Issue link: https://iconnect007.uberflip.com/i/1216587
MARCH 2020 I SMT007 MAGAZINE 73 cific quality management sys- tems and a specific customer's requirements on products and processes. Unlike these audits, the IPC QML validation process is conducted by industry experts in accordance with IPC stan- dards and in a professional and targeted manner. It offers bench- mark requirements and best practices gap analysis in a quan- titative manner for every node in the process. Yu: Were any production problems revealed and solved during the audit process? Zhang: There were some problems. Many prob- lems were revealed during early preparation. For example, we changed the usage of some materials due to different past understandings. What impressed me was that we used a lot of gold plating materials. It is an old perspective that gold is better than silver, which, in turn, is better than copper, as in the order from the tra- ditional Chinese saying, "Jin yin tong tie [gold, silver, copper, iron]." From the perspective of physical and molec- ular structures, however, IMC gold-tin alloy layers may become as crispy as gold or tin. Per- haps it is effective for the first welding, but it is weaker in reliability and anti-vibration fea- tures. There were many small technical prob- lems like these that we didn't notice. During the stages of early instruction and middle-term implementation, many such problems were brought up. The team of IPC experts brought many useful suggestions for process improve- ments. Validating PCB reliability is another exam- ple. We conducted inspections for incoming materials and confirmed product inspection standards provided by the suppliers, but we found that the actual requirements for testing PCB were different from the inspection reports. The standards require 95% of the trial cut area with specific requirements on welding temper- ature and time. We identified that requirements in reports are different from process standards. After communicating and confirming with IPC experts, we asked the suppliers to revalidate according to the standards and supply us with compliant reports. We have learned a lot of things in the validation process. Yu: Did completion of QML improve your com- pany's work on sales and customer engage- ment? Do most of the customers understand QML, or do you have to explain it to them? Zhang: In 2014, when QML was just launched, we were one of 12 QML-certified companies worldwide; that is a small number. Many peo- ple knew of IPC and its standards, but very few knew there was an IPC validation for QML. Instead, people tended to validate suppliers of raw materials, PCB, solder, tin in solder, or some flux. This was all new to the customers, too. We designated special staff members to explain QML to them and let them know the definition of QML, the time when we acquired QML vali- dation, as well as the nature of this validation. It was an effective method. Many customers felt good about it and gradually accepted QML. For example, many European telecom com- panies in the past would contact us through third parties in Europe to conduct analysis and validation for the whole SAP process. Then, that third party wrote a thorough report about our company to the customers, which involved many details of the process, such as oxygen content, tin temperature, etc. Customers would rely on such reports to require improvements