Issue link: https://iconnect007.uberflip.com/i/550232
10 SMT Magazine • August 2015 employees around quality, inability to quickly identify where and how waste is being creat- ed, and poor technical support from suppliers. David Dibble of New Agreements Inc. wrote an elaborate narrative on the results of our survey, as well as suggested some strategies that may help businesses in our industries address these issues. You can find a snapshot of David's article inside this issue, but the full article is published in this month's The PCB Magazine. Verdant Electronics' Joe Fjelstad has written a piece on declaring war on pro- cess failure. In particular, he highlighted one of the most prominent causes of defects and failure in electronics, and mentioned how busi- nesses may defeat such a prominent foe. Another article worth noting is the collaboration between OEMs and EMS firms to combat head-on-pillow defects. Written by technical folks from Alcatel-Lucent, Erics- son, Celestica Inc., Flextronics Inter- national, Sanmina Corp., and Plexus Corp., this article addresses the root cause of head-on-pillow (HoP) defect—specifically the link between HoP defects and component warpage—and proposes the need for revised acceptance criteria when it comes to maximum warpage in BGAs. Alpha's Jason Fullerton also talks about HoP in his article, as well as area array soldering and defect formation mechanisms. Amy Yin Chen of Naprotek presents seven of the most common and potential options for addressing quality and manufacturability chal- lenges of mission-critical products—in particu- lar, military and aerospace PCBAs, which, in reality, utilize mixed technology, either due to legacy designs or concerns about the intercon- nection strength of SMT connectors or other critical parts that may be subject to significant shock or vibration. An article from KYZEN and STI Electron- ics, meanwhile, looks at another angle when it comes to quality of assemblies: device cleanli- ness. It says insufficiently cleaned electronics can cause problems due to inter- mittent connections, corro- sion, electrical shorts and arching, and therefore can negatively impact device functionality and end-user requirements. Finally, Bob Willis dis- cusses the different board and solder defects, and mentions some strategies to help solve these issues. If you are having chal- lenges in any of your pro- cesses, please flip through the pages of this issue. I am pretty sure you will be able to get an idea about how to solve these issues, or perhaps find an expert who may be able to point you in the right direc - tion. Don't forget to check out our sister publica- tions—The PCB Magazine and The PCB Design Maga- zine—to learn more about win- ning the war on process failure in other segments of our industry. Meanwhile, we at SMT Magazine are looking to expand our roster of columnists and contrib- uting authors. So if you have ideas—from indus- try trends to commentaries to technology devel- opments—we'd like to hear from you. Feel free to drop me an e-mail if you want to contribute to our magazine or online website, SMT007. In the mean time, I hope you enjoy reading this issue! SMT If you are having challenges in any of your processes, please flip through the pages of this issue. I am pretty sure you will be able to get an idea about how to solve these issues, or perhaps find an expert who may be able to point you in the right direction. " " edItor's note A LETTER FROM THE NEW EDITOR continues Stephen Las Marias is managing editor of SMT Magazine. He has been a technology editor for more than 12 years covering electronics, components, and industrial automation systems.