Indium Corporation expert Dr. Ron Lasky, senior technologist, will share his technical expertise on the basics of statistical process control during a multi-chapter webinar offered by the Surface Mount Technology Association (SMTA) at 3 p.m. New York time on Thursday, Sept. 15.

In Statistical Process Control 101, Dr. Lasky will cover statistical process control (SPC). SPC is an important tool in controlling SMT assembly processes, especially stencil printing. It will start with a discussion of the 6 Ms of variation and then delineate common cause and special cause variation. The difference between precision and accuracy will then be clarified. After discussing the precision tolerance ratio, the technique to perform a Gage R&R (Repeatability and Reproducibility) analysis will be presented. Process control charts and their development will be discussed including the Shewhart Rules. Lasky will plot and analyze several sets of SPC Xbar-R and C Chart data with commercial statistical software. The webinar will conclude with a discussion and application of the process capability indices Cp and Cpk.

Dr. Lasky is a senior technologist at Indium Corporation, as well as a professor of engineering and the director of the Lean Six Sigma program at Dartmouth College in Hanover, N.H., U.S. He has more than 30 years of experience in electronics and optoelectronics packaging at IBM, Universal Instruments, and Cookson Electronics. Dr. Lasky has authored six books, and contributed to nine more, on science, electronics, and optoelectronics, and has authored numerous technical papers. Additionally, he has served as an adjunct professor at several colleges, teaching more than 20 different courses on topics ranging from electronics packaging, materials science, physics, mechanical engineering, and science and religion. Dr. Lasky holds numerous patent disclosures and is the developer of several SMT processing software products related to cost estimating, line balancing, and process optimization. He is the co-creator of Surface Mount Technology Association’s (SMTA) SMT Process Engineering Certification program and exams that set standards in the electronics assembly industry worldwide. Dr. Lasky was awarded the Surface Mount Technology Association’s (SMTA) Technical Distinction Award in 2021 for his “significant and continuing technical contributions to the SMTA.” He was also awarded SMTA’s prestigious Founder’s Award in 2003.

About Indium Corporation

Indium Corporation is a premier materials refiner, smelter, manufacturer, and supplier to the global electronics, semiconductor, thin-film, and thermal management markets. Products include solders and fluxes; brazes; thermal interface materials; sputtering targets; indium, gallium, germanium, and tin metals and inorganic compounds; and NanoFoil®. Founded in 1934, the company has global technical support and factories located in China, Germany, India, Malaysia, Singapore, South Korea, the United Kingdom, and the USA.

For more information about Indium Corporation, visit www.indium.com or email jhuang@indium.com. You can also follow our experts, From One Engineer To Another® (#FOETA), at www.facebook.com/indium or @IndiumCorp.

About SMTA

SMTA is an international network of professionals who build skills, share practical experience and develop solutions in Electronics Manufacturing (EM), including microsystems, emerging technologies, and related business operations.

PCB West: The leading technical conference and exhibition for electronics engineers. Coming Oct. 4-7 to the Santa Clara (CA) Convention Center. pcbwest.com

The Russian invasion of Ukraine has not only lead to a humanitarian disaster in Ukraine - it also created a range of other unwanted effects. One of these is the shortage of energy supply in Europe. Scanfil carried out a thorough investigation of its factories and its exposure to different energy sources.

On country level, Estonia, Finland and Sweden are rather safe when it comes to energy production, and at the worst we expect is only small effects like short planned breaks in the energy and electricity supply. In the factories in the US and China, we do not expect any challenges. Countries like Poland and Germany have higher exposure to coal and natural gas. In these countries, we have started a risk mitigation process.

"We use natural gas for facility heating in Sieradz, Poland and in Wutha, Germany. We are mitigating the risk by shifting to liquid propane gas (LPG) and using auxiliary heaters where necessary", says Riku Hynninen, Chief Development Officer at Scanfil. "In manufacturing processes, we use mainly electricity and also liquid propane. Propane has no supply issues. We see potential challenges in electricity supply in Poland and Germany. To tackle those issues, we have started risk-mitigation actions by generators and planning potential work shift changes in cases of pre-known electricity breaks."

"We are preparing for the winter at Scanfil and we are doing our utmost in securing customers' production in our factories when it comes to energy", assures Christina Wiklund, Chief Commerical Officer at Scanfil. "If you have any concerns about your production at Scanfil, we are more than happy to discuss your concerns."

The main contact point for each customer is their dedicated account manager. If you do not know the person in question, kindly contact pasi.hiedanpaa@scanfil.com, who will direct you to the right person with Scanfil's organization.

PCB West: The leading technical conference and exhibition for electronics engineers. Coming Oct. 4-7 to the Santa Clara (CA) Convention Center. pcbwest.com

Three Indium Corporation experts will share their industry knowledge and expertise during four presentations at the 55th International Symposium on Microelectronics (IMAPS) from Oct. 3-6 in Boston, Mass., U.S.

The following technical presentations will be featured:

• A Lead-Free Lower-Temperature Solder Paste for Wafer-Level Package Application by Dr. HongWen Zhang, R&D manager, alloy group

• A Drop-in High-Temperature Lead-Free Solder Paste that Outperforms High-Pb Pastes in Power Discrete Applications by Zhang

• Investigating Optimal Process Parameters for Ultra-Fine Solder Paste Printing in SiP Assembly by Evan Griffith, product specialist

Indium Corporation’s Guangyu Fan, thermal interface materials (TIMs) R&D leader, will present Thermal Performance of Liquid Metal Paste Containing Low Content of Metal Particles for Thermal Interface Materials during a poster session.

Dr. Zhang is manager of the alloy group in Indium Corporation’s R&D department. His focus is on the development of Pb-free solder materials and the associated technologies for high-temperature and high-reliability applications. He was instrumental in inventing the mixed-alloy solder technique to combine the merits of constituents to improve wetting, reduce processing temperatures, modify the bonding surface, and control the joint’s morphology, thus improving reliability. Dr. Zhang has a bachelor’s degree in metallurgical physical chemistry from Central South University of China, a master’s degree in materials and engineering from the Institute of Metal Research, Chinese Academy of Science, and a master’s degree in mechanical engineering and a Ph.D. in material science and engineering from the Michigan Technological University. He has a Six Sigma Green Belt from the Thayer School of Engineering at Dartmouth College, and is a certified IPC Specialist for IPC-A-600 and IPC-A-610 as well as a certified SMT Process Engineer. He has extensive experience in various aluminum (Al) alloys and fiber/particle reinforced Al-based composite materials, and Al-rich and ZrHf-based amorphous alloys. He has co-authored two book chapters on high-temperature lead-free bonding materials, has had a number of patents filed, and has been published in approximately 20 journals in the fields of metallurgy, materials science and engineering, physics, electronics materials, and mechanics.

Griffith is a product specialist for SEMI/SAAM fluxes and SiPaste® materials. He is responsible for researching and analyzing customer and market data and facilitating current and prospective customers’ needs. Additionally, he supports customers’ enquiries, internal product trainings, and works closely with Indium Corporation’s R&D team on new applications. Griffith earned his Bachelor of Engineering in Materials Science, graduating

PCB West: The leading technical conference and exhibition for electronics engineers. Coming Oct. 4-7 to the Santa Clara (CA) Convention Center. pcbwest.com

AUBURN HILLS, MI – August 2022 – The Murray Percival Company, the leading supplier to the Midwest's electronics industry, is proud to be IAC Industries’ local supplier in the Metro Detroit area. IAC provides industrial workbenches, workstations, lab benches, seating, and shelving systems to many industries including Automotive, Assembly, Material Handling, Biomedical, Aerospace, R&D labs, etc.

IAC products offer the advantages of ergonomics, modularity, adjustability and durability that cannot be duplicated in ordinary office furniture. IAC’s mission is to improve the organization, function and atmosphere of its customers' production and assembly work areas, inspection stations, and research laboratories. “We are mainly focused in the electronics industry, but we are bringing on more and more brands that not only fit our customers’ profiles but many others in the industrial and technical industries,” says Mark Percival Jr., MARCOM manager for Murray Percival Co. “We have built a technical sales force that is so strong and knowledgeable, branching out into these other industries is seamless. We approach these customer projects with a ‘process improvement’ mindset rather than just a ‘distributor’ or ‘manufacturer’s rep’ mindset. We really want to do what’s best for our customers, improve their processes, create value and support them even after the project is complete.”

Do you need Industrial workbenches or workstations quickly? There is no program like the IAC “Quick Ship” program. The workbenches in this program include a large variety of configurations including 4-leg workbenches, packaging stations, adjustable height workbenches, multitask benches and more. Some of these benches have a 2–3-week lead times or less. For ASAP delivery, “Quick Ship” is the way to go.

In addition to the Quick Ship benches, IAC offers customized solutions for any application thrown at them. IAC’s experienced engineers work with customers every step of the way to design, manufacture and ship custom workbenches/workstations in a timely manner.

IAC manufactures 100 percent of its products inhouse where all processes meet or exceed industry specifications for quality. The company’s key design, manufacturing and customer service management represents more than 70 years of combined experience in the workstation industry. For more information, visit www.iac.com.

About Murray Percival

Murray Percival Company is a third-generation family-owned business that recently celebrated their 60th year in business. Located in Auburn Hills, MI they are currently the leading supplier to the Midwest's electronics industry, offering thousands of assembly equipment and production supplies as well as the industry’s leading process enabler. www.murraypercival.com For more information, visit www.murraypercival.com.