-
- News
- Books
Featured Books
- smt007 Magazine
Latest Issues
Current IssueBox Build
One trend is to add box build and final assembly to your product offering. In this issue, we explore the opportunities and risks of adding system assembly to your service portfolio.
IPC APEX EXPO 2024 Pre-show
This month’s issue devotes its pages to a comprehensive preview of the IPC APEX EXPO 2024 event. Whether your role is technical or business, if you're new-to-the-industry or seasoned veteran, you'll find value throughout this program.
Boost Your Sales
Every part of your business can be evaluated as a process, including your sales funnel. Optimizing your selling process requires a coordinated effort between marketing and sales. In this issue, industry experts in marketing and sales offer their best advice on how to boost your sales efforts.
- Articles
- Columns
Search Console
- Links
- Events
||| MENU - smt007 Magazine
The Inside Line
December 31, 1969 |Estimated reading time: 3 minutes
Where Mexican EMS Wins
MONTERREY, Mexico — On September 8, 2003, Elcoteq Americas held a two-day Media Day in conjunction with Technology Forecasters Inc.'s Quarterly Forum. The subject was how EMS in Mexico can compete with China.
Elcoteq Network Corp., world's second largest EMS mobile phone assembler, manufactures in China, Eastern Europe and Mexico. A look at the company's Monterrey plant provides insight into how the choice of location is made.
The plant occupies 18,000 sq. m., uses one ERP information system, and is certified to ISO 9002 and ISO 14001 (environmental). It runs both high-volume/low-mix assembly of mobile phones and higher-mix/lower-volume RF automotive navigational systems, as well as aftermarket repair. "In Monterrey, we repair approximately 60,000 mobile phones per month and return them to the customer in 48 hours," says plant manager Oscar Calderon. Elcoteq does both RF module and final assembly of mobile phones for multiple OEMs as well as M2M telematics modules for Sony Ericsson, built to order and delivered to customers such as Motorola. The plant runs seven SMT lines and is adding another line for a total of eight. One line is dedicated to lead-free production.
Elcoteq chose Monterrey because of its proximity to the U.S. Employees are paid about 600 pesos per week, and are provided free transportation to work, training and 80 percent of their lunch meal cost. The plant is projected to employ 650 by the end of 2003.
"Mexico cannot compete against China for high-volume, high-labor content consumer products," says director of sales and marketing Bill Coker. In China, labor runs $1 per hour versus $3 in Mexico, compared to $12 in the U.S. What it costs to get the product to the customer, product support and the cost of conducting business must all be a concern.
Coker predicts a limited number of high-volume, higher-end handsets and set-top boxes will remain in Mexico; more of the low-volume/high-mix products will move to Mexico; whereas the high-volume/low-mix will continue to move to China.
— Gail Flower
Reliability In Harsh Environments
SUNNYVALE, Calif. — Some operating environments present special reliability challenges. In automotive electronics, under-hood temperatures are around 125°C, and mounting electronics on the engine block means operating temperature up to 150°C.
R. Wayne Johnson of Auburn University gave a presentation on reliability of automotive electronics at MEPTEC's recent reliability symposium, "Where the Component Meets the Board." Johnson said that boards with components such as BGAs, CSPs and QFNs may perform in cell phones or office environments but are not reliable enough for high-temperature applications. The goal of 2,000 thermal cycles to 1 percent failure rate is not being met. Thicker boards provide better reliability, but mean higher costs.
Johnson shared data on underfilled BGAs that exceeded 2,000 cycles. An underfill with a high CTE mismatch can decrease reliability, and may degrade at high temperatures.
Solder reliability worsens at high temperatures. SnPb solders suffer from electromigration above 120°C, with the tin- and lead-rich phases separating, leaving voids in the joint. Lead-free alloys tend to exhibit worse performance than SnPb, with some devices attached with SnAgCu alloys showing a 1 percent failure rate at less than 1,000 cycles.
Another challenge at high temperatures is finding appropriate printed circuit board (PCB) materials. Options include FR-406, with a maximum operating temperature of 135°C, Nelco's N4000 (155°C) or BN300 (175°C). Ceramic substrates also perform well at high temperatures but are more expensive.
It is difficult to keep devices cool when the ambient temperature is 150°C. Adhesives used to attach heat sinks must be thermally conductive, compliant and able to withstand 2,000 or more temperature cycles.
The biomedical device industry presents different challenges, explained Guna Selvaduray at the MEPTEC symposium. Temperatures inside the human body are mild, but all materials used must be biocompatible and resistant to corrosion by bodily fluids. Materials used include polyeurethanes, titanium and stainless steel. Moisture sensitivity of polymer materials is of concern.
— Julia Goldstein, Ph.D.