FEATURES

• Equipment Procurement
  One-Stop Shopping
  Hundreds of thousands of dollars are spent annually to determine general strategic directions for SMT production equipment requirements. A turnkey line can simplify purchasing, machine compatability and service.
  Jeffrey Stong

• PCB Inspection
  A Primer on AOI and AOT
  Not all AOI systems are the same, but the big differentiator is programming time. Some systems take one to two days, others require only three to four hours for the same job.
  Zulki Khan

• Vietnam
  Manufacturing in Vietnam
  The lowest fully burdened labor rate in an educated workforce is just one reason companies like Intel are investing in this Southeast Asia nation.
  Jason Craft

• Cover Story
  'Choosing to Lead'
  Siemens this month launches a new placement platform in North America. Guenter Lauber, vice president of Siemens' electronics assembly equipment division in North America, talks about the new platform, the future addition of such features as optical inspection, and the process by which equipment is introduced and evaluated around the world.
  Mike Buetow

• Solder Testing
  Environmental and Mechanical Stress Testing of Pb-Free and SnPb Solder
  Soldered boards subjected to accelerated aging tests showed that Pb-free solder beats SnPb on lead pull, but not shear force.
  Larry Fisher

• Device Programming
  Programming and the Problem of Yield
  Optimized sockets should combine the durability and signal integrity of test sockets and the standardization (and cost) of burn-in versions.
  Nick Deppen, Erik Orwoll and Robert Duff

• Rework Cleaning
  Cleaning Flux Residue in Hand Solder Rework and the Effects on SIR
  An investigation of the hand rework cleaning process found that SIR endpoint readings tend to be higher following IPA cleaning.
  Curt Alexander

FIRST PERSON

• Caveat Lector
  Dover: weak-kneed or prescient?
  Mike Buetow

• Letters

• Talking Heads
  Unovis Solutions' Roland Heitmann.
  Mike Buetow

MONEY MATTERS

• Focus on Business
  One basket, but how many eggs?
  Susan Mucha

• Global Sourcing
  Another side of procurement.
  Greg Papandrew

TECH TALK

• On the Forefront
  A new model for IC packaging and assembly houses.
  E. Jan Vardaman

• Screen Printing
  For IC deposition, dispense or print?
  Clive Ashmore

• Better Manufacturing
  A trashy topic.
  Peter Grundy

• Soldering Tips
  Reballing BGAs.
  American Competitiveness Institute

• Wave Soldering
  Solder ball formation.
  Gert Schouten

• Process Doctor
  Product performance risk.
  Terry Munson

• Equipment Advances
  Speedline's new printer inspection tool.

• Technical Abstracts

DEPARTMENTS

Industry News
Market Watch
Ad Index
Assembly Insider
ATExpo and Mexitronica Product Previews
Classifieds

On the cover: Siemens' Guenter Lauber with the company's new equipment platform. (Photo courtesy Siemens A&D)