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The 2000 VISION Awards
December 31, 1969 |Estimated reading time: 9 minutes
Innovation took center stage at SMT's 2000 VISION Awards ceremony, held in conjunction with the IPC/SMEMA Assembly Process Exhibition and Conference (APEX) in San Diego on January 16, 2001. In a standing-room-only crowd, 13 companies were honored for their innovative contributions to the surface mount industry. A panel of independent industry experts judged the new equipment, products and services on their ability to face an industry challenge, the creative application of a new or existing technology, and overall quality of performance and throughput characteristics.
Six of the 13 companies that received VISION Awards were first-time winners, which typifies the intense competition and technological innovation on display at the ceremony. Three winners were awarded a VISION Award for the second time, two winners have now received three awards, and two victorious companies received their fourth VISION Awards. Special mention must be made to one first-time winner whose product won in two different categories.
SMT group publisher Jim Collins introduces himself to the standing-room-only crowd.
Reflecting current trends in the industry, the VISION Awards for Inspection and Soldering Equipment tied for the most heavily entered, and consequently the hardest fought, category. Software was the next most competitive category, followed by Pick-and-Place.
SMT's staff would like to congratulate the winners and thank all those who participated in the 2000 VISION Awards program. SMT recognizes each participant's part in keeping this constantly changing industry at the forefront of excellence. The following pages are a review of the winning products.
ADHESIVES/COATINGS/ENCAPSULANTSKester Solder SE-CURE 9120 Reflow EncapsulantSE-CURE 9120 is a single-pass reflow encapsulant for use in attaching flip chip/CSP devices to circuit card assemblies. 9120 functions as a fluxing agent in the first part of the process and a compression flowed underfill in the latter stages of the reflow process. The encapsulant provides outstanding fluxing behavior during solder joint formation stages of the reflow process. After solder joints have been formed, the curing operation occurs within the normal reflow profile. This provides the competitive technical advantage over the existing set of no-flow underfill materials. The result is a material, which solders and cures, in a single step. This unique technology provides circuit card assemblers with reduced cycle time and eliminates process steps. The 9120 is processed with normal surface mount materials and requires no special separate processing steps, such as underfilling or post-underfill curing operations.
CLEANINGSpeedline Accel HydroCel Centrifugal Cleaning & Drying SystemThe HydroCel is an aqueous-only, centrifugal batch cleaning and drying system that is unique because it uses centrifugal force to penetrate underneath low standoff components, providing the cleanest and driest finished product in the industry. As opposed to traditional cleaning and drying systems, water and air are not directed down onto components and boards. Instead, the product is mounted onto a head using fixtures and lowered into a single chamber where it is immersed in wash solution at the speed and duration selected by the user. By spinning the product, the system uses centrifugal force to effectively "fling" water underneath components where spray cleaners cannot penetrate. The chamber then is emptied and filled with a rinse solution. The product again is spun in the rinse solution and the chamber again drained. As the final step, the HydroCel spins the product inside the chamber while heated air is directed onto the board for drying.
ASSEMBLY TOOLS & COMPONENTSCogiscan Inc. IC-scan SystemThe proper control of moisture-sensitive devices during SMT assembly always has been challenging. The maximum floor life prior to reflow for each component clearly is identified on a label placed on the protective dry bag. However, once the trays and reels are removed from the bags, there is no practical means to keep track of this information. Additionally, the remaining floor life must be calculated for each individual container as it moves from the placement equipment to a dry cabinet, re-sealed dry bag, bake oven, etc.
The IC-scan system provides a highly efficient solution to identify components in trays and reels, including their sensitivity level and expiration date/time. The remaining floor life is updated dynamically according to the rules of the joint IPC/JEDEC standard J-STD-033. The elimination of cumbersome manual procedures greatly improves the reliability of the finished product while increasing overall productivity. The IC-scan system is modular and upgradeable to handle future needs relative to material and process control.
CONTRACT SERVICESMCMS Inc. Electronics Manufacturing ServicesMCMS prides itself on engineering ingenuity and excellence. Holding 37 patents and more than 30 pending patents involving manufacturing processes, technologies, tooling and equipment, the company has the most patents in the contract electronics manufacturing services industry. All team members are encouraged to participate in the MCMS patent program. This encourages innovation and improves customer service. Under the guidance of the executive MCMS Technology Steering Committee and Global Technology Council, the company deploys and leverages its technical innovation by maintaining common manufacturing equipment, processes and systems across its sites globally. The MCMS Technology Development Roadmap, Design for Manufacture Guidelines and Design for Test Guidelines capture MCMS' unique technical ingenuity as meaningful tools for customers.
INSPECTIONCyberOptics Corp. KS 100 Post-placement AOI SystemKS 100 performs post-placement 10 percent inspection and measurement at production line speeds. Using statistical appearance modeling (SAM) technology, KS 100 features intuitive programming, using standard ASCII CAD or placement data. The user shows the system a series of good examples and the software studies the images to determine how components legitimately can vary in appearance. The system provides AOI at a price within reach of more companies, eliminates labor-intensive visual inspection and reduces PCB retesting by catching faults prior to ICT. Repair costs are reduced because defective boards are identified before reflow, where rework is less expensive. Performing 3,000 to 5,000 inspections per minute, with 10 percent gage R&R on a 0.006" placement process, the system is mechanically reliable, with only one moving part, located in the conveyor
DISPENSING EQUIPMENTSpeedline CAMALOT XYFLEX Multi-head Dispensing SystemCAMALOT XYFLEX is an ultra-high-speed, multi-head dispensing system designed to meet increasing requirements for higher production throughput to keep pace with today's high-speed chip shooters and placement equipment. The system addresses this high-speed dispensing requirement with an innovative gantry system incorporating four independently programmable dispense zones. Operating at speeds up to 140,000 dots per hour (depending on the application), this platform dispenses surface mount adhesives, solder paste and conductive epoxies at different programmable rates to meet rigorous application and throughput requirements. Typically used for high-volume, surface mount assembly manufacturing, the system is ideal for dam-and-fill encapsulation of BGA assemblies and underfill, and flip chip-on-board for mobile phone assembly.
PICK-AND-PLACEJuki Automation Systems KE-2030 Placement MachineJuki's KE-2030 Placement Machine offers fast placement at low cost per square foot. The machine combines flexibility and accuracy with one of the fastest placement times in the industry. Using three placement modes, the system quickly provides efficient assembly of all board configurations. Parallel, the fastest mode, places up to 60 different unique components on two identical boards simultaneously. In sequential mode, the system divides the circuit board into two sectors and assigns each to one of the machine's multiple nozzle heads. This mode places up to 120 different components for greater flexibility. Finally, in mixed mode, the machine splits two boards into three sectors, assigning one sector to the right head, one sector to the left head and the third sector to both heads for parallel placement. Offering a 30 second changeover with no downtime to re-teach pick-up, the machine is said to be the fastest and most flexible placement machine in the industry.
PRINTINGDEK Printing Machines Ltd. FormFlex ToolingFormFlex tooling removes a known barrier to serious production of high-density, double-sided PCB assemblies. The tooling pin array conforms to the contours of the board automatically, with no programming required. Thus, set-up and changeover are enhanced significantly. Automatic support for the stencil outside the area of the board is known to improve paste volume consistency during screen printing. The system is driven pneumatically, using the standard five-bar air supply of the host machine, and is compatible with standard tooling beds. The array is user-configurable, with sealed individual modules each containing two rows of pins. This modularity also enhances maintainability. Eschewing electronics or software control has created a reliable, cost-effective solution, easily activated by a single switch as the first board is run into the machine.
REWORK & REPAIRViTechnology LLC LS-200LS-200 is a semiautomatic, off-line rework system that performs selective soldering and rework of all component types from microBGAs to large QFPs and even odd-shaped and hybrid devices. The system is ideal for soldering and desoldering RF shielding and various paste-in-hole and solder-paste-on-through-hole applications. Additionally, it prevents overheating and thermal stress of components, the board and the adjacent components, while enabling the programming of precise reflow profiles. Handling boards up to 24 x 24", the system allows exceptional flexibility, and an improved vision system uses software control to achieve accuracy of more than 0.001". The onboard data logger uses thermocouples to track temperatures across the entire board, thereby improving process development. Unlike conventional rework equipment, no tooling changeover is required for different components.
SOLDERING EQUIPMENTHeller Industries 1800EXL-S Reflow OvensThe 1800EXL-S series of reflow ovens is designed for leading-edge applications. The EXL-S machine boasts a short 150" of heated length. This machine also provides greater temperature control as it features 9 upper and 8 lower heated zones and 2 cooling zones. This machine is designed for lead-free soldering applications in both air and nitrogen environments and an optional 450±C temperature capability is available. This includes high-temperature blower motor assemblies that feature a ball bearing motor, stainless steel shaft and a stainless steel impeller wheel. The oven offers the same benefits as the existing EXL models: A closed loop nitrogen control system that reduces nitrogen consumption by 65 percent; rapid response heaters that support CPS reflow; and flip chip curing and BGA ball attach processes.
SOFTWAREKIC Thermal Profiling KIC PILOT Self Profiling Oven SoftwareThe KIC Pilot is a software program installed on the oven controller PC and allows a low-skilled operator with one hour's training to set up a profile. The key features of this software include:
- Direct automated communication with the oven controller software.
- An automated profile prediction tool that can analyze potential oven setups to find the optimal profile in less than a minute.
- The Process Window Index: a statistical method for ranking thermal profile performance, which allows objective evaluation of potential profiles.
- A simplified operator interface that allows rapid training.
- Nearly complete automation of the profiling process.
SOLDERING MATERIALSAIM Inc. NC251NC251 is a no-clean solder paste designed to improve the SMT process and simplify pin probe testing. NC251 residues are probable from after reflow to two months later, even after multiple reflows. The paste is pin testable with a variety of proven styles, materials and pressures, and will not gum up probe heads or shatter during testing. This broad testing process window increases production efficiency, prevents false testing failures and reduces costs. Reducing or eliminating solder defects such as voiding on microBGAs and solder beading, the paste offers low post-process residues, excellent wetting properties, extended idle time, tack time and stencil life, and passes all reliability testing. The paste may be reflowed in air, has a one-year refrigerated/six month room temperature shelf life, and is cleanable with saponified water.
TESTINGGenRad Inc. GR TestStationThe GR TestStation features double the accuracy over previous pin electronics on ICT systems for testing digital devices. The system, available with 256 channels and upgradeable to 3,840 channels, offers 26 logic levels for source and sense voltages on a per pin basis. Monitoring back drive current to safeguard against possible component damage during testing, it also measures back drive current in the program development phase and continually monitors during testing. The station, delivering low output impedance, also offers high available pin count 7,680 pins. 64- and 128-bit bus structures enable current device monitoring and make sure the device is tri-state for stability and safe back driving. Additionally, programmable 250-pin ISP devices provide functionality. Custom designed chips are available to provide eight analog references to program and control all aspects of custom driver/sensor.