December 2015 • SMT Magazine 95
5
cutting cost,
not Price
in any supply chain sur-
vey, the issue of cost
comes up repeatedly.
This article explores the
downside of focussing
on price and suggests
some of the practical
ways you can reduce
costs without having a
negative impact on your product.
6
Automotive emS—
Going beyond Assembly
The trend toward out-
sourcing in the automo-
tive industry continues
as automotive manufac-
turers strive to capitalize
on the technical exper-
tise and cost effective-
ness of the EMS provid-
ers. for their part, the
automotive EMS players have expanded their
role through vertical integration and venture
into the realm of non-electronics manufacturing.
7
Value Stream mapping—
operationalizing Lean
manufacturing
by applying value stream
mapping (VSM), EMS
providers can have a
clearer picture of mul-
tiple processes involved
in a work flow, identify
waste and its sources,
identify where change
is required, standardize
the process, and identify potential problems that
could be encountered in the future state. it can
also be used as a tool for planning as well as for
managing changes.
8
Jetting Strategies for mbGAs—
A Question of Give and Take
among the alternatives for
the deposition of solder
paste and other fluids on a
PCB is jetting, which offers
advantages concerning
precise volume repeatabil-
ity, software control and
local volume control. The
goal of this study is to examine the effect of piezo
actuation profile on deposit quality with respect
to positioning, shape and satellite levels in order
to achieve adequate deposition quality for applica-
tions such as 0.4 mm bga.
9
The Unpredictability of
Tin Whiskers endures
into decade number two
of the European union's
RoHS and REACH restric-
tions for the use of lead
in electronic components,
the risk of tin whiskers in
critical circuitry continues.
This article will explore a
tin whisker mitigation process for surface mount
electronic components applicable to both passive
and active components.
J
enclosed media Printing as an
Alternative to metal blades
The evolution of pCbs in
terms of the miniaturiza-
tion of assemblies, com-
ponents, and ever-finer
feature print patterns has
not slowed, and as a re-
sult continues to present
ever-increasing challenges
to the makers of assembly
equipment and solder paste printing technology,
narrowing the process window. in this article, Mi-
chael l. Martel discusses how enclosed media print
head technology has kept up to these challenges.
December 2015 • SMT Magazine 95
