Features Articles
Talk isn’t cheap, but the absence of it could cost you even more.
Throughout my PCB career as a go-between for board buyers and manufacturers, I’ve often heard complaints from buyers that fabricators – domestic and offshore – ask too many engineering questions (EQs) after receiving an order. “Why can’t they just build the board?” buyers say.
This mystifies me. In my view, PCB vendor questions provide valuable feedback. They may indicate the vendor lacks all the required information to build the order. They also tell me the manufacturer is intent on gathering all the data necessary to do the job right.
I’d be more concerned if no EQs came from a vendor. A PCB has over 100 separate required manufacturing processes, almost all of which are unique to each customer. It would be surprising, even alarming, if everything in an order was absolutely clear, with no back-and-forth necessary.
While coatings are typically used on boards, some choose to coat components as well.
This month we show manual conformal coating on one component. One optical example is shown under normal lighting and then under UV light, to show the tracer added in coatings to allow easy manual or automatic inspection. This is not a defect. I asked if this was intended, however, as it was unusual.
Traditionally, coatings are used to protect circuit boards in humid environments and more so in condensing conditions to prevent corrosion. On some occasions design engineers also use coatings to provide that little stability.
Methods for 100% test coverage at the assembly level.
While Lean manufacturing strategy is discussed in relation to test strategy, it often focuses on defect mitigation strategies such as integrating program, pack and test activities to minimize variation and transport. However, a Lean manufacturing philosophy can provide even better guidance as companies navigate test strategy options. There is one hurdle to overcome. Google the question, “Is test a value-added activity?” You will see answers in Lean manufacturing forums that range from “if the process is in control you don’t need to test” to “yes, if the customer is willing to pay for it.”
Needed: Solder joint forensic scientist. Common sense preferred.
Wanted: X-ray engineer. A test engineer with an interest in x-ray technology will suffice. So will a skilled and teachable technician. Hell, an intelligent person with a pulse will do in this economy. We’re open-minded. Just show us. No shrinking violets here. Honesty still matters to us (like being honest about the state of the economy and its effects on available talent). You should be honest, too, if you’d like us to hire you. Bring the aptitude; we’ll give you the qualifications.
We will train you.
IPC-STD-001 is revising criteria for voiding and fill percentage.
In my September column, I spoke with Dave Hillman about IPC committee work on voiding guidelines for QFN central pad terminations. But he also told me the J-STD-001 task group increasingly receives requests from users for additional information and clarification of x-ray usage in other areas. This is because use of x-ray technology for analyzing solder joints has resulted in significant soldering process improvements. As with all technology introductions, however, the benefits and questions that result from the new information provided must be characterized, assessed and disseminated into practical form. One such area where x-ray technology has provided a tremendous amount of new information is plated through-hole (PTH) solder joints. The “insides” of these joints were previously “hidden” from scrutiny, unless subject to destructive methods, and the standards writers will need time to carefully revise old criteria to accommodate this new information. With this in mind, IPC formed a task group (called Team Skeleton) to discuss this and other matters, with the goal to develop additional x-ray-related guidelines and requirements for inclusion in future IPC documentation. As usual, Dave says, “All are welcome to participate and provide their comments and suggestions.”
The simplest motivational measures can go a long way with tomorrow’s workers.
The past couple years have been good ones. Despite increased and costly quality protocols, foreign competition, escalating raw material costs and fewer material suppliers – and even the advent of punitive tariffs – business has been good. With fewer negative issues to contend with, the one that continues to be most talked about is the difficulty to locate, recruit, develop, and retain quality employees. Indeed, this may be the challenge of our times. As older employees approach retirement, ones who are just beginning their careers seem less interested in manufacturing as a career path than at any time we can remember.
This talent gap threatens to upturn our industry – nay, most industries – more dramatically than any new disruptive technology. Much has been said about the difficulties attracting millennials to our industry. Many initiatives have been started to educate, entice and attract younger people to companies that build technology, products and the “things” we need and use in our day-to-day lives. Some have been more successful than others, but none has been a silver bullet that works all the time in every circumstance, across all industries. While creating work environments that more resemble a summer camp than a place to produce high-quality, complex products may be the way to emulate the software-centric businesses so many millennials yearn to be part of, maybe there is a simpler approach.
Press Releases
- SMTXTRA Partners with Quantum Systems to Expand Representation in Key Territories
- KYZEN Announces Exclusive Partnership with Manufacturers’ Representative Restronics Florida
- Koh Young will Showcase its Award-winning Inspection Solutions at SMTconnect with SmartRep in Hall 4A.225 on 11-13 June 2024 in Nuremberg, Germany
- Precision Automation & Assembly Appointed as New England Rep for Kubler US