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IPC Roadmap Notes Changes, Challenges
December 31, 1969 |Estimated reading time: 2 minutes
BANNOCKBURN, Ill. - The industry is changing, and the IPC’s 2004-2005 International Technology Roadmap for Electronic Connections also has changed. The roadmap provides direction for product, process, equipment development, and services required to meet current through long-term objectives. This installment of the roadmap is divided into separate sections dealing with component design issues and printed board development. A separate section also describes component package manufacturing. The roadmap is presented in two volumes, the first of which deals with the Trends and Issues of Electronic Interconnect. The second volume centers on Related Drivers that impact Electronic Interconnect and identifying paradigm shifts needed for advancement. IPC plans to enhance volume two with recommendations of where the industry needs to improve innovative talents.
Lead-free applications still top the list of concerns among manufacturers. Assembly processes become an issue with regard to lead-free. Test methods also are starting to loom on the horizon. Reliability concerns are still strong with regard to lead-free. “We see tremendous growth in various test procedures that are coming out,” states Dieter Bergman, director of technology transfer, IPC. “Although the roadmap doesn’t always offer a solution, it at least identifies where the problem areas are. Right now, a lot of problems are in testing and compliancy to determine that the parts will work.” Bergman also notes the increased need for drop testing for reliability verification of lead-free components.
Miniaturization is still a concern, but the semiconductor industry has kept up with this by putting more capabilities into one package. They’re also doing integrations and offering these products as off-the-shelf, catalog items. This gives engineers more latitude when putting them together to create functions in the miniature environment. “However, the interconnection is still struggling - looking at what to do when we get down to the interconnect, sub-micron connector,” comments Bergman. The roadmap forecasts the industry is ready to go to 25-µm processes, but Bergman is uncertain as to whether it’s possible with processes currently in place. “We have some homework as to changes in the process to address very miniaturized parts.” Add to that the fact that manufacturing is going to Asia, and you have U.S. manufacturers questioning the value of investing in these new technologies.
Despite the manufacturing shift to China, Bergman notes that innovation is not dead in the U.S. “U.S. OEMs and assemblers are all very competitive, and they all look for ways to give them that competitive edge,” states Bergman. “We see more opportunities for engineers at the level of technology concepts - coming up with ideas we don’t really bring to production in this country, but we do proof of concept. That is going to be part of our niche market. Whether someone can repeat that in a large volume and take that product to market at a reasonable cost is questionable.”- Michelle M. Boisvert