Issue link: https://iconnect007.uberflip.com/i/921680
JANUARY 2018 I SMT007 MAGAZINE 15 you really need to look at new technologies all the time. It's the same thing with 3D AXI. You can't use a manual X-ray system when you have a Class 3 board with 400 bottom-terminating components. There's no way any human being is going to accurately look at all those without glaz- ing over. You need auto- mated technology to do the heavy inspection on that type of work. You still have a human to do a sample to make sure you have compli- ant joints, but there's no way you can screen all those bottom-termi- nated joints manually," says Turpin. Challenging Equipment Suppliers Do they ever make demands on their equip- ment or department to come up with some- thing better for their processes? Nargi-Toth says some of their equipment is 'machine #1,' which is when they have challenged their suppliers to give the indus- try something better. "I think many of the #1 machines that Orbotech has introduced have spent some time in Eltek," she says. "We had one of the first laser direct imaging machines they made, and the first direct imaging solder mask machine they made. It is very impor- tant for our industry that these types of rela- tionships exist between fabricators and the supply base. We are constantly challenging our suppliers to give us something better than the machine that we just bought from them." But sometimes, current technologies have notable limitations. "We've tried to get better handling, say, in a DES line, and there are some limitations in available equipment. It may handle a 1-mil dielectric layer, but it doesn't necessarily handle that 1-mil film when we remove 75% of the copper from it. So, I would say, from our perspective as a panel flex supplier, there are some limits in what's currently available to meet our require- ments," says Nargi-Toth. Automation Vision How is automation, or the drive towards it, affecting the decision process in acquiring new equipment? "In the EMS world and certainly in the mili- tary/aero and the medical side, your raw mate- rial expense is going to be around 60–70% of your revenue," says Turpin. "The number one expense, in our world, is raw materials. From an automation standpoint, you certainly want to be automated in terms of how you buy, plan and process your raw materials." While direct labor is always important, Turpin says it's even more important to have a robust process that can make sure you have virtually no scrap. "You've got these $25–$40,000-dollar- apiece PCBAs running through your facility at relatively low profit, low contribution margin. You really can't afford to have any scrap. Your shift is focused less on labor to more on qual- ity, reliability, and taking scrap down to zero. And, pretty much, rework down to zero, too, because you can't afford to hold onto these components for very long. You're more look- ing for velocity than you are efficiency on the Figure 1: When investing in new equipment for the factory, manufacturers should follow a proven evaluation procedure. (Photo Courtesy: Eltek Ltd)