thereby reducing changes. The Lean Material Management logistics engine uses this information to manage material deliveries to the machines, as well as smoothing the flow in terms of peaks of material move-ment logistics, which provides a less vola-tile work-load to materials operators.

Lean material management covers progress across the entire shop-floorThe most critical element of any Lean system is the generation of the pull signal, in this case for both the replenishment of materials during operation and for changes of materials needed at product change-over. This is achieved through the capture of live event data directly from the machines such that every PCB-ID is associated with the exact material setup used and accurate material consumption including spoilage is collected and accounted for.

The critical consideration for a system is the capability of interfacing with all machine types, across different platforms and models from different vendors, as well as applying full Lean Material Management across the whole shop-floor, including manual processes. Calculation based on the number of remaining materials on each reel, the time taken for each PCB unit to be produced, and the consumption of materials for each PCB gives an accurate time for the prediction of material exhaust, which drives the material pick and deliv-ery schedule. The logic must also include a production unit material check to ensure that there are enough LEDs and depen-dent materials to complete a whole PCB once started. It can be extremely difficult to manage mixed material values part-way through the machine sequence, and so this scenario is best avoided.

Lean material management benefits production with LEDs and much moreThe Lean Materials Management system described here in terms of supporting LED and dependent materials can also provide benefit across all shop-floor materials used for electronic products. Just-in-time deliv-ery, verification and traceability of mate-rial used on each PCB, as well as overall inventory accuracy, all provide benefit to the operation, especially where linked with the ERP system as an enhancement. This also ensures that LEDs need no longer be treated as a special case in produc-tion requiring careful management and expense. One Lean system can be applied everywhere, with LEDs simply managed as part of the built-in automated logic.

From the assembly viewpoint, the way that LED BINs were devised may appear crazy. It is unfortunate that such a simple fix to compensate for the inherent varia-tion in LED manufacturing can have such a complex impact on assembly. With the growth in popularity of LED-based prod-ucts, what once was a “quirk” in manufac-turing now needs to become part of a more comprehensive main stream manufactur-ing supply chain solution.

The design of the Lean Material Management system is critical, to be able not only to take all of the right pieces of information from many different areas of manufacturing, but also to do it in a live environment, in an accurate way, bringing to each operation a benefit, rather than a burden. The Lean Material Management system is an elegant solution in that it elim-inates the manual operation and problems

associated with LED assembly manufac-turing, it brings significant benefits to the operation, and promotes flexibility.

The benefits from the use of Lean Material Management are quite varied. The overall benefits are always significant, although some companies will choose to focus on certain areas, such as excess inven-tory reduction, line down-time reduction caused by unexpected material shortages, or the increase in quality. Even just consid-ering LED assembly production, benefits include the removal of a large amount of manual effort, the elimination of causes of quality issues, reduced line stoppages, logis-tics cost savings, etc. In the wider applica-tion of Lean Material Management across the shop-floor, we almost always see cases where shop-floor material WIP has been reduced by more than 95%. We see almost all inventory discrepancies between ERP and the physical stock disappear, enabling ERP to order more efficiently, reducing needless bloating of inventory that was once necessary in case of unexpected inter-nal materials shortages.

The real issues around LED BINs in assembly manufacturing show us that the issue is really a supply-chain issue appli-cable to the whole site. Attempting to solve the issue, for example only in the warehouse or only on a certain machine for advanced verification, does not work in isolation. The link between the machines, the schedule, the material locations and inventory, and ERP, with the live Lean Materials Engine, is essential.

Michael Ford started his career as a com-puter software and hardware engineer in 1982. Working for Sony in the UK, Michael became one of the first successful adopters of computer technology into the manufactur-ing shop-floor, going on to manage in Japan Sony’s global Lean Manufacturing solutions.

Joining Valor Computerized Systems in 2008 gave Michael the opportunity to apply his experience into the main-stream of the industry. With almost 30 years of experi-ence, Michael’s key strength is the instinct of finding solutions and opportunities where there had been challenges and problems. Michael is currently working as part of the Marketing Development team within the Valor Division of Mentor Graphics, focus-ing on the realization of real and practical solutions for manufacturing based on the application of Lean Thinking, end to end, from design through the entire manufactur-ing process.


New LED products

New LED productsElectrolube’s silicone resin protects LED lighting and preserves its aesthetics

Recently, Electrolube was approached by one of its customers, a manufacturer of LED lighting systems, for advice on a new project it was undertaking to supply lumi-naires for use in a range of commercial buildings and hotel lobbies, the location and design of which presented certain chal-lenges. The LED units had to be protected from corrosion without compromising their appearance.

Following an appraisal of its customer’s needs, Electrolube recommended its opti-cally clear silicone resin SC3001 for the application as it offered excellent clarity as well as good protection against harsh weather conditions. SC3001 is an RoHS-2 compliant (2011/65/EU), flexible, two-part encapsulation compound that is particu-larly suited for use where optical clarity is vital. It is easily applied in thin films due to its low viscosity and moisture cure nature.

Electrolube also offered advice about potting methods and the selection of appropriate production equipment. www.electrolube.com

GlacialPower launches 200mA DALI power supply - GP-DP004N-16VGlacialPower, a division of Taiwanese tech-nology manufacturer GlacialTech, intro-duced the newest addition to its DALI product lineup, the GP-DP004N-16V. A DALI power supply outputting 200mA, the GP-DP004N is enough for a full 64 device DALI network. Compatible with DALI standard IEC62386, the GP-DP004N-16V takes universal AC input from 100V to 240V to provide constant voltage at 16V. With over-current and short-circuit pro-tection, users are ensured safe power.www.glacialpower.com

Standard led coolers gain traction—MechaTronix enters eco partnership with Osram

While LED COB modules are more and more seen as a commodity product, also the related accessories around enter the same era. The importance of easy off-the-shelf availability, proven quality and vali-dated technical ability grows every day for lighting parts like reflectors and lenses, led drivers and LED coolers.

Osram Opto Semiconductors launched recently the Soleriq P and Soleriq S chip-on-board LED modules, while Osram Lighting announced the 4th generation of the PrevaLED Core. MechaTronix, based in Kaohsiung Taiwan and specialized in the development and manufacturing of passive LED cooling, has entered an eco-partner-ship with both tier one LED manufactur-ers to make a broad range of standard LED coolers available.

The MechaTronix LED coolers for Osram are developed in this way that an optimal thermal performance can be obtained from minimal outer dimensions. In this way lighting designers save more space which they can use for aesthetic designs, or can miniaturize their creations. Besides mounting holes that allow for direct fitting of the LED modules on the coolers, MechaTronix ran an extensive thermal validation program under various driving currents. In this way the designers obtain a good insight in the junction temperatures they will obtain even before starting their new designs, guaranteeing that the final luminaires will meet the lifetime expecta-tions the end user expects.

At time of press fourteen standard LED coolers have been made off-the-shelf avail-able for the new Osram products, ranging from passive pin fin and star LED coolers in a diameter of just 47mm for compact spot lighting over high performance pas-

sive coolers for shop and down lights up to an active cooler for extreme lumen high bay applications. www.ledlightforyou.com

Rutronik: World’s first series-connected 20kA-capable surge arrestor from LittelfuseDistributor Rutronik presents the new surge protection modules LSP05 and LSP10 from Littelfuse. Constructed with Littelfuse thermally protected varistors, they provide robust surge current handling capability for outdoor and commercial LED lighting fix-tures. One of the modules includes world’s first series-connected, 20kA-capable indi-cating surge arrestor. The LSP05 Series with maximum lightning current ratings of 10kA is configured with parallel connec-tions, whereas the LSP10 Module is avail-able with either parallel or series connec-tions. This series-connected version is the world’s first indicating surge arrestor capa-ble of handling surges of up to 20,000A. They are ideal for outdoor and commercial LED lighting like roadway lighting, traffic lighting, digital signage, service entrance lighting, parking garage/lot lighting, as well as flood, tunnel and street lighting. www.rutronik.com

High wattage AC or DC input LED drivers introduced by Thomas Research ProductsThomas Research Products introduced new high wattage LED Drivers designed to accept DC or AC input. Thomas Research Products is a manufacturer of SSL power solutions.

The new PLEDDC series 120W, 150W and 200W drivers are based on TRP’s pop-ular high performance PLED series models. Right out of the box, these units accept uni-versal 100-277V AC input or 108-250V DC input with no modification. They provide flicker-free output.

Models are available in constant-current, dimming, and constant-voltage versions. TRP’s new drivers offer all the same features as their regular PLED driv-ers, including Black Magic Thermal Advantage(TM) aluminum enclosures. They are also IP66, rated for dry and damp locations. PLEDDC series drivers carry the company’s standard 5 year warranty.

All LED Drivers from TRP offer high quality, long life, high efficiency and are cost-competitive. Information can be found


New LED products

on the company’s website. PLEDDC series drivers are available now. www.trpsssl.com

Harvard launches SensorNodeHarvard Engineering launched a new device called a SensorNode that enables presence detection for the company’s multi award-winning LeafNut monitoring

and control system for outdoor and street lighting. The SensorNode automatically overrides any scheduled dimming profiles on the system, returning the lights to full power for a specified period of time. The device operates via connection with an external presence detection unit, making it an ideal solution for installing on footpaths and cycle paths. Following recent concerns about turning lights off at night, the SensorNode allows local authorities to save energy through scheduled dimming, and maintain the safety of residents with increased light levels when required. www.phihong.com/LED

LED socket from VCC features embedded resistor to optimize performanceVCC has designed a series of LED sock-ets that feature a built-in current limiting resistor to provide optimal LED perfor-mance. Ideal for indication applications ranging from 4VDC to 12VDC, the CNX 310 Series LED socket design ensures that the current is delivered at a specific level called the characteristic, or recommended,

forward current. The CNX 310 LED socket with embedded chip resistor also extends the operating life of the LED fixture, as it protects against transient voltages. www.vcclite.com

OLED displays with SPI interface run on simple 3.3V supplyThe highly popular Serial Peripheral Interface (SPI) is now available on elec-tronic assembly OLED text displays. The deployment of serial data transmission continues to increase and SPI expands the application range of the displays. A broad and ever expanding range of SPI-enabled components and microcontrollers is avail-able on the market and the SPI bus is now being designed into many applications. In theory, there is no limit to the number of displays and nodes that can be attached to the SPI bus. The bus has three shared bus lines (MOSI, MISO and CLK) as well as a CS (Chip Select) line. www.lcd-module.com


Muted growth—hopefully accelerating in fourth quarter

As we write this column in mid-Septem-ber, we are anxiously awaiting the normal autumn “busy season” and a resulting strong finish to 2014. Based upon data through August, this year’s expected sea-sonal upturn has been rather muted. Per Chart 1, global electronic equipment ship-ments were only up 2.2% in August 2014 compared to August 2013.

Although electronic equipment growth has recently been minimal, semiconductor shipments (especially to N America and Asia/Pacific) have been quite strong (Chart 2). This raises the worry that chip inventory building is occurring, leading to a future buying contraction while chip levels are balanced with end market need.

Semiconductor capital equipment spending (Chart 3) has been robust through mid-2014 but growth appears to be ebbing and will certainly decline if semiconductor

sales move into a “downward inventory cor-rection” period in late 2014 or early 2015.

ODM companies’ sales (Chart 4) were also subdued though August—mirror-ing electronic equipment shipments on a monthly basis. The ODMs will most cer-tainly see an autumn upturn as consumer electronics inventories are built for this year’s December holiday season. Hopefully this seasonality coupled with new high volume products from Apple and others will equate to a strong year-end finish.

Printed circuit shipments (Chart 5) appear to have started their much awaited fall seasonal run up, but at present this 2014 PCB market expansion appears headed for less than 3% annual growth.

Thanks to our colleague, Ed Henderson, Chart 6 provides electronic equipment growth forecasts by year by region. 2015 looks better than 2014 for all geographies.

2014 will definitely be a growth year and so will 2015—assuming no major wars or natural disasters. However conditions remain fragile. Keep watching the monthly numbers to avoid surprises!

For those of you visiting Electronica in Munich this November Walt will be pre-senting his “Market Outlook for the Global Electronics Industry” each day of the trade-show.

End markets Country• China’s TV shipments to the local

market reached 21 million units valued at CNY69.6 billion (US$11.3 billion) in 1H’14.

• Taiwan’s notebook industry shipments increased 0.4% y/y to 36 million units in 2Q’14.—MIC

Mobile Communications• Installed base of active wireless con-

nected devices will grow from more than 16 billion units in 2014 to 41 bil-lion in 2020.—ABI Research

• Phablet shipments (smartphones with screen sizes from 5.5 to less than 7-inch) will reach 175 million units worldwide in 2014.—IDC

• Smart connected device (PCs, tablets, and smartphones) market expanded 2.8% y/y to 52.5 million units in 2Q’14.—IDC

• Smartphones shipments will increase 23.8% y/y to more than 1.25 billion units in 2014—IDC

• Data/Telecom• Broadband aggregation equipment rev-

enue (DSL, PON, and Ethernet FTTH) grew 17% q/q and 19% y/y in 2Q’14.—Infonetics Research

• Enterprise router revenue increased 1% q/q to $867 million in 2Q’14.—Infonetics Research

• Optical network hardware revenue, including SONET/SDH and WDM, expanded 27% q/q to $3.3 billion in 2Q’14.—Infonetics Research

• Macrocell 2G/3G/4G mobile infra-

Walt Custer and Jon Custer-Topai

Muted growthHopefully accelerating in

fourth quarter

World Electronic Equipment Monthly Shipments

Converted @ Fluctuating Exchange Rates

Source: Custer Consulting Group & Electronic Outlook Corp

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2002 2003 2004 2005 2006 2007 2008 2009 2010 2011 2012 2013 2014

Aug 2014 up 2.2% vs Aug 2013and up 1.1% vs. July 2014

US$ M

Chart 1.

Read ListenWatch

©2014 Mentor Graphics Corporation. All Rights Reserved. Mentor Graphics is a registered trademark of Mentor Graphics Corporation.



structure market increased 11% y/y to $11.2 billion in 2Q’14.—Infonetics Research

• Server shipments market grew 1.3% y/y to 2.5 million units in 2Q’14, while revenue increased 2.8% to $12.7 bil-lion.—Gartner

Computers & Peripherals• PC shipments are expected to fall 3.7%

to 304 million units in 2014; mature regions will grow 5.6% to 141 mil-lion.—IDC

• Chromebook sales will grow from 5.2 million units in 2014 to 14.4 million units in 2017.—Gartner

• Notebook PC shipments increased 1% y/y to 45 million units in 2Q’14.—NPD DisplaySearch

• Branded tablet shipments are expected to decrease 1.8% y/y in 2014 to 153 million units- TrendForce

• Tablet plus 2-in-1 forecast for 2014 was lowered to 6.5% y/y growth to 233 mil-lion units.—IDC

• Tablet white-box vendors shipments increased 9.3% q/q to 22.3 million in

2Q’14.—Digitimes Research• Workstation market grew 11.5% y/y

to 1.05 million units in 2Q’14.—Jon Peddie Research

Consumer Electronics• External disk storage systems factory

revenues fell 1.4% y/y to nearly $5.9 billion during 2Q’14; total disk storage systems capacity shipped was 11.5 exa-bytes.—IDC

• Hardcopy peripheral shipments declined 2.3% y/y to 25.5 million units in 2Q’14.—IDC

• Large format printer shipments expanded 5.3% y/y to more than 77,000 units (value declined slightly to $786 million) in 2Q’14.—IDC

• Projector shipments grew 17% y/y in 2Q’14 to 2 million units valued US$2.4 billion.—Futuresource Consulting

• Fingerprint sensor market is expected to reach $14.35 billion in 2020 driven by smartphones and mobile commerce.

Display Panels/ Touch Screens• Haptic touchscreen technology market

is forecast to grow at 41% CAGR to $52

billion in 2018.—RnR Market Research • Touch panel industry revenue is

expected to grow at a 12.5% CAGR from US$31.4 billion in 2013 to US$43.7 billion in 2017.—IEK

• Ultra HD TV shipments are forecast to reach 14 million units in 2014 driven by strong demand in China.—TrendForce

IoT, Wearables• Internet of Things & Machine-to-

Machine communication market is expected to grow at a 24.4% CAGR from $129 billion in 2014 to $499 bil-lion in 2019.—RnRMarketResearch

• Wireless connected devices will grow from 16 billion units in 2014 to 40.9 billion in 2020 on Internet of Things expansion.—ABI Research

• Near field communication market (IC/Chips, Tags, Readers, and Auxiliary) will grow at 8.8% CAGR to $16 billion by 2022.—MarketsandMarkets

• Wireless power transmission by induc-tion and radiation market is esti-mated to reach $17 billion by 2020.—MarketsandMarkets

Total Semiconductor Shipments to an AreaMonthly Shipments - Reporting Firms

SIA website: www.sia-online.org/

0.0

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95 96 97 98 99 00 01 02 03 04 05 06 07 08 09 10 11 12 13 14

Japan

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Asia-Pac

$B (3-month average) Asia/Pacific

Chart 2.

Semiconductor Capital Equipment Shipments by Area

www.semi.org, www.seaj.or.jp/ 9/14

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2000 2001 2002 2003 2004 2005 2006 2007 2008 2009 2010 2011 2012 2013 2014

ROW

China

Taiwan

S Korea

N America

Japan

Europe

$ Billions

+28%

Chart 3.

Taiwan ODM CompaniesComposite Sales of 11 Large Manufacturers

0100200300400500600700800900

1,000

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98 99 00 01 02 03 04 05 06 07 08 09 10 11 12 13 14

Aug 2014 was up 2.1% vs. Aub 2013 & up 3.2%sequentially from July 2014

NT$ (Billions)

Asustek Computer, Chei Mei, Compal Electronics, Foxconn, Chimei Innolux , Inventec, Inventec Appliance, Lite On Technology, Mitac International, Pegatron, Quanta Computer, Wistron, Chei Mei Display replacing Chei Mei & Innolux Display 3/10 & later

Calendar YearCompany Financial Releases

Chart 4.

World PCB Shipments (with forecast)Converted @ Fluctuating Exchange Rates

2.0

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99 00 01 02 03 04 05 06 07 08 09 10 11 12 13 14 15

ActualForecast

+1.3%

-1.1%

$ Billions

Source: Custer Consulting Group - 2010 base year expanded by monthly growth of N. American, European, Japanese & Taiwan/China monthly PCB shipments

Calendar Year

Growth calculations:Europe = Eurostat “Wiring Device”Japan & N. America from JPCA & IPC dataTaiwan/China:46 rigid & flex company compositeRest of Asia growth = Taiwan/China 44 company compositeIncludes S Korea data for 2011-2013

+2.9%

Chart 5.



• Wearable shipments will grow 129% y/y to 35 million units in 2014 and 135 million in 2018.—CCS Insight

Automotive• Automotive blind spot detection

system market is expected to reach $2.8 billion and automotive adaptive cruise control system market will total $6.1 billion by 2019.—MarketsandMarkets

• Automotive electronics production is expected to grow at a 7% average annual rate from 142 billion Euros in 2014 to 179 billion Euros by 2017.—DECISION

Robots• Robot investment is expected to grow

at a 10.4% CAGR from just over $15 billion in 2010 to about $67 billion by 2025.—Boston Consulting Group

• Medical robot systems market will grow at a 16% CAGR from $1.8 bil-lion in 2013 to $3.8 billion by 2018.—MarketsandMarkets

EMS, ODM & related assembly activityApplied Concepts purchased a TR7500 SIII 3D AOI system from Test Research.AWS Electronics received ISO 13485 med-ical accreditation.BEST Inc. began offering “rent” or “rent to

own” PCB inspectors or soldering/rework technicians.Celestica opened a microelectronics lab at its Toronto HQ. Congatec appointed Matthias Klein COO and member of the Executive Board and appointed Neil Wood Regional Sales Manager UK & Ireland.Crane Aerospace & Electronics invested in a second KISS-102 selective soldering system.Foxconn/Hon Hai• began development and production of

medical equipment.• invested US$2 million to acquire a 10%

stake in AirSig.• is building a cell phone accessories

plant in Heze, Shandong, China.• is investing 5 billion Yuan ($814 mil-

lion) in its factories in Shanxi prov-ince, China to expand electric vehicle assembly.

• plans to begin manufacturing medical equipment.

Hughes Electronics added a second KISS-101IL in-line selective soldering system from ACE Production Technologies.Jabil leased a 100,000 SF building in South San Jose, California to expand R&D activ-ity.Key Tronic acquired CDR Manufacturing

for $46.9 million.Kingfield Electronics named Mike Fairclough Business Development Director.Kitron (Arendal, Norway) achieved EN9100:2009 certification.Libra Industries acquired Focus Manufacturing. Mecalc added a MEK PowerSpector FDAz AOI system.Neways Micro Electronics Wuxi received ISO 13485 medical standard certification.Orbit One closed its Kalix, Sweden facility and moved production to Stockholm and Ronneby.Plexus opened a 265,000 SF manufacturing facility in Guadalajara, Mexico.Quality Precision Electronics purchased a MY200DX-14 machine from Mycronic.Rocket EMS added Typhoon T-8 chem-istry zero-discharge cleaner, T15 water soluble cleaner and DI recirculating system from Aqua Klean Systems.SisTech Manufacturing purchased an Ecoselect 2 selective soldering system and a HOTFLOW 3 reflow oven from Kurtz Ersa.STACI Corporation appointed David Buckley CEO.Stadium Group acquired United Wireless.Strama-MPS Maschinenbau acquired 51%

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

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of F&K Delvotec’s shares from owner and president Farhad Farassat.Texcel Technology installed an upgraded Finesse Europlacer pick & place machine.

PCB fabricationChina’s branded motherboard shipments fell 5-6% y/y to 13.6 million units in 1H’14.—DigitimesJapan’s PWB revenue increased 5.8% m/m to 40.7 billion yen in June, while volume increased 4.8% m/m to 1.14 million m2.—METIN American PCB shipments decreased 2.3% y/y in July 2014, leaving year-to-date shipment growth flat at -0.6%.—IPCTaiwan PCB revenue increased 7.5% to NT$194 billion in 1H’14.Advanced Circuits completed Isola’s certi-fication program.Akasaka Electronics closed its Pawane, Navi Mumbai plant.Calumet Electronics appointed Mike Kadlec VP of Business Development. Congrats Mike!Career capex will reach NT$1.6 billion in 2014. It ramped up FPCB shipment growth in 2Q’14 to fulfill wearable device orders.Chin-Poon Industrial is setting up a HDI factory in northern Taiwan with a 4-year investment of NT$3.2 billion (US$107 mil-lion), with production to begin in 2Q15Compeq Manufacturing added up to 180,000 SF (16,700 m2) per month new capacity to its HD interconnect PCB factory in Fuling District of China’s Chongqing.Digitek SMT Assemblies added an addi-tional SMT production line.ECD named Todd Clifton President.Epec Engineered Technologies appointed Tim Weir Regional Sales Manager for Canada.Firan Technology Group reached agree-

ment for 4-year labor contract with represented employees at its Circuits—Toronto facility.Flexium com-pleted installation of a new roll-to-roll automated production line which doubled its capacity for high-end FPCBs.Graphic Plc i m p l e m e n t e d U c a m c o ’ s Integr8tor tools for its automatic customer data

input and analysis software.Invotec Group joined the UK Sharing in Growth (SiG) program.IPC named Teresa Rowe Director of Assembly and Standards Technology.ITL Circuits (Markham, Ontario, Canada) purchased Orbotech’s Paragon™ 9800 LDI system.Lenthor added a MicroCraft flying probe test system.Merlin PCB Group added Tom Bird and Sarah Gilmour to its external sales team.Multilayer Technology completed MIL-PRF-55110 recertificationMurrietta Circuits licensed eSurface Technologies’ technology.Optiprint approved PK Plating Technology’s ASIG process.Piu Printex purchased a Chemplate Materials SL Indubond 130N registration system.Printca Graphic closed its Danish manu-facturing facility that was damaged by a chemical fire in early July.Rexxam (Drogheda, Ireland) closed.Stadium Group invested more than £1m in new machinery in Hartlepool, UK.TEK Industries (Vernon, Connecticut) was acquired by Vermont Manufacturing Group.Transonics launched its quick turn PCB service.Zhen Ding raised US$300 million through issuing euro convertible bonds to expand capital spending to US$150 million in 2014, with 70-80% to be used to expand its FPCB production.

Materials & process equipmentAdditive manufacturing market will grow from $3 billion in 2013 to $6.1 billion in

2018 and $10.5 billion in 2023.—Statista Copper clad laminate output increased of 18% y/y to to720 million m2 in 2013.—RnRMarketResearch.comElectronic adhesives market will reach $5.5 billion by 2019.—MarketsandMarketsEpoxy resins market is expected to grow at a 6.9% CAGR from USD 6.6 billion in 2013 to USD 10.6 billion in 2020.—Transparency Market Research Organic electronics (semiconductor, con-ductive, dielectric and substrate) market is expected to grow at a 29% CAGR to $76 billion by 2020.—MarketsandMarkets3M acquired Sumitomo Electric Industries’ 25% interest in Sumitomo 3M.AIM Solder appointed Michael Koch, Sales Manager in Germany and other German-speaking countries.Aimtron opened a 46,000 SF facility in Palatine, Illinois.Alpha • named Mitch Holtzer Global Director

of Customer Technical Services.• VP of Energy Technologies Ravi

Bhatkal was appointed to iNEMI Global Board of Directors. Congratulations Ravi!

BASF Venture Capital invested €1m in SmartKem.Cencorp sold its majority shareholding in its electronics automation business to FTTK.Chemtronics added Andy Bresnahan, Performance Technologies Group, Kevin Bomba, PHI Associates and Dale Robinson, Production Solutions Associates to its Eastern United States sales team.eSurface Technologies elected Rowland Hanson to its Board of Directors and Gene Weiner to its Advisory Board.FCT Assembly named Carlos Bobadilla Application & Design Manager—Mexico.Goepel electronic entered a boundary Scan solutions strategic partnership with PanSino Solutions.Goldsol introduced a nano silver formu-lation with up to 60% sub-20nm colloidal silver for conductive ink or thin film appli-cations.Hitachi • America appointed Masaya Watanabe

President and CEO.• High-Technologies withdrew from

chip mounter business.Indium relocated to a larger facility in Shenzhen, China.Isola • hired Tony Caputo for its Analytical

Services Lab in Chandler, AZ.• European subsidiary complied with the

European Space Agency’s Appendix A specification for a cleaner class of base materials.

World 1.0 -2.6 2.4 4.8 5.2

USA -0.9 -4.1 2.0 4.5 4.9

W. Europe -3.4 -3.6 -1.2 2.2 2.5

Japan -2.6 -10.3 0.6 2.4 2.8

Four Tigers -1.2 2.3 3.8 5.2 5.6

China 2.6 -2.4 2.6 5.3 5.8

Henderson Ventures 9/2014www.hendersonventures.com

2012 2013 2014 2015 2016

Electronic Equipment Production Growth

Constant $ Growth Rates Converted @ Constant Exchange Rates

Chart 6.



Juki Automation Systems promoted Frank Ruiz to Applications Engineering Manager –Western US, and Larry Moon to Applications Engineering Manager—Eastern US.MacDermid hired Yong Kiat Tan as Business Director Southeast Asia ASF Business.Nordson • acquired Dima Group.• DAGE appointed Richard Frisk

European Sales Manager for Inspection Products.

Park Electrochemical • appointed Constantine Petropoulos as

VP and General Counsel.• named Baron Jones and Mark

Robertson Technical Sales Engineers.Photo Stencil named Joe Wilcox Sr. VP, Operations Teledyne • acquired Bolt Technology.• acquired ATLAS HYDROGRAPHIC.Yamaha Motor acquired Hitachi High-Tech Group’s surface mounter business.ZESTRON • Americas renewed its 2014-2015 ITAR

registration.• appointed Ted Hersey Regional Sales

Manager.

Semiconductors & other componentsSemiconductor manufacturing equip-ment billings increased 28% y/y to US$ 9.6 billion in 2Q’14.—SEMISemiconductor front end fab equipment spending (new, used, and in-house) is pro-jected to increase 20% in 2015 to US$42 billion.—SEMI Silicon wafer area shipments increased 9.5% q/q to 2,587 million square inches in 2Q’14.—SEMIAsia-Pacific is forecast to account for nearly 59% of the $286 billion IC market in 2014.—IDCEuropean semiconductor distribution industry grew 5.3% to €1.6bn in 2Q’14.—DMASS South Korea memory production value was KRW7.54 trillion for DRAM and KRW3.19 trillion for NAND flash in 2Q’14.—Digitimes ResearchAerospace industry sensor market rev-enues will grow from $1.24 billion in 2013 to $2.44 billion in 2020.—Frost & SullivanChip on Board LED market will at 33.2% CAGR from $1,226 million in 2013 to $ 9,180 million in 2020.—Grand View ResearchDRAM sales rose 9% q/q to US$10.8 bil-lion in 2Q’14.—TrendForce

Graphics chip shipments fell 4.5% y/y in 2Q’14; expected to grow from 414 mil-lion in 2014 to 418 million in 2017.—Jon Peddie ResearchImage sensor market is expected to grow at an 8% CAGR from 2014 to $15.8 billion by 2020.—MarketsandMarketsLED Market is expected to grow at a 13.5% CAGR to $42.7 billion by 2020.—Allied Market ResearchMagnetic field sensor market will grow at an 8% CAGR from $1.6 billion in 2013 to $2.9 billion by 2020.—MarketsandMarketsMicroprocessor, GPU, and peripher-als market is expected to grow at a 7.5% CAGR from 2014 to $128 Billion in 2020.—MarketsandMarkets NAND Flash market is expected to grow 9% to $26.6 billion in 2015 as a result of increasing demand for tablets and smart-phones and Internet of Things—DRAMeXchangePower semiconductors market dropped 0.3% y/y to $15.4 billion in 2013.—IHSPressure sensor market is expected to grow at a 6.2% CAGR from USD 6.5 bil-lion in 2013 to USD 9.4 billion in 2020.—Transparency Market Research

R E G I STE R O N L I N E TO DAY AT W W W. M E PTE C .O RG

Thursday, October 23, 2014

Biltmore Hotel, Santa Clara, California

2014 MEPTEC

SEMICONDUCTOR PACKAGING TECHNOLOGY SYMPOSIUM

Pushing the Limits in Packaging Design and Manufacturing

Silver Sponsors

Title


Paul, you have a new solder cleaning solu-tion on your stand here. Can you tell us about that?

We’ve been developing a product for about two years to clean the solder off a circuit board after you’ve removed a BGA. It’s time that we did it. We’ve been thinking about it for a long time.

Pitches are going smaller, the size of the pads are coming down to the thickness of a human head of hair—you can’t go near them with a soldering iron. So we’ve devel-oped a tool for what is generically called

in the industry “scavenging.” We were very successful with our rework machine that we called the Scorpion, which was basically to say that for a small machine, it has a “big sting,” that sort of thing. So we’re calling this new solder cleaning tool the Solder Bee. We’ve got an icon of the bee, and instead of sucking honey it’s sucking solder off.

What kind of markets are driving this? Is it the medical/automotive, or is it the high-volume consumer market and min-iaturization?

Miniaturization of packaging is being driven by PoP (package on package) for mobile products, tablets, cell phones. But medical is also very, very small, and they don’t really want to damage the pad with a high temperature soldering iron. So the Solder Bee is for anything that’s high reli-ability, if you’re allowed to rework it. For instance, a Boeing board, you can’t rework them normally, but they might sacrifice because you’re not physically touching the board.

Interview

Phil Stoten spoke with OK International’s Paul Wood at NEPCON South China in Shenzhen about their new Solder Bee and the manufacturing environment in South China.

Interview—Paul Wood, OK International

ListenReadWatch


Title

The Solder Bee’s a product for next year, for first quarter. We’ll be out showing it to select customers before that.

You chose this show to pull the paper off for the first time. Any particular reason that you’ve done it here first?

Shenzhen location in Guangdong builds 45% of the world’s cell phones, so this is the right place to do it.

Absolutely. If people want to download your white paper on it, can they find that on your website? Or, is it a white paper yet, or just a presentation?

Now, because we’ve done it, we’re free to give the information to wherever you want it. There are some movies in there of it working.

Obviously lots of cell phone manufac-turing here, lots of other stuff going on. What’s South China looking like for you as a company at the moment?

It’s very active. In the last two months, we’ve seen people request a demo, and we say, “All right, we’ll be there in two weeks,” and they go, “We need you here by the end of this week,” so it’s very active. And ship-ping machines around—you don’t always have machines in every location.

Also, there are so many new chipsets hitting the market, so it’s first to market with a product that’s got a new chipset, and when you’ve got a new chipset, it’s difficult to rework. The secret sauce is of course you’re asked, “Take this package off, put this package back, and in the middle, there’s the cleaning.” So if you can’t do it with a soldering iron…you don’t win.

If you’re doing that to keep up with new packages as they come out, do you have to maintain a good relationship with the chip manufacturers, the silicon manufac-turers?

I do work for them under NDA for most of the major ones. They give me the new chipsets, we see if we can work with them—because they won’t be able to sell the chips to anybody if you can’t rework them.

I was going to say, they need to know they can be assembled, they need to know they can be reworked, they need to know that they have a life in the market.

Take a smart phone for instance. The aver-age BOM of the parts is $250. You’ve got one package that’s $30. If you can’t put it back, it’s $250 scrap. The assembly houses generally get between $7 and $10 for build-ing, so if they mess that up, now they have

to build 250 phones to make up the $250 they just lost.

It’s very narrow margins.

And high volume. Each cell phone line typically does 700,000 phones a month. Each line. So it’s millions. The iPhone 6 was announced, and they reckon there’s going to be 90 million made by two subcontrac-tors now. They’re huge numbers.

They really are big numbers. And in terms of the cell phone industry, it seems to be doing a good job of hanging on here even as wage prices increases. A lot of other stuff is going to West China and other parts of China. How is the rest of the Chinese market doing for you?

We’re pretty much active in computer, laptop, cell phone. The other people are just normal automotive, such as Continental. They’re very active as well. Car electronics is massive. The amount of goodies in the car today… So the automotive’s good.

That’s growing fast, but a lot of that seems focused around the Chengdu area?

They do the AVL in China, but they make them in Nogales, they make them in Germany, so once you succeed here, it’s multiple locations that you’re asked to go and perform.

We recently moved Ian Orpwood over from Ohio. He was one of our regional sales managers, very good at technical, BGA, and demos. He moved three months ago. He’s resident in Hong Kong. He’s back and forth looking after all the channels, the regional sales managers. What used

to happen was I used to come and go, and then when I left, there was all sorts going on, and nobody would carry on. Now we have a good technical sales director responsible for all of Southeast Asia.

So last question, Paul: How has the show been?

Yesterday was quiet, but the first day can be. Most people come on the mid day here, which is the Wednesday, so the attendance should be very good. Hopefully it’ll be good today.

Congratulations on the award, Paul. Thanks for your time.

—Phil Stoten

Watch this interview online at http://globalsmt.net.

Interview

We’ve had people request a demo, and we say, “All right, we’ll be there in two weeks,” and they go, “We need you here by the end of this week.” It’s very active.


Think twice about that low Tg underfill

Reaching way back, like several months ago, the first part of my column on underfill discussed the

fascinating history of flip chip devices and underfill, its recent successes, and the tran-sition to underfills with a lower glass transi-tion temperature to resolve drop issues and brittle low-K dielectric.

Underfill with low glass transition temperature (Tg). Theoretically, it solved everything. Good enough to prevent white bump failures. Good enough to prevent failures under temperature cycling. Almost too good to be true.

Now, to start, we should probably define exactly what low Tg underfill is (the what). From my perspective, low Tg underfill is defined as a glass-filled epoxy with a glass transition temperature below the maxi-mum use temperature of the device. Note (actually, a very important note): Not below the maximum storage temperature or the maximum test temperature or the maxi-mum junction temperature. Only when it is below the maximum use temperature.

The introduction of low-Tg underfill into the marketplace was followed by rapid acceptance by most of the major manufac-turers of flip chip ball grid arrays (FCBGAs). Central processing units (CPUs), graphic processing units (GPUs), and field pro-grammable gate arrays (FPGAs) fabricated with low-K dielectric (the transition was between 45 nm and 90 nm process node depending on the technology) quickly inte-grated the new material set into their pack-aging construction. White bump issues faded to the background, and the new material passed all JESD22-A104 tempera-ture cycling tests with flying colors. The low Tg underfill was so good it became literally impossible to get flip chip bumps to fail under temperature cycling. It was literally bullet-proof! And that should have been the first indication that something was very wrong.

The problems first became apparent in between 2005 and 2007. Numerous vendors started reporting extremely high

failure rates on some products, with some indications of either a 60% failure rate or repair rates exceeding 100% (the average unit came back for repair more than once). Initially, the failures were difficult to diag-nosis, and some organizations struggled with identifying root-cause for several

months. The reason for this dilemma was a combination of the nature of the failure mode, the architecture of flip chip packag-ing, and the random location of the failure site.

What was happening, as we now know, was the solder bumps under the flip chip device were failing due to thermome-

chanical fatigue. However, due to the array nature of flip chips (this is a problem with ball grid array packaging as well), the near-est neighbors will force the crack closed. This results in a failure mode that is inter-mittent (sometimes there, sometimes not). This intermittency was so well known that some users of a particular gaming system that was experiencing flip chip cracking would wrap the unit in towels and force it to overheat. This would increase the inter-mittency duration long enough for them to resell the gaming system back to retailers.

The other major challenge for identify-ing the root-cause of low Tg underfill fail-ures was the random location of the failure site. Typically, in most electronic applica-tions, thermo-mechanical fatigue of solder joints is due to shear stresses, which peak at the maximum distance from the neutral point (i.e., the corner). However, low Tg underfill failures, for reasons I will explain in the next paragraph, are driven by tensile stresses. And failures due to tensile stresses can literally occur in any flip chip solder bump. When the flip chip device has 1000 bumps, it can be like trying to find a needle in a haystack.

So, you might be thinking at this point, why tensile stresses? What tensile stresses? Tensile stresses arise in the solder bump when the operating temperature of the flip chip device goes through the glass transi-tion temperature (Tg). An explanation of why can be seen in Figures 1 and 2.

As a quick refresher, the glass transition temperature marks the midpoint between a thermoset polymer being hard and brittle to soft and squishy. As underfill approaches the Tg, the CTE starts to increase dramati-cally (from 30 ppm/˚C to 80 ppm/˚C) with no corresponding decrease in modulus. This delay occurs because changes in the coefficient of thermal expansion (CTE) in polymers tend to be driven by changes in the free volume, while changes in modulus tend to be driven by increases in transla-tional and rotational movement of the polymer chains. Increases in CTE tend


Craig Hillman

The low Tg underfill was so good it became literally impossible to get flip chip bumps to fail under temperature cycling...

Read ListenWatch

..and that should have been the first

indication that something was

very wrong.



to initiate before decreases in modulus because lower levels of energy (tempera-ture) are required to increase free volume compared to increases in movement along the polymer chains.

Once the underfill has a high CTE and a high modulus, increases in temperature will induce a high tensile stress since the stiff underfill is now expanding at a rate greater than the solder bump (see Figure 2). However, as the temperature reaches the Tg, the modulus now begins to drop by orders of magnitude. This results in a very soft material that, even though the CTE is still high, does not have the stiffness to maintain stress on the solder bump. This behavior means that there is a very narrow window in which low Tg underfill would cause failure in electronic devices.

In fact, a change in operating tempera-ture of just 5˚C can reduce (or increase) times to failure by up to 5X to 10X. This is partially due to the narrow window in which CTE and modulus is high and also partially due to the unique nature of ten-sile and compressive stresses on thermo-mechanical fatigue behavior. Previous research on solder has shown that when the mean stress changes from tensile to neutral (not tensile or compressive), the cycles to failure can change between 10X to 100X. (This is when the stress range is the same for both conditions.) And when the mean stress changes to compressive, time to failure can be almost infinite. This infinite condition is what happened when initial testing seemed to show that devices with low Tg underfill were bullet-proof.

So, what have we learned, and where do we go from here? First, in regards to low Tg underfill, all tests based on JESD22-A104 are WORTHLESS. Let me repeat that: WORTHLESS. Second, the industry may soon reach a decision point. The imme-diate response to the low Tg underfill fiasco was to ban low Tg underfill from all products (assuming the OEM customers knew about it). The result is that there are relatively few companies still using low Tg underfill. Or, if they are, they are making a more concerted effort to ensure the operat-ing temperature is far away from Tg. This has resulted in a number of mid-Tg prod-ucts, where the Tg is not as low as the 70˚C that caused failures but not as high as the original 125-150˚C.

However, these higher Tg underfills cause problems not only for low-K dielec-trics, but also in regards to warpage of the flip chip. The larger the silicon die, the larger the warpage. If the warpage reaches a critical limit, it cannot attach to a lid or some other thermal solution. The tipping point seems to be when the die size exceeds 25x25. Many ASIC designs and devices for telecom/enterprise applications are reach-ing this limit. Will they go back to low Tg blindly? Will they make an effort to under-stand low Tg and apply it correctly? Or will they go in a completely different direction (except TSV; that has been pushed out for another three years). Time will tell.

http://jdrewscott.wordpress.com/ 2009/08/24/intellectual-property-woes/

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 (capaci-tors, resistors, etc.), and printed board fail-ure mechanisms. Dr. Hillman has over 40 Publications and has presented on a wide variety of reliability issues to over 250 com-panies and organizations.

Figure 1. As underfill approaches the Tg, the CTE starts to increase dramatically.

Figure 2. Tensile solder stress—elastic, compatibility of displacements.


Show Floor Preview—SMTA International 2014

ACD—Booth #636ACD’s assembly business model is geared toward supporting high-mix, high-technology assembly from prototypes through low-to-mid volume production. With a focus on high-end technology, ACD is staffed with two shifts to respond to a variety of products, markets and deliveries. www.ACDUSA.com

ASC International—Booth #516Combining both inspection capabilities within one plat-form, the new LineMaster DM detects absence/presence, polar-ity, OCV, misalignment, RDI and solder joint inspection for AOI and the most accurate and repeatable true 3D volumetric measurements for SPI. www.ascinternational.com

ASYS Group—Booth #335ASYS Group will exhibit the new EKRA SERIO 4000 printer plat-form. The SERIO 4000 Platfrom is characterized by its simplistic design, first class engineering and an unbeatable price/per-formance ratio. All options have been designed so they are field retrofittable, which makes this system future proof. With such great flexibility it can be scaled to meet any application require-ments. www.asys-group.com

BTU—Booth #834BTU representatives will highlight the PYRAMAX convection reflow oven – the benchmark for performance in the industry. The PYRAMAX features a maximum temperature of 400°C and a com-prehensive menu of options. PYRAMAX systems, featuring BTU’s exclusive closed-loop convection technology, provide optimized lead-free processing for the ultimate in productivity and efficiency. www.btu.com

Cobar/The Balver Zinn Group—Booth #115OT2 is Cobar’s latest halide and halogen free solder paste tech-nology that is specially devel-oped to meet continuously increasing customer require-ments. The OT2 solder paste’s optimized rosin based chemis-try offers the best printing and wetting properties in Pb-free. www.cobar.com

CyberOptics—Booth #218The new CX150i™ system offers simple, fast and reliable conformal coating inspection using a brand-new UV Strobed Inspection Module (SIM). Designed with an 80 Megapixel sensor, CX150i™ offers white light illumination for compo-nent presence/absence inspec-

SMTA International 2014Show Floor Preview—

SMTA International’ss show floor offersan enormous range of materials and technologies for electronics assembly. This year’s SMTAI exhibition takes place September 30th through October 1st at the the Donald Stephens Convention Center near Chicago, Illinios. Here’s just a brief guide to some of the latest technologies to be found on this year’s show floor:



tion and UV illumination for conformal coating inspection. Powered by AI2 (Autonomous Image Interpretation) technol-ogy, CX150i™ enables faster, simpler and smarter programming. www.cyberoptics.com

Ersa—Booth #134The HR 600 hybrid rework system unifies all essential pro-cess steps in one system and offers every option from manual operation, to automatic soldering, desoldering and placement, requiring only little action from the operator. The compo-nent temperature is measured and can be controlled exactly. With the HR 600, non-contact temperature measurement is even more precise due to a digital infrared sensor (pyrometer). www.ersa.com

Fancort—Booth #807The 410S Series is available with a high precision feeder, offer-ing a 15 percent improvement in speed. The system is ideal for manufacturers that require fast, precise operation. www.fancort.com

FCT Assembly—Booth #221

FCT’s NanoSlic® technology significantly improves solder paste transfer efficiencies for small apertures resulting in higher yields and less rework. In addition, NanoSlic® minimizes bridging and reduces underside cleaning. www.fctassembly.com

Inovaxe—Booth #313InoKit carriers are an ultra lean solution for the storage and kit-ting of prototype parts for engi-neers and SMT manufacturers. Inovaxe’s InoView software is an excellent tool for managing parts and kits within the stock-room and WIP. www.inovaxe.com

Juki—Booth #616A KE-2080 flexible mounter will be on display featuring a linear fluxer and new LNC60 high res-olution laser for on-the-fly laser centering which results in high-speed, high accurate placement. The system has a six nozzle head with a placement range from 01005 (0402 metric) to 33.5 mm2 and a rated IPC9860 speed of 16,700 CPH. www.jukiamericas.com

KIC—Booth #439

Designed to be robust and compact, the K2 new-generation profile setter, available both as a standard “passive” profiler and an “active” profiler in one unit, will fit through the tight, heated chambers often found in lead-free production. The K2 also is available with automatic prediction software that suggests the best oven recipe to position the profile deep inside the established process limits. www.kicthermal.com

Kyzen—Booth #506AQUANOX® A8830 is an ultra-low VOC, environmentally progressive formulation that is highly effective at removing all types of solder pastes (water sol-uble, rosin, and no-clean) from fine-pitch apertures. A8830 is a low odor cleaner that operates in open systems. The state-of-the-art environmental proper-ties of A8830 make it an ideal option for areas where air emissions are highly regulated. www.kyzen.com



www.nordsonasymtek.com/Quantum

Make the Right Move!

Maximize your investment with the right automated fluid dispensing system. The new Quantum™ is a high-perfor-mance, large-format fluid dispenser that delivers speed, flexibility, and productivity for SMT, PCBA and other microelectronics assembly applications. Reduce dispense time by 50% or apply two different materials with dual-valve configurations. Realize higher productivity with a larger dispense area and yield enhancement with patented closed-loop process control.

Recommended Applications:• Surfacemountadhesives• Underfill• Cornerandedgebonding• Damandfill•MEMSassembly

BackedbyNordsonASYMTEK’s award-winning service and support network.

Quantum™With the NEW Quantum™ Fluid Dispensing System

See videos and more about the new Quantum

MIRTEC—Booth #112

The MV-7 OMNI 2D/3D in-line AOI machine is config-ured with MIRTEC’s OMNI-VISION® 2D/3D inspection technology that combines an exclusive 15MP CoaXPress 2D ISIS vision system with MIRTEC’s revolutionary Digital Multi-Frequency Quad Moiré 3D system to provide preci-sion inspection of SMT devices on finished PCB assemblies. www.mirtec.com

Nihon Superior—Booth #410The reliability of SN100C has been proven in a wide range of electronics assembly products. The SN100C alloy delivers a silver-free stable microstruc-ture that can accommodate the long-term and impact strains to which a solder joint can be sub-jected. www.nihonsuperior.co.jp

Norsdon YESTECH—Booth #606The new Nordson YESTECH FX-940 offers the latest multi-dimensional technology for the inspection of solder defects, lead defects/lifted leads, compo-nent presence and position, cor-rect part/polarity, through-hole parts, and co-planarity of chips, BGAs and other height sensitive devices. www.nordsonyestech.com

Panasonic Factory Solutions Company of America—Booth #235The latest screen printer (SPG) and placement machine (AM100) in the “Any Mix Any Volume” line-up were specifically designed for North American high-mix and NPI environments. The ability to adapt production levels to line capacity, integrate new PanaCIM® software when a business dictates, and satisfy single line facilities to multi-national corporations will also be on display. www.pana-sonicfa.com

Seika Machinery— Booth #835Seika will debut the RD-500V rework station from DEN-ON INSTRUMENTS CO. The all-in-one advanced technology SMT rework station is compat-ible with all kinds of rework and SMT component types, includ-ing 01005s. www.seikausa.com

Speedprint—Booth #825The SP710 at the show will be equipped with the Advanced Dispense Unit + (ADu+), enhanced for use with a wider range of materials, improved accuracy for smaller component deposition and new applications for stencil-less prototyping and on-the-fly engineering changes. www.speedprint-tech.com

STI Electronics—Booth #412

STI’s Engineering Services division provides engineering support and specialized contract manufacturing services for the electronics manufacturing industry while its Training Services division devel-ops customized training courses to fit specific training needs. www.stielectronics.com

Viscom—Booth #434Viscom’s XM module will be displayed with the addition of a structured light projector to the existing orthogonal and angular cameras, totaling more than 60 Megapixels. With an image acqui-sition rate of up to 1.8 gigapixels/second, the new XM module is extremely fast with simultaneous image acquisition. Its 3D inspec-tion is up to four times faster compared to other systems with mul-tiple projectors and consecutive imaging. www.viscom.com

www.nordsonasymtek.com/Quantum

Make the Right Move!

Maximize your investment with the right automated fluid dispensing system. The new Quantum™ is a high-perfor-mance, large-format fluid dispenser that delivers speed, flexibility, and productivity for SMT, PCBA and other microelectronics assembly applications. Reduce dispense time by 50% or apply two different materials with dual-valve configurations. Realize higher productivity with a larger dispense area and yield enhancement with patented closed-loop process control.

Recommended Applications:• Surfacemountadhesives• Underfill• Cornerandedgebonding• Damandfill•MEMSassembly

BackedbyNordsonASYMTEK’s award-winning service and support network.

Quantum™With the NEW Quantum™ Fluid Dispensing System

See videos and more about the new Quantum

Title


Electronics Assembly Standards IPC J-STD-001 and IPC-A-610 updatedAssociation Connecting Electronics Industries® has released the F revisions of two of the industry’s most widely used standards, IPC J-STD-001, Requirements for Soldered Electrical and Electronic Assemblies, and IPC-A-610, Acceptability of Electronic Assemblies. The documents have been updated to include techni-cal advances in solder on plastic surface mount (SMT) components, new criteria for P-style and solder-charged Butt/I SMT terminations, a change to void criteria for BGAs, and enhancements to the language within the documents to provide ease of use and clarity. New photos facilitate fur-ther understanding.

The revision process involved dedicated volunteers from electronics companies in the Americas, Europe and Asia. With the mantra, “in data we trust,” IPC committee members focused major changes in areas such as the shrinking sizes of plastic pack-ages that affect solder touching component bodies.

Dispelling past concerns that solder could not touch plastic components for fear of future failure, Teresa Rowe, IPC director of assembly technology, said “We [com-mittee] didn’t find significant occurrences of failures when solder touched the plastic bodies.” Rowe explains that there was much discussion on this topic and expects that as research in this area continues, the com-mittee will consider it in future revisions.

The chapter on conformal coatings also underwent significant changes. “We revised the way we look at conformal coatings, pro-viding new information on coating thick-ness,” Rowe said. “We also looked at bubbles, voids and transparency, expanding our cri-terion for acceptance.”

The standards also cover Class 2 plated-through hole vertical solder fill require-ments and Class 2 flux activity criteria.

Often used as companion documents, IPC J-STD-001F and IPC-A-610F each has a unique purpose. Whereas IPC J-STD-001 is a material and process requirements doc-ument and is critical for use during manu-facturing, IPC-A-610 is a post-assembly acceptance standard.

Translations of the F revisions and training programs based on the revised standards will be released in the coming months. For more information on IPC J-STD-001F, visit www.ipc.org/001; for more information on IPC-A-610F, visit www.ipc.org/610 or contact Rowe at [email protected] or +1 847-597-2838.

SMTA International Electronics Exhibition booth space sold out!SMTA is pleased to announce that booth space at the SMTA International Electronics Exhibition has sold out. The free-to-attend showcase is scheduled for Tuesday and Wednesday, September 30 - October 1, at the Donald E. Stephens Convention Center in Rosemont, Illinois.

One hundred and sixty companies have reserved their booth space at SMTA International. Exhibiting company pro-files include suppliers of capital equipment, materials, tools, cleaning solutions, sten-cils, board shops, electronic manufactur-ing services, media, and more. Exhibitors are encouraged to contact Emmy Ross, [email protected], to join the waiting list if they did not yet get a booth.

In addition to exhibiting compa-nies, the show floor will feature Spotlight Sessions, free lunch each day, Tech Tours, Youth Robotics Demos, and a special fea-ture area on Power and High Temperature Electronic Manufacturing.

The show is held in conjunction with SMTA International Technical Conference, September 28 - October 2. This year marks the second year that IPC will co-locate their Fall Standards Development Committee Meetings with SMTA International.

Some sponsorships are still available, providing an opportunity for companies to further support the industry and confer-ence while gaining exposure to the confer-ence and exhibition attendees.

For more information on SMTA International, please visit the SMTA web site. www.smta.org

YINCAE president, Dr. Wusheng Yin, to speak at IMAPS 2014Dr. Wusheng Yin, the president of YINCAE Advanced Materials LLC, is going to be speaking at the upcoming IMAPS 2014 conference. IMAPS 2014 will take place from October 14th to 16th. It will be held at the Town & Country Resort and Conference Center in San Diego California.Dr. Yin will be presenting his white paper,

“Solderable Anisotropic Conductive Adhesives for 3D Package Applications.” This paper will focus on the trend of increased usage of 3D packaging and how the implementation 3D packaging is chang-ing the electronics industry. The paper dis-cusses how YINCAE is able to deal with these changes through developed products like the solderable anisotropic adhesive for 3D package applications. Dr. Yin will be also talking about the other groundbreak-ing products that YINCAE has developed and are commercially available.

YINCAE Advanced Materials, LLC hopes that you will come join us at the conference to learn about YINCAE and the products that we have to offer. YINCAE has exclusive products that no other com-pany has developed. There is a lot that can be taken away from not only Dr. Yin’s pre-sentation, but from IMAPS 2014 as a whole. YINCAE hopes to see you there at the IMAPS 2014. Please visit us at booth 326!

Dr. Yin is a pioneer in the field of encapsulant adhesives and has developed several encapsulant products that have been successfully adopted by major micro-electronics product and contract manu-facturers. His encapsulant products have solved a number of technical issues related to microchip solder joint strength, unifor-mity and thermocycling. Tests comparing flux in nitrogen versus encapsulants in normal air flow have demonstrated that encapsulants can increase pull strength by 5 times while reducing thermal cycling fail-ures by 10 times, with a reduction in solder voids of up to 79%. This data translates to significant production savings for micro-electronics manufacturers. www.imaps.org/imaps2014/

Association & institutes news

Association & institutes news

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International diary

International Diary7-9 October 2014Semicon EuropeGrenoble, Francesemiconeuropa.org

9-11 October 2014Nepcon VietnamHanoi, Vietnamnepconvietnam.com

14-15 October 2014IMAPS Intl Symposium MicroelectronicsSan Diego, California, USAimaps2014.org

22-23 October 2014SoC - System on Chip ConferenceIrvine, Californiasocconference.com

29-30 Octgober 2014MD&M Medical Design & ManufacturingMinneapolis, Minnesotamdmminn.org

11-14 November 2014electronicaMunich, Germanyelectronica.de

19-20 November 2014Printed Electronics USASanta Clara, Californiaprintedelectronicsusa.com

3-5 December 2014Semicon JapanMakuhari, Japansemiconjapan.org

14-16 January 2015INTERNEPCON JAPANTokyo, Japannepcon.jp

3-5 February 2015Pan Pacific MicroelectronicsKauai, Hawaiismta.org/panpac

4-6 February 2015SEMICON KoreaSeoul, Koreasemiconkorea.org

24-26 February 2015IPC Apex ExpoSan Diego, California, USAipcapexexpo.org

GLOBAL SMT & PACKAGING consistently delivers manufacturing solutions and market data from the world’s leading experts. Ask any engineer in any factory, and the most consistent name you will hear is Global SMT & Packaging.

Our publication crosses borders, continents, and seas. It reaches your customers all across the world, through the magazine, international and region-focused websites, and international and region-focused newsletters.

Global SMT & Packaging’s daily newsletters alone are delivered to 70,000 readers, fi ve days per week. A newsletter advertisement puts your company in 1.5 million inboxes per month.

Often Imitated

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Contact your local sales rep

AmericasSandy Daneau

[email protected]

Tel: 239-234-1600

EuropeTrevor Galbraith

[email protected]

Tel: +1 (239) 287 5401

SE AsiaDebasish Choudhury

[email protected]: +91-9811710191

China Paul Chen

[email protected]: +86 2154049130

Often Imitated Never Beaten.indd 1 9/10/14 1:28 PM

Electrochemical corrosion, dendritic growth, conductive anodic filaments, BGA cracking and lead-free solder joint thermo-mechanical fatigue can all have negative impacts on the reliability and performance of today’s high technology electronics.

IPC Europe High Reliability Forum, a two-day conference co-developed by top organizations including: Airbus, Celestica, COM DEV, Continental Automotive, The European Space Agency, Gen3 Systems, The National Physical Laboratory, Robert Bosch, Thales and Zestron will bring together leading experts from industry and research institutions to explore these critical reliability issues and more facing European electronics designers and manufacturers.

IPC Europe High Reliability Forum 14–15 October, 2014 | Düsseldorf, Germanywww.ipc.org/eu-high-reliability

GLOBAL SMT & PACKAGING consistently delivers manufacturing solutions and market data from the world’s leading experts. Ask any engineer in any factory, and the most consistent name you will hear is Global SMT & Packaging.

Our publication crosses borders, continents, and seas. It reaches your customers all across the world, through the magazine, international and region-focused websites, and international and region-focused newsletters.

Global SMT & Packaging’s daily newsletters alone are delivered to 70,000 readers, fi ve days per week. A newsletter advertisement puts your company in 1.5 million inboxes per month.

Often Imitated

Never Beatenwww.globalsmt.net

Contact your local sales rep

AmericasSandy Daneau

[email protected]

Tel: 239-234-1600

EuropeTrevor Galbraith

[email protected]

Tel: +1 (239) 287 5401

SE AsiaDebasish Choudhury

[email protected]: +91-9811710191

China Paul Chen

[email protected]: +86 2154049130

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