Issue link: https://iconnect007.uberflip.com/i/1010078
48 SMT007 MAGAZINE I AUGUST 2018 Feature Interview by Stephen Las Marias I-CONNECT007 In an interview with SMT007 Magazine, Tom Forsythe, executive vice president at Kyzen Corp., discusses the most critical challenges of the cleaning process, a new approach to testing the cleanliness of PCB assemblies, and how Kyzen is helping customers develop a more data-driven approach to cleaning. Stephen Las Marias: What are the critical challenges when it comes to cleaning? Tom Forsythe: There are really two critical challenges today: The first is the evolution of our industry, in that bottom-termination components (BTCs) are becoming very popular for a host of performance reasons, and they present challenges both in cleaning, or in the case of no-clean components, reliability because of the challenges of ensuring that the no-cleans are fully cured underneath the BTCs. That's a big challenge these days because what's going on is that everyone doesn't respectfully recognize outside the high-reliability world, and the industry is sorting out just how it is we can solve this problem. I think over the next year or so, there will be changes that that will be generally accepted to try to improve that opportunity. The second challenge is more on the confirmation, certification, or validation aspect. Historically, over the last 10 years anyway, the industry has largely relied on an operational basis on a particular test equipment known as Resistivity of Solvent Extract (ROSE). Last fall, the industry standards groups spoke out on the fact that ROSE is not very compatible with no-clean residues and has simply been relied upon as the only method for assuring cleanliness. Right now, the industry is trying to decide just what that means. Is there a new method that's necessary? So, there's a great deal of work going on. Over the next year or two, there will be very meaningful change in