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ThQM Program Saves 47% Production Time with Reflow Profile Verification
May 4, 2010 |Estimated reading time: 2 minutes
MILWAUKIE, OR — EMS providers using ECD’s thermal quality management program ThQM for soldering, along with its profiling products, report saving 20-30 minutes per reflow profile at the profile verification step.Background
Eighteen months ago, ECD, which designs thermal profiling products and software, assessed the assembly reflow soldering process and determined that many current reflow problems could be solved with consistent, thorough, and accurate thermal profiling. IPC issued standard J-STD-075 concerning unexpected thermal sensitivity of even passive components exposed to elevated lead-free-process temperatures. However, OEMs and EMS providers fall short on the production verification side of profiling, according to surveys they answered.
ECD developed its ThQM (Thermal Quality Management) program to address the lack of a uniform system of communication between EMS provider and OEM and the use of thermal profiling as a single-time task rather than a process. If the EMS provider is offshore, communication issues can be exacerbated by language and time-zone barriers and diversity in operator experience levels. Thermal profiling is often considered to be a single task rather than a process composed of initial profiling all the way through oven verification (especially necessary in lengthy production runs.) ThQM addresses why both conditions need to change, and provides a working blueprint to facilitate its happening.
ECD’s MEGAM.O.L.E. ®20, V-M.O.L.E.®, and OVENChecker® were introduced to speed up the steps in the profiling process. The resulting increased profiling helps eliminate scrap, unexpected early field failure, and downstream liability.
As another integral part of ThQM, checklists are provided for each party (OEM and EMS) that cover some key points the contract manufacturer should consider about design, thermal sensitivity, board placement, etc. to run a line consistent with the engineer’s, solder manufacturer’s, and industry’s specifications. Each side of the table has a consistent language and method to tell the other what they need, and the EMS can quickly respond with either assurance of capability to run as requested, or suggestions for modifications. Through thermal profiling that includes oven verification, they can quickly document that the run was according to the initial target profile outlined by the engineer.
Results
EMS feedback on the program shows that, at the verification stage, the new single pallet all-inclusive design of the OVENChecker results in a savings of between 20 and 30 minutes per profile over the thermocouple-attached-to-golden-board approach. That equates to approximately 47% time saved. In addition, assemblers report that it takes less than 3 minutes to train an operator or technician. It also saves cost from damaging golden boards, extending their life and value as reference boards.
For more information, visit www.ecd.com. Also read ECD's recent article for SMT, A Shift in the Perception of Reflow Profiling
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