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50 SMT Magazine • June 2016 trend in SPI is to verify the repeatability of the system. That's key. The next step is the accuracy of the system. You can be very repeatable, and be out by 10–20% of the volume. A 10% variation on the small pad is huge. Repeatability is the founda- tion, but the accuracy is key for the future. Las Marias: Do you think we have already ap- proached the limit as to how the tolerances can be smaller? Peallat: We always say that we are almost close to the minimum that we can do. What is amaz- ing with this industry is that they always find a smaller component. Today, we are just placing 01005, but they are already looking at the next generation. I would say we are closer and clos- er to the limit. We will see smaller and smaller components still to come. Las Marias: Apart from having a larger field of view, what other innovations do you think will help your customers address their SPI issues? Peallat: Right, larger field of view is one. The way we set up tolerance is key as well with our area aperture ratio, which is important because you are able to select your tolerances versus the size of the pad and also the transfer efficiency. That's key. It's not the hardware or technical innovation, it's more the way we manage the process. For me, that's the second key innova - tion. Chong: For us, it's how we make use of the AAR, actually doing the running of the production we collect all the measurements of everything that passed. From there, we have a historical measurement from which we can tune the up- per and lower limit of the tolerance from the production batch. Then, we can optimize the printer process accordingly. Las Marias: What can you say about the future for SPI? Peallat: I would say the future for SPI is not the future for inspection. SPI is the part of the glob- al inspection of the line. The trend, for me, is more about using the SPI with the AOI and get- ting the value of the overall inspection process. At Vi Technology, we are developing solu- tions that bundle both inspections. SPI is not just a step in the process, but also a step in the inspection of the board itself. We are develop- ing software solutions that will help our cus- tomers by getting more information about the boards, not only about the SPI. Chong: At the moment, SPI can do close loop. It will be able to work with multiple machines and share this information in a bigger data- base. We are working with our AOI to have a complete database so that we know the qual- ity after printing, and how we manage the data to enhance the process in the SMT line. In the future, our database will work with other AOI equipment or coalesce all this information to provide a factory a more value-added solution. Right now, everyone is talking about the smart factory solution; we also envision being a part of that smart factory solution. Las Marias: SPI integrated with AOI. Wouldn't that be a bit overlapping? Peallat: Not at all; it's just two different steps that are complementary inspections. There are defects or trends that you see on the SPI which, combined with the information from the AOI, provides you a better view. If you close this loop, then you learn more about your process. This learning curve helps you to narrow your inspection criteria upfront and also at the last stages of the assembly. By learning all of this, you optimize your workforce around the line and your process, and you minimize you cost. Las Marias: Great. Thank you very much for your time. Peallat: Thank you. SMT SPI PARAMETER CONSIDERATIONS FOR TIGHTER TOLERANCES