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domestic PCB fabrication, and several shops are gearing up to produce UHDI technology for high-performance, high-reliability appli- cations. While the fabrication industr y is abuzz with news of innovative materials, pro- cesses, and technologies, the assembly side has remained relatively quiet. As circuit boards get smaller and denser, so will the components populated on them. Murata announced the 006003 (Imperial) in September 2024. It's 80 microns wide. Most of the domestic SMT industry has not mastered 01005 or 008004 packages, never mind consid- ering this next step down. Chip manufacturing, packaging technol- ogy, and PCB fabrication technology are all moving forward in anticipation of UHDI. But when will SMT assemblers get on board? e best IC packaging PCB fabrication technolo- gies in the world are useless if we can't connect them. In traditional technology development cycles, package and fabrication technologies are tested and approved first, with assembly processes oen lagging behind. ere's not an NPI engineer out there who hasn't been sur- prised by a new package type when it appeared on a BOM and did not have an established pro- cess to produce it. e lag created when assemblers must develop and test new SMT processing meth- ods for new packages slows technology trans- fer and time-to-market for new products. It Feature Q&A with Mike Sivigny CETAQ AMERICAS Mike Sivigny, owner of CeTaQ Americas, says cur- rent SMT assembly lines can potentially meet UHDI technology challenges, but fine-tuning is essential. e majority of printers and placement machines ini- tially fail to meet OEM specifications but can be adjusted. Common issues include stroke- dependent offsets in printers and positional off- sets in placers. Both new and used machines benefit from adjustments, though some severely neglected machines may be beyond repair. Reg- ular measurements ensure high process control. Mike, can current SMT assembly lines meet the challenges of UHDI technology? Most likely. Will they without some fine-tun- ing? Not likely. It's our experience that 90% of 26 SMT007 MAGAZINE I FEBRUARY 2025 printers we've tested did not meet their OEM specifications, but the vast majority could be dialed into spec. About 30% of placement machines fail their spec, but most can be dialed back in, too. In test failures, which specifications are typically not met? In printers, we commonly see stroke-depen- dent offsets and nonuniform squeegee blade pressure. In placers, we typically find posi- tional offsets specific to individual spindles or placement angles. How are the failures rectified? We perform a "so calibration" by measuring statistically significant sample sizes with high- resolution metrology equipment and feeding the offsets back into the machine settings itself. ese global offsets correct for tolerance stack- Fine-tuning SMT Assembly Lines