FEATURES

• Test and Inspection
  Evaluating ROI of AXI vs. AOI
  A model for calculating savings from reduced DPMO against equipment investment costs clearly demonstrates that the economic benefits of either technology depend upon the board complexity, throughput, labor costs, cost of field failures and returns, and equipment performance, as well as capital equipment, programming and operating costs.
  Keith Fairchild

• Supplier Sourcing
  Prototype vs. Production Outsourcing
  When outsourcing PCBs, OEM procurement staff must fully understand the differences and nuances associated with prototype and production manufacturing, regardless of where those services are situated.
  Zulki Khan

• Board Finishes
  Pb-Free Hot Air Leveled Solder Coatings
  A series of tests from wetting balance to copper dissolution show that the most popular Pb-free pastes work better with HAL versus other common finishes.
  Howard Stevens and Nimal Liyanage, Ph.D.

• Cover Story
  Simulating Pb-Free Reflow
  Computational fluid dynamics simulation of the reflow oven makes it possible to design PCBs for Pb-free manufacturing by predicting thermal gradients during solder reflow processing.
  Sherman Ikemoto and Robin Bornoff

• The Dover Deals
  'Confusion and Clarity'
  As a new owner – Francisco Partners – enters the scene, what's in store for Universal, Vitronics and Unovis?
  Mike Buetow

FIRST PERSON

• Caveat Lector
  The downside of higher stocks.
  Mike Buetow

• Talking Heads
  TXP's Eric Miscoll.
  Mike Buetow

MONEY MATTERS

• Focus on Business
  Preventative maintenance.
  Dr. Jonathan Linton

TECH TALK

• Screen Printing
  Printer customization considerations.
  Joe Belmonte

• Better Manufacturing
  When Lean goes too far.
  Phil Zarrow

• Soldering Tips
  To flip, or not to flip?
  American Competitiveness Institute

• Wave Soldering
  Configurations for soldering conveyor angles.
  Gert Schouten

• Equipment Advances
  Assembléon's "A" series of placement machines.

• Technical Abstracts

DEPARTMENTS

Industry News
Market Watch
Assembly Insider
Ad Index
Product Spotlight

On the cover: Predicting thermal gradients during reflow. (Photo courtesy Flomerics)