A simple in-process test for determining component wettability.

This month we illustrate solderability testing using simulation. This is basically conducting simple on-the-shop-floor solderability testing to decide whether to use old components. I use paste printed onto glass slides using the paste and stencil from production. I use the same reflow profile for the board design and components in question.

These J-leaded component terminations wet successfully with the solder paste deposits on the glass plate. The paste has reflowed up, wetting the termination on the front face of the lead (FIGURE 1). However, look at the edge and the corners of the leads. If the solder paste has not added to the original tin plating, it calls into question the coating and component age. We have recently used this test to look at the compatibility of low-temperature solders on different terminations as well.

Or will the West continue to risk exposure?

The massive disruption caused by Covid-19 has revealed the fragility of the global supply chain. With proper leadership, however, many companies are adjusting (or will adjust) to the changes made necessary by this pandemic.

Predictably, this unprecedented disruption has prompted calls for nations to onshore their manufacturing. It’s an argument that pops up periodically. And on the surface, it does make sense. Why leave a domestic market so vulnerable to what’s going on in the rest of the world? Why not build all we need here?

But here’s some straight talk: It is simply not realistic to think we can bring all manufacturing – including printed circuit boards – back to Western shores.

Motivated by fear, businesses are valuing creativity as never before.

Over the past 60 to 90 days, I am sure I have heard the term “the new normal” at least a thousand times. Before Covid-19 has run its terrible course, I fully expect to hear it at least a zillion more. But what exactly is “the new normal?”

Sometimes global events become a catalyst for change. Events like the Great Depression and World War II had dramatic, difficult and often devastating impacts on the world. However, those impacts were mostly temporary reactions to transient events, like the aftermath of a very bad storm. Covid-19 is different, which makes trying to visualize and comprehend events, both in the now and the future, so difficult.

Covid-19 truly levels the playing field. Everyone on earth will at some point be impacted, regardless of gender, political orientation, geography, socioeconomic status or faith. Everyone is at risk, and everyone will be impacted in similar ways. That differs from past global events that typically were the cause of regional wars (even WWII did not impact all countries), economic downturns, political eruptions, or local plagues. We really are all in this together.

We left off last month commenting on the effects of Covid-19 on the supply chain and offering questions – and some opinions – on what might happen next. Interestingly, the real ugliness might not have hit yet. Anticipating the traditional supply drop-off during the Chinese New Year, most companies boosted inventories ahead of time. By the time China turned the lights back on, in late February/early March, the West was starting to slow, leaving stocks in a relatively decent position.

So far, so good.

Where China will feel it most, I think, is over the next two months, as Western demand lags and China’s domestic-based suppliers pull back so as not to overstuff the supply chain. Already, we are starting to see some layoffs in Southeast Asia. If that region has to sustain another wave of Covid-19, look out. The chain could be in for a wild ride.