FEATURES

• Nepcon China
  China Goes ‘Upmarket’
  Among Chinese suppliers, the learning curve is clearly shortening, making the annual Shanghai show a must-see. But can what some call the world’s leading SMT show fend off a competitive challenge?
  By Mike Buetow

• Inovar
  Out of the Garage
  The snow-capped mountains of Cache Valley provide an eye-pleasing backdrop to a cresting EMS company.
  By Mike Buetow

• Cover Story
  Improving Production Line Performance
  Balanced lines are thought to be standard for efficient production, yet in some cases, the total buffer capacity has to be spaced unevenly. The latest research shows why deliberately unbalancing the buffers may be beneficial.
  By Dr. Sabry Shaaban and Dr. Sarah Hudson

• Productivity Tools
  Manufacturing Steps Onto the Enterprise IT Stage
  The concept of a single, comprehensive information solution collapses when one enters the manufacturing, quality and process engineering offices, and certainly the factory floor. This has led to a new category of “enterprise level” tools called manufacturing operations system (MOS) software.
  By Jason Spera

• Wave Control
  Measuring and Controlling Wave Height and Dwell Time
  When something changes in the process, the solder wave is often the culprit. A novel direct measurement, closed-loop system can resolve problems regulating critical parameters such as wave height and dwell time.
  By Ken Kirby

FIRST PERSON

• Letters

• Caveat Lector
  As the earth moves.
  Mike Buetow

• Talking Heads
  iNEMI’s Dr. Haley Fu.
  Mike Buetow

TECH TALK

• Screen Printing
  Correlating 2-D and 3-D SPI.
  Dr. Rita Mohanty

• Better Manufacturing
  Feeling heat over China.
  Phil Zarrow

• Wave Soldering
  Copper dissolution gets the yank.
  Ursula Marquez de Tino

• Tech Tips
  Soldering SAC-finished parts with SnPb solder.
  American Competitiveness Institute

• Test and Inspection
  Quick looks at the latest in boundary scan.
  Ted T. Turner

• Process Doctor
  Quick analytical tests for surface cleanliness.
  Ravi Parthasarathy, Dr. Harald Wack and Dr. Helmut Schweigart

• Pb-Free Lessons Learned
  Diagnosing fab problems.
  Chrys Shea

• Getting Lean
  The design scale.
  Chris Munroe

• Eastern Advances (324KB PDF in Chinese)
  Why you need DfX.
  Keyan Zhao and Sanqian Cai

• Technical Abstracts

DEPARTMENTS

Industry News
Market Watch
Semicon West Product Preview
Product Spotlight
Ad Index
Assembly Insider

On the cover: Correctly designed unbalanced lines can increase throughput. (Photo by Tom Mc Nemar)

FEATURES

• Quality Control
  Eliminating Board Defects
  Quality product starts with DfA and the master drawing. But fabricators and assemblers have their place, too.
  By Zulki Khan

• SEA and NPI Awards
  ‘Inspiration to Innovate’
  The 2008 edition of Circuits Assembly’s Service Excellence Awards was notable for the continuing dominance of Aegis as it was for the ascent of several previously under-the-radar EMS companies who made their mark for the first time. Plus: The NPI Award makes its debut.
  By Chelsey Drysdale

• Cover Story
  Evaluating Manufacturability and Operational Costs for New Conformal Coating Processes
  Higher density components and smaller footprint layouts make the conformal coating process more challenging in terms of achieving acceptable first-pass process yields and cost-effective cycle times. This study of seven assembly process variables identified the three most critical variables and their impacts.
  By Jason Keeping

FIRST PERSON

• Caveat Lector
  Connecting the bumps.
  Mike Buetow

• Talking Heads
  DEK's John Hartner.
  Mike Buetow

MONEY MATTERS

• Focus on Business
  The longer, the better?
  Susan Mucha

• Global Sourcing
  Slapped by the “invisible hand.”
  Jennifer Read

TECH TALK

• Screen Printing
  A 55° squeegee angle enhances print quality.
  Clive Ashmore

• Reflow Soldering
  Yield improvement, one defect at a time.
  Ursula Marquez de Tino

• Test and Inspection
  No test points? No problem.
  Chris Jacobsen

• Process Doctor
  Brush cleaning, clarified.
  Terry Munson

• Pb-Free Lessons Learned
  When prevention isn’t an option.
  Chrys Shea

• Getting Lean
  View to a thrill.
  Robert Hemmant

• Materials World
  RoHS compliance versus Pb-free capability.
  Dr. Renzhe Zhao

• Technical Abstracts

DEPARTMENTS

Industry News
Market Watch
Product Spotlight
Assembly Insider
Ad Index

On the cover: Novel test procedures and processes demonstrate that comparisons among various cleaning agents, masking materials, coating materials and application equipment can be made. (Photo courtesy Asymtek)

FEATURES

• Component Packaging
  Design and Modeling of High-Speed, High-Density 3-D CSPs and Memory Modules
  DDR2 pushed memory clock frequencies to 400 MHz and data rates to 800 Mbps. DDR3 further pushes clock frequencies to 800 MHz, while DDR4 is up to 1.6 GHz. New packaging technologies such as die stacking and package-on-package (PoP) are being developed to accommodate the advances.
  By Dr. Frank Y. Yuan and Richard Crisp

• Benchtop Cleaning
  The ‘Big Brush Off’ Revisited
  In rework and repair, if you can’t rinse, you can’t clean. A prescription for cleaning a board after hand-soldering.
  By Mike Jones

• Cover Story
  Impact of Soldering Atmosphere on Solder Joint Formation
  This collaborative effort between Flextronics and Vitronics Soltec investigated different techniques that can significantly reduce nitrogen consumption without affecting final assembly quality. Alternative nitrogen supply methods were studied, such as applying nitrogen only on the reflow areas in combination with different oxygen ppm levels during reflow process and their impact on the secondary wave soldering process of copper OSP PCBs.
  By Ursula Marquez de Tino, Dr. Denis Barbini and Wesley Enroth

• Packaging Developments
  Beyond Moore’s Law
  Evolving 3-D system-in-packaging architectures require advanced co-design tools linked with modeling and simulation capability to facilitate effective collaboration between system, device and packaging engineers, and new materials that meet environmental requirements. But as an integrator of components and technologies from different areas, SiP is positioned to become a primary architecture.
  By Dr. W.R. Bottoms

• Protecting Parts
  ESD Control For Class 0 ESDS Devices
  A summary of problems associated with protecting state-of-the-art devices with standard ESD controls, and specific controls necessary for reliable protection for devices sensitive between 20 and 100V.
  By Roger Peirce

• Program Management
  Growing Your Brand
  For nearly three decades, Sue Mucha has led EMS marketing teams at companies large and small, public and private. Now the Circuits Assembly columnist has written about her experiences prepping EMS teams on growth strategies in a new book.
  By Mike Buetow

• ESD Standards
  This Year’s Model
  ESD qualification methods for ICs have a history requiring performance to human-body-model levels of 2kV, and in some cases 200V for machine model levels. New investigations on target levels establish more realistic levels for HBM and MM.
  By Dr. Charvaka Duvvury and Dr. Harald Gossner

FIRST PERSON

• Caveat Lector
  Broken chains.
  Mike Buetow

• Talking Heads
  KPS’s Pierre de Villemejane.
  Mike Buetow

TECH TALK

• Screen Printing
  Equipment assessment methods.
  Dr. Rita Mohanty

• Better Manufacturing
  Big, bad black pad.
  Phil Zarrow

• Tech Tips
  Pulled apart.
  American Competitiveness Institute

• Reflow Soldering
  ‘Weighing’ thermal profiling.
  Dr. Denis Barbini

• Process Doctor
  Finding chemistry in cleaning.
  Dr. Mike Bixenman

• Pb-Free Lessons Learned
  Paging Ben Franklin.
  Chrys Shea

• Getting Lean
  Don’t design in cost.
  Chris Munroe

• Equipment Advances
  Siemens’ X4i placement machine.

• Technical Abstracts

DEPARTMENTS

Industry News
Market Watch
Apex Product Preview
Ad Index
Assembly Insider

On the cover: Flux chemistry can dramatically affect solder joint results. (Photo by Mariano Ruiz)