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March 2017 • SMT Magazine 59 This new strategy and model has been an- alyzed and demonstrated to be less expensive than a typical low labor-rate model 7 . Next time we'll begin our treatment of ma- terial costs. Hey, what do YOU say? I'd like to hear your thoughts and experiences. SMT References 1. T. Borkes – "Paper or Plastic? Choosing to Move Offshore," SMT Magazine, April 2006. 2. T. Borkes – "Electronic Product Assembly in the Global Marketplace: The Material Piece of the Competitive Puzzle, SMTA Internation- al Conference Proceedings, Orlando, Fl., Octo- ber 2010. 3. T. Borkes, "Toward a New Organizational Model Using Logic, Cost Effectiveness and Cus- tomer Service, Part 3" SMT Magazine, February 2017. 4. T. Borkes – "A New Manufacturing Model for Successfully Competing in High Labor Rate Markets," Pan Pacific Microelectronics Sympo- sium, Maui, Hawaii, January 2013, pg. 13. 5. Ibid, pg. 11. 6. T. Borkes – "Moving Beyond Paide- ia: Learning for Earning," SMT Magazine, May 2016. 7. T. Borkes, "'Like Holding the Wolf by the Ears…'—The Key to Regaining Electronic Pro- duction Market Share: Breaking Free of the Divi- sion of Labor Manufacturing Model in High La- bor-Cost Global Regions," SMTA International Conference Proceedings, Orlando, Florida, Au- gust 2008, pg. 12. Tom Borkes is the founder of the Jefferson Project and the forthcoming Jefferson Institute of Technology. To read past columns or to contact Borkes, click here. A NEW ORGANIZATIONAL MODEL USING LOGIC, PART 4 Recently, Judy Warner met with Metcal's Product Support Engineer Robert Roush to discuss their pat- ented hand-soldering technolo- gy unveiled at this year's IPC APEX EXPO, in San Diego, California. The new technology, called Connection Validation (CV), pro- vides real-time feedback to the operator and indicates wheth- er they've successfully achieved a "good" solder joint, or if there's been some fault during the solder- ing process. When Metcal first introduced SmartHeat, cus- tomers achieved a new level of process control within their hand soldering operations, which is historically the weakest link. Now with CV, Met- cal offer control not only of the tip temperature, but also solder joint quality itself. According to the company, it's the most innovative advancement in soldering technology in almost 30 years and rep- resents a quantum shift in process control—partic- ularly in the prototyping and pro- duction of automotive, aerospace, military, medical devices, and other products with zero risk tolerance. CV was the centerpiece of Metcal's newly designed booth at IPC APEX EXPO 2017. "We did live demos, and walked people through exactly how this technol- ogy works. We had multiple sta- tions where people came up and experienced the technology live," said Roush. The company has also devel- oped a technical white paper, "Risk Mitigation in Hand Soldering," which is clearly at the crux of what its new product addresses. (The white paper can be downloaded here.) The technology sounds like a real game-chang- er, from a reliability and process control stand- point, and promises to bring a new level of sci- ence and control to the world of hand-soldering. Read The Interview Here. Metcal Brings Big Science and High Reliability to Hand Soldering Robert Roush