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42 SMT Magazine • June 2017 In part one of this series, we reviewed some of the reasons why long term storage of electro- nic components is both a problematic, as well as an increasing requirement for many electro- nic assemblers. Rapid changes in packaging design and material force companies to purchase forward quantities to guard against the impact of com- ponent obsolescence on their final product. Product lifecycles have become very short with new models being released sooner than ever before. Many manufacturers in industries including automobiles, aviation and avionics, military and railway must guarantee the availa- bility of replacement parts (including PCBs) for 10 or even 20 years. This demands the advance purchase and extended storage of components and materials. Further complicating the pro- blem is that most components cannot be stored for more than a few years without very special handling procedures. IPC JEDEC Standards Though the original document was re- leased almost two decades ago, and new tech- nologies have been introduced since, IPC/JE- DEC J-STD-033 addresses a broad range of fun- damentals regarding moisture-sensitive devi- ces and their proper handling. Updated sever- al times since its initial publication, the 2012 Rev C clarified some storage time definitions, but very long term storage of the extent faced by manufacturers mentioned above is not com- pletely addressed. by Rich Heimsch SUPER DRY-TOTECH Long-Term Storage of Electronic Components and Compositions MORE THAN JUST DRY AIR