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August 2016 • SMT Magazine 19 VOICES OF THE INDUSTRY els of data capture suit different classifications of products, ensuring that only and all the rel- evant data is captured no matter what the prod- uct is or what industry it falls into. Discussion and negotiation between EMS companies and their customers will be made far easier by sim- ply agreeing which defined level of traceability should be adopted. If and when the traceability data is needed to help resolve a major market- quality issue, it will be known that the data can be relied on. The IPC-1782 traceability standard, how- ever, brings with it a whole new world of op- portunity for traceability data. Rather than just being an insurance policy for when things go wrong, with the standard now in place, data ac- quisition from processes can be made more au- tomated, reducing the cost of traceability data collection. By building in the traceability data gathering requirements as part of the process operation, compliance and conformance are introduced also in an automated way, further reducing the cost of ownership. On the other side of the equation, the uses of traceability data with the new standard can be broadly ex - panded, delivering active quality management, poka-yoke control, and counterfeit material, etc. within the manufacturing operation itself. The traceability revolution in electronics is coming soon, and not before time. So be ready to embrace it for your own benefit. Mark Haavisto Component Engineer SALINE LECTRONICS In a perfect world, our customer would pro- vide complete documentation. Missing infor- mation can cause manufacturing delays when things are unclear, including: • Assembly drawings with notes. If unavail- able, a simple list of assembly instructions/re- quirements is helpful. • A BoM with sufficient information to cor- rectly identify components—manufacturer names and part numbers are always preferred, but if the customer is not particular about cer- tain parts, such as resistors and capacitors, com- plete descriptions are needed to ensure correct parts are procured. For basic resistors, include: resistance value, wattage, tolerance, package size. For capacitors, include: type (ceramic, tan- talum, etc.), capacitance value, rated voltage, tolerance, temperature coefficient (if applica- ble), package size. • Process requirements: This would include things like RoHS compliant versus SnPb solder process and aqueous versus no-clean solder pro- cess. Clearly state the IPC class (I, II, III) require- ments. Alex Johnson Associate Engineer SALINE LECTRONICS Figuring out the proper orientation to polarity-sensitive components is sometimes difficult, so making it clear on the silkscreen, with markings visible after the parts have been placed, really alleviates any possible issue of a polarity-sensitive component being incorrectly installed. I would recommend that engineers pay specific attention to copper balancing on 0402 and smaller-sized parts in order to help elimi- nate tombstoning on an assembly. This is a common occurrence that we see, and taking this into consideration could mean the differ- ence between an assembly that runs through SMT with a few defects, to an assembly that runs flawlessly. I am enthusiastic about the direction of the industry moving toward SMT technology; mak- ing an assembly entirely SMT by eliminating mixed-technology assemblies can really reduce the cost, and decrease the processing time for assemblies. X X X