Issue link: https://iconnect007.uberflip.com/i/1500520
JUNE 2023 I SMT007 MAGAZINE 39 what you want because that's why you're buying the equipment—to get more efficiency, quality, and output. Matties: Let's talk about sustainability and how automation plays into that. Obviously, sustainability is a big topic in the world today. Absolutely. A good example of sustainability is in printing solder paste. at machine has a stencil to print the solder paste onto the board, but before that even happens, there are so- ware tools that allow companies to look at the board's assembly and their solder paste options so the process is as efficient as possible right from the start. Regarding sustainability, you want to get a good print with the least amount of solder paste to create the circuit at the end of the line. e worst case is it's a scrap board because it comes out of the printer with too much paste, and it smudges the stencil. ese machines allow you to print the exact amount of paste so there's no waste. Both the tools and soware allow the exact amount of print deposition within the printer and, relative to the next step in the process, the solder paste inspection tool gauges how much material is being printed or dispensed. It automatically communicates that back to the printer and adjusts the parame- ters to optimize that process. You get the exact amount of solder—not too much or too little; circuits are done right the first time. You don't want to run sample board aer sample board, having to wipe off the solder paste, start over, and keep repeating that process. ese tools minimize troubleshooting a new product right from the get-go. Matties: With this efficiency you're describing it seems that utility consumption would be lower as well. Oh, absolutely. Having more efficiency of the lines optimizes the power requirements and minimizes the power bill. e machines are set up to best utilize the power. Matties: How are the roles changing in the factories? Who are we hiring? Are there more software engineers, coders, or someone else? With this push to soware, I see the hiring of more soware folks. With MES becoming a major role in fac- tory automation, you need engineers writing code, application interfaces, and APIs to commu- nicate to the equip- m e n t t h r o u g h o u t t h e f a c t o r y, f r o m mater ial hand ling in your stock room all the way to your p r e s s m a c h i n e , o r your conformal coat- ing line in the back. You need soware engineers who are extremely adaptable. Many come out of school with mechanical engineering degrees, and it's important for them to understand soware and how it works. With the drive toward and adoption of the Smart factory, it is an excit- ing time for companies hiring engineering and other technical staff with the drive to improve efficiencies at the equipment, line, and factory levels. Matties: When you get a software team in place, they start finding new opportuni- ties that you did not even know would exist, whether it be through data analytics or just process tuning.