Issue link: https://iconnect007.uberflip.com/i/1424540
NOVEMBER 2021 I SMT007 MAGAZINE 33 don't detect any breach and any defect. is, combined with a more long-term SPC system where we can correlate all the solder joint re- lated defects, so it's solder joint, bridges, and coplanarity defects, then you can adjust the tolerances on both SPI and AOI machines to catch only what is needed. Manissadjian: ere is another way to look at in- spection from the customer point of view. In- spection machines are not producing; but they can be seen as high-level quality checkpoints. ey are also the sensors of an SMT line. ey not only capture defects at the board level, but they also reveal problems at the process level. If you manage to gain 1% of first pass yield, that can be translated into bottom line improvement directly. Our customers that operate SPI and AOI together with MYPro Link process control soware, which is fed in real time by SPI and AOI data, have all the actionable information to help them improve not only the inspection pro- cess, but also the pick-and-place process, the paste printing process, or the oven process. Here lies a big part of the value add of inspec- tion. ose customers, who thought that their printing process was so perfect that they didn't need an SPI, take an SPI just to make a trial, and they say, "Oh wow! I didn't know it was so bad before." We've heard that so many times, and that's the very first added value we can see, but then this also translates into much deeper process improvements, and it has a direct im- pact on the overall financial performance of that production line. Dowd: Some of these trends you were talk- ing about earlier, Nolan, if you buy at all the idea that the reliability is both economic and brand image, if you buy at all that increasing reliability of the electronics in the field over time is important in some of these trends, then we have the ability to see, in detail, the quali- ty of the few parts in the process. We can pro- vide information into the line process itself be- cause we're making other machines as well to improve the quality and reliability. I think that links it together for me. Johnson: MES systems are also an integra- tion channel. Can we talk about connecting to them? Vey: ere are two emerging protocols re- leased. We have the Hermes protocol, which is machine-to-machine, and the CFX proto- col, which becomes the standard to communi- cate from a machine up to the MES, and from the MES down to the machines. I see a trend to standardize the communication between machines, and between machines and MES. I think this is a very good trend for every play- er in the line, including the MES. Now that the IPC-CFX protocol is coming. I see it being in- creasingly demanded in the market. Johnson: is has been really good informa- tion. ank you. Dowd: We really appreciate your time with us, and the opportunity. Manissadjian: ank you, Nolan. SMT007 Yan Manissadjian