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FEATURES

EMS Profile
Out of the Fire, ACD Heats Up
Years after its building went up in flames, the Dallas-area design service bureau has transformed into a fast-growing contract electronics assembler.
by Mike Buetow

Inspection
Why Does SPI Have Such Huge Tolerances?
Automated solder paste inspection, a must for most PCB assemblers, appears to use ridiculously wide specification limits. Most SPI program generators read a stencil Gerber file and set the target paste deposit volumes to 100% of the apertures’ theoretical volumes, with tolerances of +/-50% – a ridiculously enormous tolerance.
by Chrys Shea

FIRST PERSON

• Caveat Lector
  Unrepressing transference.
  Mike Buetow

MONEY MATTERS

• ROI
  Evolutionary approaches.
  Peter Bigelow

• Focus on Business
  The sales funnel.
  Susan Mucha
  

TECH TALK

• On the Forefront
  The importance of being thin.
  E. Jan Vardaman
  

• Screen Printing
  Tighter paste particle distribution.
  Clive Ashmore
  

• Tech Tips
  Tin whisker qualification.
  ACI Technologies Inc.
  

• Test and Inspection
  Boundary scan: present and future.
  Tan Beng Chye
  

• Process Doctor
  Agent informant.
  Dr. Harald Wack
  

• Getting Lean
  Lean partnering.
  Chris Munroe
  

• Technical Abstracts
  In Case You Missed It.