Issue link: https://iconnect007.uberflip.com/i/1538540
Are there any other supplier success stories or collaborations you're especially proud of? Hendrickson: We talk about the solder mask. We're one of the only ones building additive solder mask at a volume, and we can learn a lot from that. To Jessi's point, we bounce things off our sup- plier partners, work on new strategies, even poten- tially what we see in assembly, whether the solder mask is affected, and how we address the system as a whole. Our supplier has been open to modi- fications we think are needed on the equipment. We have worked through things with them that, if we didn't have the right partnership, could have potentially turned out differently. I believe you've switched to ink from Electra Polymers, a mask vendor that plays a big role in your process. Did you change masks because of other process changes? Hendrickson: With our previous ink, we were expe- riencing persistent quality issues, especially print- head maintenance and nozzle clogging. When that happens, you want to know whether it's the ink, the machine, or the head design. We decided to qualify a new ink and have been running Electra Polymers' ink since January. It's not 100% dialed in, but its performance is already better, with far less print-head maintenance and fewer clogs. Electra Polymers has been a very good partner so far. They've invested a lot of money and effort into this technology from an ink perspective. They have equipment to test their ink in different print heads, and one of the best mixing facilities for this type of ink that I've seen. They focus heavily on cleanliness and making sure the ink we get does not contain particles, which is key to avoiding noz- zle clogging. I'm happy with their responsiveness. About a month ago, we had a perceived solder Machvision Leads Shift to Automated Inline Final Inspection, AOI in North America by Ra l p h J a c o b o, M a n a g i n g D i re cto r & Te c h n i c a l S a l e s M a n a g e r, a l l 4 - P C B Schweitzer Engineering Laboratories (SEL) chose Machvision inspection equipment due to its capa- bilities and versatility. Machvision of Taiwan offers circuit inspection, hole inspection and measure- ment, IC Substrate and HDI inspection, and final visual inspection solutions. The best fit for SEL was the 4.0Pro Circuit Inspection for inner and outer layers, and the AFI6 for final visual inspection of finished panels. The 4.0Pro allows for rapid changeover between recipes and detection of copper defects as small as 0.0025" (0.0635 mm). It identifies shorts, opens, nicks, protrusions, pinholes, line width violations, spacing issues, pad size deviations, SMT viola- tions, and drill errors. It processes a wide panel thickness range from 0.05 mm to 3.2 mm (0.002" to 0.110"), with SEL using it mainly for inner and outer layers. Inspection programs are downloaded "on the fly" after panel identification. The system supports existing verification stations and provides high-resolution color images. 34 PCB007 MAGAZINE I AUGUST 2025