Issue link: https://iconnect007.uberflip.com/i/1476200
40 PCB007 MAGAZINE I AUGUST 2022 materials. ey've gone through six phases; they evaluated materials and T g , CTEs, CAF; and they did this as a consortium and pub- lished the information so you can see where there's room for improvement. ere are stud- ies on reliability of BGA soldering, with differ- ent solder pastes in different formulas. Again, that's the work that's being done in terms of consortia and that's the moonshot. Here's where we are. ese are all these parts working together—assembly, bare board, and there's level zero, level one, and level two. You've got to have them all together. Call the circuit bare board level zero, call the chips and the components level one. And then every- thing else put together becomes level two. If they don't have those connections and under- stand how that ecosystem works, then we have a problem. I think it's about getting an ecosys- tem tied together where people understand exactly what it is. Matties: Mike, do you have any advice for the fabricators out there right now? Carano: For the ones that are small, maybe 50 or fewer employees, really work hard on find- ing ways to upgrade your equipment. If you're happy with your three-mil lines and spaces, and that's helping you, I understand that, but the money, future money, is going to be big, in the sub-two-mil lines and spaces. You have to rethink what your processes look like two to three years from now vs. where they are today. at includes equipment, materials handling, and above all, training certification. In a nut- shell, that goes with the bigger folks too. But I think a lot of those are doing that. ere are some companies that have several hundred, maybe a thousand, people certified by IPC for the Certified Interconnect Designer or assembly training programs, and those com- panies are doing things. IPC certification and training programs have increased significantly in the last five or six years—there's been a big push there. But we need some of the smaller companies to be involved in these training pro- grams. It will help them immensely. e big guys are already doing it and I think they saw the advantage to doing that. at's one of the reasons why they're able to be big and still stay in business. ey've made those changes, improved their training, and their knowledge of their people. When their people get certification, they're proud of that. ey feel like they've been part of this oppor- tunity. Matties: Michael, thank you so much. We greatly appreciate you taking time for us today. Carano: ank you. PCB007