You might not recognize Michael Foster. He doesn’t spend much time making speeches or taking part in a lot of fancy committees. What the general manager for Dynatech Technology (dynatechsmt.com) has been, however, is a driving force behind Samsung’s penetration into the American placement equipment market. He spoke with Circuits Assembly’s Mike Buetow in late May.

CA: Last year Samsung introduced an SMT printer and oven to North American assemblers. How would you characterize its success? What impact has a full-line solution had on pick-and-place sales?

MF: We have installed many turnkey lines in Mexico with the philosophy of providing both one-stop shopping and a single point of contact for support. This allows our customers to focus on productivity instead of the equipment. Most of our customers in the U.S. are currently more in upgrade mode than growth mode. Many purchased new reflow ovens within the last year or so to be lead-free compliant. The SMP-300, our latest screen printer, is the first printer designed specifically to complement a family of pick-and-place machines, with very similar software for ease-of-line operation. There is very strong interest in this product.

CA: We have spoken in the past about the inability of chips to self-center and other problems inherent with lead-free solder use. What have you seen in the field, and how has user experience affected placement machine evaluations and decisions?

MF: Most customers we have spoken to seem to agree that the process window is smaller and less forgiving in an actual production environment. The self-centering challenge, combined with 01005 and some of the ball sizes and pitch on new µBGA packages, are forcing engineers to focus on vision systems, positioning systems and overall accuracy more than in the past. Our system architecture of aligning the component off of the terminations after the X-Y move is completed allows us to close the alignment loop at the latest possible point in the process. When combined with a stationary PCB during population, it minimizes the opportunity for undetected component movement after alignment. Results of our trials in placing 01005 chips were presented at SMTA International in September. Our studies indicated that accuracy and component offset play a critical role in successfully placing the smaller components.

CA: On the same topic, what – besides price – are users making their top priority when evaluating placement machines?

MF: Price, or more accurately total cost of ownership, is still one of the primary considerations that our customers use. However, sophisticated software tools, including intelligent feeders, real-time inventory management, yield improvement as indicated and changeover optimization are quickly becoming the priority. These elements of line efficiency, along with service and cost of ownership such as training, installation, service contracts, annual maintenance costs, feeder costs, etc., are all discussed in detail.

CA: Have equipment suppliers gotten away from the spirit of IPC-9850? If so, what will bring them back in line?

MF: I believe customers have gotten away from using the IPC-9850 speed comparison more than equipment suppliers. Most users are well aware that efficiency of changeover could likely have a much greater impact on line productivity than raw gantry speed. We are often challenged to perform actual production estimates on a board or family of boards so that customers can perform a fair comparison between competitive systems, and determine the optimum line configuration. Line efficiency is where customers cross the line to profitability.

CA: You have an agreement in place to move certain machines into ACI in Philadelphia. What can you tell us about that, and what are the expected benefits for both parties?

MF: We installed an SM series machine at ACI immediately following Apex. The facility emulates actual production more accurately than an equipment supplier demonstration lab. The response from customers has been outstanding. As a result, we hope to expand our presence at ACI in the near future with more process equipment.

We are very fortunate that our headquarters is located only a short distance from the facility. Our engineering staff spends a lot of time at the facility sharing knowledge with the ACI staff. Their expertise in unique processes and assembly challenges complements our knowledge of equipment and customer requirements, greatly benefiting both organizations.

CA: Do you have a position on the relocation of Apex to Las Vegas?

MF: We believe it is a positive move and most of the customers we have spoken to seem to agree. The early April schedule may be more convenient for both exhibitors and attendees, since there are several regional U.S. shows in fall 2007, as well as Productronica in November.