SAN DIEGO — KIC has released a new white paper on convection reflow soldering that seeks to describe the "connected" oven.

Making Ovens Smarter explains the value of — and the path to — smarter reflow ovens. The paper, which is available for download here, discusses trends such as Industry 4.0, Smart Factory, IoM (Internet of Manufacturing) and IoT (Internet of Things) as well as offers an explanation of benefits that can be gained by making ovens smarter and connected.

Author and KIC president Bjorn Dahle said, “With the market talking about Industry 4.0, IoM and other trends, it seems the perfect time to explore the value of a more intelligent and data-driven approach to solder reflow. With this white paper, we want to inform the market of the value that a smarter approach can deliver by reducing defects, increasing productivity, decreasing changeover time and driving traceability.”

The paper provides practical advice about getting started on the path to Industry 4.0 or IoM at the reflow stage of the process, a stage that previously has had less focus perhaps than others. Reflow is the second largest culprit for quality issues after solder paste printing, so it is well worth exploring, with a simple path to improvement and subsequent return on investment.

KIC head of product development Miles Moreau added, “We have explored the principles of Industry 4.0 and IoM and aligned our products with them. We can see some clear routes to reading, recording and relaying the data that is required and can be produced in the reflow process. This white paper explains much of these principles, including our view on process vs. machine monitoring.”