Issue link: https://iconnect007.uberflip.com/i/1424540
36 SMT007 MAGAZINE I NOVEMBER 2021 Component shortages are causing peo- ple to do things with components that they wouldn't normally do. Normally, they would throw questionable components away. Now, they are trying to fix them rather than take a component off, throw it away, and put on a new one. ere might not be a new one, so they're salvaging. ey're taking compo- nents off of boards that are scrap and putting them on good boards. A lot of weird things are happening now, due to supply chain issues, that weren't happening before. Johnson: So, for both fab and assembly, there are similar ongoing issues? Neves: Yes, other issues in addition to the sup- ply chain issues. And we're seeing that in the PCBs too. People aren't getting exactly what they expect. ere's a lot of substituting both officially and unofficially. People accept glass or solder mask from suppliers that they wouldn't normally use, or substitute materi- als like copper-clad laminate because most of the production is coming from offshore and it's currently sitting on a ship off Long Beach, California, for example. Johnson: Right, with the other 70 or 80 freight- ers out there. at might be the biggest emerg- ing challenge: components, rework, and sal- vage. How do you test and inspect that? Neves: ere are not a lot of procedures out there. is is new and people aren't talking about it. ey're not saying, "I'm using com- ponents off old boards, scrap boards, or this and that." People just want product. ey don't care how they get it. I don't think this is really something that's being openly talked about a lot, but I'm sure it's happening. Johnson: Since there aren't really any stan- dardized procedures, what are you seeing? Is this something showing up in the work you're doing? It would seem to me that functional Microtek's thermal shock (RTC) lab. voltages are getting higher. People are pushing boards more and expecting more from them. is whole move to electrical motivation— whether that's, cars, trains, airplanes, bikes— everything is all run at higher voltages. You have the microprocessor guys that are down at 3.3 V, and now you have all this electric moti- vation that's running in the hundreds of volts. ere is a real disparity between the needs of both of those groups. I don't think the design- ers get that; they just design boards, but you just can't use the same rules for the 3.3 V as you can for the 800 V board. On the SMT side, they're stepping up a lev- el. You have the solderability and surface con- tamination issues. Obviously, you have compo- nent issues, but I'm not really qualified to talk about it because we don't do much with com- ponents. My experience is starting with the sol- der joint and working down. I don't have much experience above the solder joint, but I know component attachment using lead-free tech- nologies is stressful on the substrate materials as well as the repair and rework they undergo.