Issue link: https://iconnect007.uberflip.com/i/1535183
interact. We have a group of amaz- ing people all across the world, bringing experience from lots of different backgrounds. It's exciting. Are there any specific case stud- ies in which somebody had a real problem, used your product line, and had a real solution? Rehman: As much as we want to promote a premium prod- uct offering as the best solution, what drives us is ensuring we support our customers in making the right decision for their needs and getting them the most opti- mized solution. We had an auto- motive customer using SAC-305 within underfill on their PCBs that met their reliability requirements. However, when we shared the reliability data of some of our high-reliability alloys, they were surprised by the improvement they could attain by moving to Innolot as compared to their cur- rent SAC-305 product. Now if you look at the total cost of owner- ship, that's a needle mover. You are not only achieving the same level of reliability, but you are also eliminating a secondary pro- cess. It provides the opportu- nity to increase throughput with a potentially faster cycle time. That translates into multiple gains in your process and profitability. How much more does your replacement for SAC-305 cost? Rehman: In terms of the alloy- to-alloy comparison, the switch- ing cost is minimal because we're talking about the alloys. Primarily, solder paste prices are driven by the metals. In this case, it's pen- nies. However, in terms of reli- ability, it's up to a 40% increase. Again, that depends on your pack- age and your surface finish, but the trend is positive performance improvement on average from SAC-305 to Innolot alloy and even higher with the Innolot MXE alloy. Will this just become a new standard? Rehman: That depends on the requirement and what you're try- ing to achieve. But in general, we see a trend in the industry, espe- cially for automotive, with some OEMs and many Tier 1s moving to higher-reliability alloys. They're using SAC-305 for the current products but are looking at Inno- lot as a standard solder alloy for future products. The OEMs were specifying the SAC-305, so you need to be tell- ing your story to them. Rehman: Yes, and honestly, most of the OEMs are very well aware of MacDermid's high-reliability alloy offerings and what is available in the market generally. We are heav- ily engaged with them. MacDer- mid Alpha has a team constantly in contact with the OEMs, ask- ing about what's changing and what their requirements are. The OEMs are driving these decisions. Right now, most OEMs are using a mix of solder solutions for their mission-critical applications. For some applications, they're using SAC-305, but for applications such as ECUs and ADAS, they're heavily relying on Innolot or other high-reliability solder solutions. I would think that most errors and failures in the world are around solder joints. Rehman: I hate to admit it, but especially for components like BGAs and LGAs, your solder joint could be the weak link. But that's where high-reliability alloy solu- tions can help reduce the risk significantly. We are striving to make this connection the stron- gest part in the assembly. AI is a big topic. Can AI now look at these joints or at the material being used or contextually say that if X happens, you're likely to have a defect?