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CleaNINg PCBS 

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Volume 2 Number 6 November/December 2011 

Soni Saran Singh 

Interview Inside


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Contents 

EDITORIAL 

2 Editorial 

Usha Prasad 

TEChnOLOGy FOCuS 

8 Cleaning PCBs in electronics: understanding 

today’s needs 

P.J.Duchi, Anne-Marie Laügt, Marie Verdier, 

G.Abidh, Inventec Performance Chemicals 

12 Manufacturing execution systems vs. ERP/MRP 

Bill Crowley, Optimal Electronics 

20 Reducing graping through process optimization 

Ed Briggs and Ron Lasky, Indium Corporation 

28 Area ratios of 0.40 and 0.48 with nano-coated 

stencils 

Carmina Läntzsch, LaserJob 

30 Cleaning non-hermitically sealed components on 

assembled PWBs 

Mike Bixenman, D.B.A., Kyzen Corporation 

SPECIAL FEATuRES 

18 Case Study: Full-service EMS provider adds AXI 

for full coverage 

32 Interview—Soni Saran Singh, NMTronics 

34 India plays host to SMaLED 2011, the first-ever 

conference on surface mount & LED 

REGuLAR COLuMnS 

24 Slow global growth at year end 

Walt Custer and Jon Custer-Topai 

OThER REGuLAR FEATuRES 

4 Industry News 

35 New Products 

36 International Diary 

Contents 

Volume 2, No. 6 

November/December 2011 

Visit www.globalsmtseasia.com for the latest news and more, every day. 

8 

12 

20 

Global SMT & Packaging South East Asia – May/June 2011 – 1

Title Editorial 


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Usha Prasad 

Technical Editor 

editorial 

Greetings friends! 

This is my maiden editorial. In the 

beginning, I would like to talk a bit 

about the future of mobile devices. Mobile 

will soon go on to become the primary digital 

connection to your customers. It must 

be noted that consumer spending is also 

increasing, and with it advertising spend 

and investment in mobile services. 

It is now being said that the future of 

mobile is context. Indeed, that seems to be 

so! 

According to Julie A. Ask, vice president, 

principal analyst, Forrester, context 

will include the following: 

• Situation: the current location, 

altitude, and speed the customer is 

experiencing; 

• Preferences: the history and personal 

decisions the customer has 

shared with you; and 

• Attitudes: the feelings or emotions 

implied by the customer’s actions 

and logistics. 

As of today, context seems to be mostly 

about location. However, all of that is 

about to get a lot more interesting over the 

coming months. 

Future cell phones can be expected to 

have some or all of the following technologies, 

if not more: 3D cameras, near-field 

communications (NFC), biometrics, gesture 

control, 3D displays, micro-mirrors, 

augmented reality, pico-projectors, gesture 

control, and so on! There are many, many 

other technologies, not mentioned here, 

that will likely make their way into the 

mobile phones of tomorrow. The forthcoming 

sensors will add new contextual 

elements as well. Also, it is expected that 

augmented reality will move into stores, 

airports, etc. 

Does your cell phone even resemble 

all of this today? Some of you have Apple 

iPhones and some others have smartphones 

from other leading vendors. You 

must be wondering: where am I getting all 

this information from? Or even, how will 

the mobile phone support all of these applications? 

Do not worry! The handset vendors are 

working overtime in an effort to add these, 

and many other futuristic applications on to 

your cell phone. In many companies, software 

is driving the new wave of innovation 

for smarter products and services. Even as 

we speak, they are managing requirements 

across various lifecycle and disciplines. 

These global companies are attempting 

to build the right kind of product with 

structural and behavioural analysis and 

design. For them, it is very critical that they 

understand the forces that are shaping the 

future environment—that can even affect 

your markets, in future. 

For instance, take augmented reality! 

Augmented reality has the ability to allow 

people to smell, feel and even ‘touch’ their 

environments, even if they are based many, 

many miles away! 

Motion will ultimately control all of 

these future devices. People will sense, 

know and control everything! Isn’t that an 

exciting future to look forward to? 

SMT players are working overtime to 

provide equipment that will make all of 

these, and much more, happen. Keep an eye 

on them! 

2 – Global SMT & Packaging South East Asia –november/December 2011 www.globalsmtseasia.com

Title Industry news 

Industry news 

Thailand flood exerts broad impact 

on electronics supply chain 

The catastrophic flooding in Thailand is 

affecting the production of several key end 

products, electronic parts and subsystems - 

most notably automobiles, car components, 

cameras, analog and discrete semiconductors, 

and hard disk drives. The disruption 

to the electronics supply chain is having 

an indirect impact in turn on the production 

of other devices and systems, including 

notebook PCs, dynamic random access 

memory (DRAM), cameras and set-top 

boxes. Beyond Thailand itself, the worstimpacted 

country is Japan, which maintains 

extensive manufacturing operations 

in areas affected by the disaster. 

As a result of the flooding, the HDD 

industry in the fourth quarter will suffer its 

worst downturn in three years. HDD shipments 

in the fourth quarter will decline 

to 125 million units, down 27.7 percent 

from 173 million in the third quarter, as 

presented in the figure attached. The drop 

is the largest sequential decrease on a 

percentage basis since the fourth quarter 

of 2008 when shipments fell 21.2 percent 

during the worst point of the last electronics 

downturn. IHS estimates that 30 percent 

of HDD production in the fourth quarter 

this year will be lost because of the disaster. 

This will result in a significant shortage of 

HDDs. www.isuppli.com 

Electronics industry in Southeast 

Asia faces challenges 

Proactive government initiatives coupled 

with the presence of state-of-the-art infrastructure 

and an efficient workforce is fuelling 

growth in the electronics industry in 

Southeast Asia, according to Companies & 

Markets. In recent years, many companies 

have expanded their operations by setting 

up manufacturing centres in this region to 

make the most of its low labour and production 

costs. The electronics industry is 

a major contributor to the gross domestic 

product (GDP) in Singapore, Malaysia and 

Thailand and it is expected to continue its 

upward growth trajectory until 2017. For 

all major economies in the Southeast Asian 

region, budget allocations for the electronics 

industry are significant. Singapore, 

Malaysia and Thailand have a very dynamic 

trade infrastructure and have signed free 

trade agreements (FTAs) with major trading 

countries. The import tax tariff rates 

for electronic goods in these countries are 

highly competitive and the tax rates are 

eased or lowered by the government to 

enable the electronics industry to thrive. 

Although the prospects for the market 

look upbeat, there are some challenges 

stalling forward momentum. The lack of 

initiatives and limited investments in skills 

development in countries such as Malaysia 

and Thailand are impediments to growth. 

Most of the workforce in the electronics 

industry in Malaysia and Thailand are 

diploma holders or certified technicians. 

Tata wins contract for two integrated 

electronic warfare systems 

India has awarded Tata Power Strategic 

Electronics Division a contract for two integrated 

electronic warfare systems (IEWS) 

to be deployed in mountain regions. Tata 

came out the low bidder, narrowly beating 

Israeli firm Elta, for the contract estimated 

to be around $186 million, the Press Trust 

of India reported. The IEWS will be used 

to locate, detect and jam enemy radar and 

electro-optical measures in mountainous 

borders with China and Pakistan. 

Alan Yang joins Techcon Systems as 

regional sales manager for Asia 

Techcon Systems, a product group of OK 

International and a leading provider of 

fluid dispensing systems and products, has 

appointed Alan Yang as its regional sales 

manager (RSM) for Asia. Alan is based out 

of the Dover Shanghai, China office and 

will oversee China, Taiwan, Korea and SE 

Asia. Alan is responsible for the Techcon 

Systems’ brand and will focus on marketing 

and driving sales for fluid dispensing 

throughout Asia. He will develop and oversee 

new key accounts in addition to maintaining 

existing partnerships. Through 

these efforts, he will continue to increase 

market share for the company’s fastest 

growing market. Alan joins Techcon with 

vast experience in both sales and marketing. 

His history in field sales and account 

management along with his proven track 

record make him a great addition to the 

Techcon Systems’ team. www.techconsystems.com 

RS Components expands office in 

Singapore 

RS Components, the trading brand of 

Electrocomponents plc, opened its new 

office in the International Business Park 

in Singapore. The 20,000 sq feet office represents 

part of the company’s increased 

investment in Singapore and the Asia 

Pacific region. In addition to the continued 

investment in personnel and infrastructure, 

RS Components has implemented a 

new call centre, which will provide its customers 

with faster, more integrated communication 

channels. 

“Apart from a strong manufacturing 

base, we believe that Asia will be leading 

the next wave of global innovation within 

the next few years,” said Richard Huxley, 

Regional General Manager, Asia Pacific, RS 

Components. www.rs-components.com 

Intel Capital invests US$40 million 

in 10 Asian companies 

Intel Capital, Intel Corporation’s global 

investment and M&A organization will 

invest US$40 million in 10 Asian companies, 

representing China, India, Japan, 

South Korea and Taiwan, reflecting the 

rapid spread of technology innovation 

across Asia. The 10 investments cover a 

range of innovative technologies, including 

semiconductor design and manufacturing, 

green technology, software, security, social 

gaming and cloud-based services. Details 

of each investment, including the amount 

to be invested, were not disclosed. www. 

intel.com 

SMTA SE Asia Technical Conference 

Call for Papers 

SMTA has announced the call for papers for 

the South East Asia Technical Conference 

on Electronics Assembly Technologies, 

to be held April 18-20, 2012 at the Eastin 

Hotel in Penang, Malaysia. Abstracts are 

due December 22, 2011. Papers are sought 

in the following areas: assembly, business 

issues, components, emerging technologies, 

harsh environment applications, PCB 


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Industry news 

technology, and process control. The 

abstract and presentation must be noncommercial 

in nature and emphasize the 

technology and not the company portfolio. 

Papers should include your contact information 

(address, phone number, email 

address) and a presentation title with your 

abstract submission. Abstracts can be submitted 

online at www.smta.org/education/ 

education.cfm#penang 

AIM Opens Office in Bangalore, India 

AIM opened a new applications support 

and sales office in Bangalore, India. The 

new office will provide customers of AIM 

solder products with unparalleled service 

and support throughout India. 

“We are very pleased about the opening 

of our newest office in India,” said 

David Suraski, Executive Vice President, 

Assembly Materials Division. “This office 

will further strengthen AIM’s support for 

customers in India, forming yet another 

link in the global sales and technical support 

of AIM’s full line of solder assembly 

materials.” www.aimsolder.com 

Avnet Electronics Marketing 

recognized as National 

Semiconductor’s Asia Pacific 

Distributor of the Year 

Avnet Electronics Marketing Asia, a business 

unit of Avnet, Inc., has been selected 

as “Asia Pacific Distributor of the Year” 

by National Semiconductor, the leader 

in analog power management technology. 

Avnet Electronics Marketing outperformed 

the competition for the honor and 

was ranked top in a variety of criteria such 

as overall resale growth, demand creation 

performance and the level of dedicated 

customer support. The company’s exceptional 

technical support, such as reference 

designs for timing and HDMI solutions for 

infrastructure and consumer applications, 

was also recognized by National. www. 

em.avnetasia.com 

Intel launches Intel India Embedded 

Challenge 2012 

Intel Technology India Pvt. Ltd. presents 

Intel India Embedded Challenge 2012, 

an embedded design contest for students, 

interested individuals and entrepreneurs 

from all over India. The contest has been 

put forward to inspire the vast technically 

savvy community in India to architect, 

design and develop novel embedded applications 

based on Intel Atom processors in 

areas such as consumer electronics, digital 

security surveillance, medical, storage and 

others. Both the student and professional 

categories involve development of a prototype 

using Intel Atom Processor. Shortlisted 

participants will be given a choice of Intel 

Atom Kit for prototyping their innovation. 

Mentoring support will be provided to 

short listed participants from student category 

only. The finalists will showcase successful 

usage/service models based on use 

of existing technology. www.intel.com 

Department of IT outlines initiatives 

to promote ESDM in India 

The Department of IT, Government of 

India, recently organized a workshop 

on electronics system design and manufacturing 

(ESDM), conducted by the 

India Semiconductor Association (ISA). 

Initiatives will including setting up two 

semiconductor wafer fabs, introducing 

a Modified Special Incentive Package 

Scheme to encourage manufacture of 

high-priority electronic products in India, 

providing incentives for setting up of electronics 

manufacturing clusters, setting 

up of the National Electronics Mission 

(NEM), oviding Preferential Market Access 

to domestically manufactured electronics 

products for government procurement 

and procurement by government licensees, 

and setting up of “Electronic Development 

Fund.” The semiconductor design industry 

in India consists of VLSI design, board/ 

hardware design and embedded software 

development. The size was estimated at 

$6.5 billion in 2009 and is expected to log a 

CAGR of 17.3 percent over the next three 

years to reach $10.6 billion in 2012. 

MVTS expands in Malaysia, and 

Taiwan 

MVTS Technologies opened new offices 

in Penang, Malaysia; Hsinchu, Taiwan and 

San Jose, CA to support growing demand 

for test, assembly, and other IC production 

equipment and services among semiconductor 

manufacturers. MVTS specializes in 

extending the usage life of semiconductor 

inspection and automatic test equipment 

(ATE) and other technologies used in the 

design, development and manufacturing 

of components. “MVTS identifies market 

needs in regional markets and adapts 

its service portfolio,” said Ron Maassen, 

CEO of MVTS. The three new facilities 

will better support manufacturing, refurbishing, 

and maintaining legacy systems. 

The facility in Penang is ISO 17025 qualified 

to support calibration service. MVTS 

Technologies provides refurbished systems, 

upgrades and consumables to semiconductor 

manufacturers in more than 15 

countries. More information is available at 

www.mvts.com 

DTS expands global footprint with 

opening of Singapore office 

DTS, Inc., a leader in high-definition audio 

technology, has opened its newest office, 

the DTS Singapore Technology Center. 

This is a key strategic move to establish 

an R&D and customer response facility in 

Asia with close proximity to many of the 

company’s significant customers. 

Dr. Mark Randolph, vice president of 

technology at DTS, will manage the DTS 

Singapore Technology Center. Randolph 

commented, “I am excited to join DTS 

and lead the DTS Singapore team, which 

is ready to quickly respond to the needs of 

our customers and licensees in pan Asia. 

By extending DTS’ global footprint, our 

new Singapore team will complement the 

growing scale and diversity of our products, 

while working closely to support our 

regional offices.” www.dts.com 

Philippines’ first industry-led 

Microelectronics Institute unveiled 

The Bruce Institute of Technology (BIT), 

a training institute with specific focus on 

microelectronics design and storage network 

systems, was recently unveiled in the 

Philippines. 

BIT is geared to be the country’s first 

industry led microelectronics training 

center with emphasis on microchip design 

and development. The institute has partnered 

with industry leaders Synopsys and 

Cadence to develop and run an industry 

relevant microelectronics design engineering 

programs and has invited graduate and 

undergraduate engineering students from 

partner universities to participate. 

BIT’s first program will be the development 

of the Philippines’ first commercially 

viable microprocessor. 

BIT also intends to offer practical 

training in device and system level firmware 

and software development. 


Cleaning PCbs in electronics: understanding today’s needs 

Cleaning PCBs in 

electronics: understanding 

today’s needs 

P.J.Duchi, Anne-Marie Laügt, Marie Verdier, G.Abidh, Inventec Performance Chemicals, Bry sur Marne, France 

Because of the phase-out of CFCs and 

HCFCs, standard solder pastes and fluxes 

evolved from RA and RMA fluxes to 

no-clean, to low residue no-clean, to very 

low residue no-clean. Many companies 

came out with their cleaning solutions, 

aqueous and semi-aqueous, with each 

product release being more innovative 

than the previous one. Unfortunately 

for most of the suppliers of cleaners, two 

other trends appeared: lead-free soldering 

and the progressive miniaturization of 

electronic devices. 

Past chemicals like CFCs, HCFCs, 

brominated solvents, detergents and 

glycols cannot do a good cleaning job 

anymore because most flux formulations 

have changed. Also, assembly processes 

have been modified to accommodate 

smaller components and more compact 

board assemblies. 

Cleaning performance is affected by 

three main criteria. The first involves 

the Hansen Param-eters, which is a 

characterization of a contaminant to be 

dissolved and which can be simplified 

by the solvency power of a product also 

known as the Kauri Butanol Index (KB 

Index). The second is surface tension, 

expressed in mN/m. This parameter 

must be considered because when the 

cleaning product cannot make contact 

with the contaminants under or around 

components, the contaminants cannot be 

dissolved. This second parameter drives 

us to the third: physical variables like 

temperature, mechanical activities and 

the duration of the process. 

This paper was originally presented at IPC 

APEX Expo 2011, in Las Vegas, Nevada, 

USA, April 12-14, 2011. 

Introduction 

Cleaning PCBs has been a vast topic for 

many years, particularly since the ban of 

CFCs and HCFCs. These products offered 

solvency power, low surface tension properties 

to dissolve, remove and dry within 

minutes any parts of any design. The electronic 

industry has grown so rapidly since 

the 80s that today nearly 50% of any individual’s 

belongings are composed of electronics: 

mobile phones, remote controls, 

TVs, radios, cars, IPods, computers, stereos, 

hard discs, memory sticks, cameras, videos, 

refrigerators, dish and laundry washers, 

cars, planes, satellites, implants, etc…. 

Since the 90s, the electronic evolution 

has been exponential, and miniaturization 

has advanced proportionally. The introduction 

of such new small parts not only 

raised some design problems but also some 

practical aspects, such as handling and 

some reliability problems. In the meantime, 

suppliers of solder fluxes and pastes had to 

adjust new formulations for the new markets, 

new demands and new regulations. 

Accordingly, electronic suppliers 

adapted their production to customers’ 

demands for consumable devices 

Figure 1. Example of contamination. 

with cleanable and no clean fluxes. Nonconsumable 

devices, such as medical 

implants, military tools, satellites, safety 

parts for cars, trains, medical equipment 

and many other products, should be reliable 

and thus cleaned. To achieve a good 

cleaning result, it is worth understanding 

the various parameters present and the 

physical laws that are ruling this chemical 

operation. 

Cleaning has a cost, and it should be 

adapted to the needs while maintaining 

stability in time, efficiency, quality and performance. 

Miniaturization 

Today, miniaturization is a hundred times 

greater than during the 80’s. This reduction 

in size means reduction of solder pads and 

also amount of flux residues. But it also 

means a reduction of space between legs 

and board/components. Today, component 

sizes are down to 0.1 mm. In addition, the 

components became of high capacity with 

resistors, diodes, quartz, selfs, BGA and 

others. The reliability of these components 

should be always increased. This miniaturization 

should not become a reason 

for instability and 

unreliability. The 

cleanliness should 

be performed and 

pass the norms. 

(Figure 1) 


Method of Control units 

Optical IPC-A-610-D Microscope 5-40x 

Contaminometer Mil-P-28809 ≤ 1.56 µg/cm 2 naCl 

Table 1. Specifications of control. 

Figure 2. PCBs for trials, rigid and flexible. 

Product family formulations 

A Detergents Surfactants, wetting agents, salts and water 

b Petroleum distillates light Alcohols, ketons, AII Class 

C Formulated hydrocarbons Aliphatic, cyclo-, iso- paraffins, terpens with 

additives, AIII class 

D brominated solvents n-bromopropane blended with alcohols 

E Glycols or modified 

alcohols 

Mono-propylen glycol, others, additives and water 

F Fluorinated solvents nonafluorobutyl-methyl ether, others 

Table 2. Product families and formulations. 

Contaminants 

The contaminants on a circuit board are 

mainly composed of organics such as 

natural and/or synthetic rosins, ions, acids, 

solder balls, fingerprints and particulates 

of PCBs. Lead-free alloys need higher soldering 

temperatures than the standard Sn/ 

Pb, which are carrying significant evolutions 

on the fluxes to be used. These fluxes 

are most of the time more active and must 

resist to higher reflow profiles. They present 

more risks than the one formerly used, 

and the temptation is high to choose production 

parameters allowing shining soldering 

pads. The ionic cleaning of the PCBs 

is then more critical before tropicalization 

but will also help to control the assembling 

process and help to establish final assembly 

lifetime. Ionic contamination (Figure 1) is 

a good quality indicator for the long-term 

reliability. 


Specifications set up 

Every end user has his own typical specifications 

dependent on his own or his customers. 

For this study, the specifications 

have been taken as described in Table 1. 

Six hundred PCBs for trials were produced 

in large quantities to triple the cleaning 

results (Figure 2). Each trial contains 30 

components. All residues must disappear, 

including the contaminants under 

the components. No fingerprint, particle 

or dust should remain, including residues 

of cleaning products. The components, 

the rosins, the underfill and the substrate 

should not be damaged by the cleaning 

operation. The parts should be dried at the 

end of the washing step. The ink markings 

should be resistant to cleaning. 

Cleaning products available 

The most important part of the job is to 

remember which chemical families are 

available in the market. The cleaning prod- 


ucts available can be classified in five different 

families: The detergents, the light 

petroleum distillates, formulated hydrocarbons, 

brominated solvents, glycols and 

fluorinated solvents. (Table 2). 

The detergents 

Detergents (A) are good most of the time 

but very specific to the type of fluxes to 

be removed. Their concentration is very 

important in water and can vary between 3 

to 50 %wt in some cases. The temperature 

can vary from 20-60˚C, and the agitation 

used, sprays, spray under immersion or 

ultrasonics should be considered. It is the 

aqueous cleaning process. The drawbacks 

of these detergents include: 

• the removal of all residues under 

components because of the poor/ 

high surface tension included 

between 40-50 mN/m, 

• the aggression of these formulations 

and its compatibility with 

materials, 

• the rinsing with tap or DI 

water (high surface tension 

70-80 mN/m), 

• the drying operation, 

• and the waterproof compatibility 

and the disposal of soiled mixture. 

(Figure 4). 

The total cost of these should also be 

considered. 

The petroleum distillates 

The petroleum distillates (B), such as alcohols 

and ketones, are mainly used for the 

cold cleaning operation, even though they 

can be found used at warm temperatures. 

There should be no need to mention that 

these products are very flammable at room 

temperatures, and use under warm conditions 

is very risky. Costs are acceptable, but 

disposal and annual cost can be significant. 

Formulated hydrocarbons 

Formulated hydrocarbons (C) have been 

developed mainly after the CFCs and 

HCFCs story, and when perfectly formulated, 

easily outperform any other cleaner. 

They are able to remove flux residues, solid 

residues and salts under any type of components 

because of their very low surface 

tension (approx. 20 mN/m). They must be 

rinsed with a rinsing product ,which can 

be water or solvent (fluorinated base F). 

The water rinse system is the semi-aqueous 

process, and the solvent-based system is a 

co-solvent process. With the aqueous process, 

the same detergents’ drawbacks are 

found, whereas with the co-solvent process, 

the PCBs are very nicely rinsed and dried 

Global SMT & Packaging South East Asia –november/December 2011 – 9


with the vapour phase. The rinsing solvent 

can be recycled by distillation and the formulated 

hydrocarbon is disposed easily. 

The lifetime of the formulated hydrocarbons 

is very extensive, and the total costs 

are the lowest of all type of cleaning systems. 

The surface tension of both C and F 

are outstanding to reach specifications. It is 

one of the most user- and environmentalfriendly 

processes. 

Brominated solvents 

The brominated solvent (D) formulations 

are very simple to use into a vapour 

phase degreaser. Nevertheless, some nonsolvency 

problems and compatibility 

problems can be found. For this reason, 

compatibility tests must be done with all 

materials in contact. Even though with the 

very low surface tension (20-30 mN/m), 

the ions might not be totally removed and 

prevent matching ionic specifications. The 

costs are reasonably low, but the hazardous 

aspects for endusers and the environment 

are of great concern. These products are 

severely restricted in Europe. (Figure 3) 

Glycols or modified alcohols 

Glycol or modified alcohol (E) formulations 

are used the same way as the formulated 

hydrocarbons with some surface 

tension between 25 and 35 mN/m. Unless 

using a formulation, they can not solubilise 

all contaminants. In most of the cases, they 

have a good solvency power, but the disadvantages 

of these products are the rinsing 

with tap or DI water, high surface tension, 

the drying operation, the waterproof 

compatibility and the disposal of soiled 

mixture (Figure 3). The total cost of these 

should also be considered as high. 

Fluorinated solvents 

When used pure, fluorinated solvents (F) 

and formulations cannot solubilise all 

contaminants. Even with the lowest surface 

tension of all families, approximately 

8-15 mN/m, their solvency power is weak. 

(Figure 3). But when combined with formulated 

hydrocarbons, the co-solvent 

process is excellent to reach the toughest 

specifications. These products should be 

used in the latest solvent vapour degreasers. 

Solvency power 

The solvency power is the simplest way to 

express the strength to dissolve the contaminants. 

Nevertheless, the full method is 

through the use of the Hansen parameters, 

which will define for any product some 

parameters of polar, non-polar and hydrogen 

bounding. It will establish a tri-dimen- 

sional chart of solvency power. This is 

true for theoretical calculations, but when 

products are blended, then the Kauri- 

Butanol method allows a direct rosin solvency 

value to be established, as shown on 

Figure 3. This chart is fairly representative 

of the different product families seen in the 

previous section. 

The surface tension factor 

The surface tension factor is key in understanding 

a good cleaning performance. 

Miniaturization is another running 

parameter: the smaller the PCBs become, 

the lower the surface tension of the cleaners 

should be. When this law is understood, 

half of the cleaning is achieved. 

Let’s consider demineralised water (A), 

which has a surface tension of around 80 

mN/m (Figure 4). This line is bending as 

a function of the increase of the temperature. 

The variation is of about -10 mN/m. 

It is why cleaners are warmed up in washing 

units: to reduce surface tension and to 

move underneath cavities and components. 

There is the same issue with tap water (B), 

where its surface tension starts at 70 mN/m 

at room temperature. 

When detergents (C) are added to 

water, the surface tension of the medium 

drops down to 45-35 mN/m, according 

to the temperature of use. However, the 

big question remains: how can a “wetting 

product” be rinsed with water, which has 

Figure 6. Cleaned without US (left), with US (right). 

a higher surface tension? For this reason 

many suppliers are using additives or 

simple isopropanol, to better rinse, wet and 

dry parts. 

To get underneath the components, 

glycols (D) or formulated hydrocarbons 

(E) are commonly used. Their surface tensions 

are lower than water and detergents, 

between 25-35 mN/m for the first and 

around 20 mN/m for the second. The same 

rinsing problem remains for these products 

with water; rather, use a selected final 

rinsing solvent that has a lower surface 

Figure 3. Kauri- Butanol index chart. 

Figure 4. Surface tension chart. 

Figure 5. Quartz cleaned with ultrasonics. 

No damage. 

tension than these cleaners and that will 

finally dry the PCBs. 

As solvents evaporate and condense on 

the free-boards of the vapour phase equipment, 

no residues are left on the PCBs and 

the surfaces, including under the components 

(Figure 4). 

Mechanical agitations 

There are many sorts of mechanical agitations: 

sprays, sprays under immersion, 

ultrasonics, agitations, rotations, etc. These 

agitations provide an additional cleaning 


Cleaning process Product family equipment type Comparative 

Scale 1:10 best 691,462 69% 

Aspersion, aqueous Detergent 1 Dish washer type 4 

Immersion uS 40 khz, 

aqueous 

Immersion jets, 

semi-aqueous 


semi-aqueous 


mono-product 


semi-aqueous 

Immersion, co-solvent 

mixed 

Immersion, co-solvent 

mixed 


co-solvent sep 


co-solvent sep 

Immersion Jets, co-solvent 

separated 


vapour phase 

Table 3. Comparative results of cleaning. 

parameter that helps to penetrate, to dissolve 

and to unfasten contaminants. This 

study evaluates all type of mechanical 

agitations and compares their efficiency. 

Many times industrial PCBs assemblers 

avoid ultrasonics because of some fears 

about the components and, specifically, 

with quartz. The trials, which have been 


Detergent 2 Sumps in line 1 

Glycol formulation 3 Sumps in line 3 


Glycol formulation 4 Vacuum machine 7 


Form hydrocar/hFE Vapor degreaser 4 

Form.hydrocar70/hFE Vapor degreaser 2 

Form hydrocar/hFE Co-solvent/vapour 

degreaser 

9 

Form hydrocar /hFE Co-solvent/ vapour 

degreaser 

9 

Form hydrocar./hFE Co-solvent/vapour 

degreaser 

8 

brominated solvent Vapour phase 4 

run over 60 different quartz, accordingly 

to Norm IPC-TM-650 demonstrate that 

none of them have been affected nor damaged 

(Figure 6). The benefits of the ultrasonics 

are easily demonstrated. (Figure 5). 


Cleaning results 

Table 3 is expressed as a ranking comparison 

of the various cleaning trials. Every 

cleaning comparison per type of flux 

residues was tripled. All PCBs have been 

observed and pictures have been made. 

The comparative results have been made as 

a function of the specifications established 

previously. Ionic contamination for the 

best cleaning process remains below 0.2 μg 

of Eq NaCl/cm 2 . 

Conclusions 

This cleaning study shows that there are 

many cleaning parameters affecting its efficiency. 

The final aspects and performances 

of these PCBs are based on the mastering 

of cleaners, size of the assemblies, agitations 

and the cleaning processes. When 

the choice is based on solvency power, the 

lowest surface tension and the most efficient 

process, rather than ideas and opinions, 

then a perfect job can be reached 

matching the toughest specifications. The 

co-solvent/vapour degreaser process 

with formulated hydrocarbon and HFE 

(hydrofluoroether), combined with ultrasonics 

or jets show the best performance. 

Contamination is below 0.2 μg of Eq 

NaCl/cm 2 for ranking 9 and with a perfect 

visual aspect under components. No 

damage of quartz could be notified during 

trials. 

Bibliography 

Inventec Performance chemical SA, processing 

guide, France & Switzerland/IPC 

Norms/Valtronic technologies Switzerland. 

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The new LPKF Real-Time Process Control verifi es 

every aperture of a stencil while cutting at full 

speed. No need to wait for post process visual 

scanning any longer! 

Find out more at www.lpkf.com/stencillaser 

LPKF Laser & Electronics AG Phone +49 (0) 5131-7095-0 


Manufacturing execution systems vs. ERP/MRP 

Manufacturing execution 

systems vs. erP/MrP 

The myths and realities of coexistence in today’s electronics 

manufacturing environment 

Bill Crowley, Optimal Electronics, Austin, Texas, USA 

Can manufacturers achieve 

greater management insight and 

control over all phases of the 

manufacturing production process 

through their enterprise resource 

planning (ERP) and manufacturing 

resource planning (MRP) systems 

alone—or does it require the 

specialized functionality that only 

a manufacturing execution system 

(MES) can provide? This paper 

explores the key considerations 

and issues that surround this 

often-debated topic, in an attempt 

to dispel the myths, realities and 

misunderstandings regarding the 

roles each of these systems play in 

today’s electronics manufacturing 

environment. 

Introduction 

In today’s complex electronics assembly 

environment, plant managers have an 

ever-increasing need for greater management 

insight and control over all phases 

of the manufacturing production process. 

Manufacturers are constantly being challenged 

to find new and better ways to meet 

changing production demands and schedules, 

automate manual processes, reduce 

overhead costs, optimize production 

throughput and achieve new efficiencies 

that ultimately lead to greater profitability. 

Realizing these outcomes requires 

new technologies, tools and processes that 

can deliver significant new capabilities for 

production improvement, materials management, 

traceability, process enforcement 

and quality management. A comprehensive, 

integrated approach is crucial for providing 

real-time visibility and effective utilization 

of shop floor data for better planning, 

decision-making and execution across 

every aspect of the production process. 

The question is…can manufacturers 

achieve these outcomes through their 

enterprise resource planning (ERP) and 

manufacturing resource planning (MRP) 

systems alone—or does it require the specialized 

functionality that only a manufacturing 

execution system (MES) can 

provide? 

erP and MrP: The 

operational backbone 

ERP and MRP systems have traditionally 

provided the essential operational backbone 

for manufacturing companies. While 

ERP systems are key for facilitating the flow 

of information between business functions 

inside the boundaries of the organization, 

as well as the company’s connections to 

outside stakeholders, MRP systems provide 

the production planning and inventory 

control capabilities needed to effectively 

manage manufacturing-specific resources. 

These systems offer an array of capabilities 

for enabling companies to effectively 

and efficiently control many critical 

aspects of their operations, with significant 

inherent value for finance and supply 

chain departments. More specifically, ERP/ 

MRP systems typically help companies 

standardize and automate key business 

practices, gain visibility into mission-critical 

data, manage customer relationships, 

achieve compliance with financial reporting 

requirements, maintain better inventory 

control and more efficiently manage 

company resources. 

Companies typically implement ERP/ 

MRP systems to alleviate major business 

pressures, such as lowering operational 

costs, increasing scalability for accommodating 

growth, and improving customer 

service and satisfaction. More specifically, 

an ERP system effectively translates a customer 

order into a “software roadmap” for 

monitoring the various steps along the 

path to fulfilling that order—while the 

MRP system helps the company plan and 

manage the manufacturing resources associated 

with that order, such as materials 

purchasing, bill of materials processing, 

and overall inventory control. 

By establishing standardized operational 

procedures and automated processes, 

manufacturing can be better integrated 

with logistics and delivery, and real-time 

visibility can be gained into the status of 

processes from “quote to cash”—which in 

turn enables better management insight 

and decision-making. The following summary 

provides a high level snapshot of 

some of the main motivating factors that 

drive companies to implement ERP/MRP 

systems into their core operations: 

Integration of financial information: By 

providing a consolidated repository for 


all financial information, to be used by all 

departments and functions, the company 

can establish what could be called a 

“single version of the truth” that cannot be 

questioned. 

Integration of customer order information: 

With a centralized place for customer 

orders to “live,” companies can more 

effectively track and manage an order 

from inception (when the customer service 

rep receives it) to fulfillment (when 

the loading dock ships the merchandise) 

to completion (when finance sends 

the invoice). This enables the effective 

coordination of manufacturing, inventory 

and shipping across multiple locations, 

simultaneously. 

Standardization and integration of 

manufacturing into business processes: 

The implementation of ERP/MRP systems 

provides some basic management controls, 

workflow capabilities, and visibility into 

the manufacturing processes—especially 


as it relates to the integration of manufacturing 

with other business processes, such 

as finance, supply chain and inventory 

management functions. 

Reduced inventory: By improving the 

visibility into customer order fulfillment, 

plant managers can reduce the inventory 

of materials used to make products (workin-progress 

inventory)—and improve 

planning for order delivery, thereby 

reducing finished goods inventory in the 

warehouse. 

Standardized collection and delivery of 

human relations (HR) information: By 

establishing a simple, unified method 

for tracking employee time and delivering 

information regarding benefits and 

company-provided services, an organization 

can establish valuable standardized 

HR processes and data access for all 

employees. 

funcitonality MeS erP/MrP Comments 

Inventory Control 

• warehouse management 

• Serialization 

• MSD control 

• Shop floor material tracking 

Pre-production Control 

• Kitting 

• Online/offline setup verification 

• Feeder management 

Production control 

• Scheduling 

• Programming 

• Optimization 

• Machine control and setup 

• Manual production control 

Material/Component Traceability 

• Component traceability to the 

reference designator for each 

circuit 

Process Traceability & Control 

• Process routing, control verification 

& traceability 

Quality Management 

• Quality & defect data collection 

• Repair & RMA support 

• Analysis 

Table 1. ERP/MRP vs. MES comparative summary 

l m 

l m 

l no 

l no 

l no 

l no 


MeS: The manufacturing 

execution foundation for 

electronic assembly 

Also known as “shop floor control systems” 

or “plant-side IT solutions”, manufacturing 

execution systems (MES) can be defined 

as dynamic information systems that drive 

effective execution of manufacturing operations. 

Without the specialized capabilities 

of an MES solution, plant production processes 

are often manual and “open loop” to 

the company’s ERP/MRP systems, which 

is inherently a sub-optimal approach. In 

most manufacturing environments, an 

MES is essential for providing the manufacturing-specific 

functionality companies 

need to gain greater control and visibility 

at the shop floor level—far beyond the 

functionality that ERP/MRP systems provide. 

However, some of the larger ERP/MRP 

solution providers have identified this “gap” 

in their offering and have incorporated 

MES-related capabilities in an attempt to 

• ERP/MRP systems can be used to manage the warehouse; however, 

adequate capabilities are not provided for effectively tracking materials 

on the production floor. For example, while these systems can serialize 

materials, they provide only aggregate materials data (i.e., 20,000 total 

parts vs. 10,000 parts on two reels each). 

• ERP/MRP systems support basic kitting operations for work orders; 

however, no additional capabilities are provided for other important preproduction 

activities. 

• MES capabilities are needed to provide machine interfaces for facilitating 

online/offline setup verification processes. 

• MES provides a centralized system for programming multi-SMT environments, 

machine control, and optimized production scheduling achieved 

via direct machine interfaces on the production line. 

• ERP/MRP systems only provide the ability to release work orders in an 

ordered sequence. no actual production control is provided (operators 

are free to ignore). 

• MES provides a centralized system for programming multi-SMT environments, 

machine control, and optimized production scheduling achieved 

via direct machine interfaces on the production line. 

• ERP/MRP systems only provide the ability to release work orders in an 

ordered sequence. no actual production control is provided (operators 

are free to ignore). 

• MES includes functionality that models the production routing, enables 

control for machines or manual scan stations, and data capture to 

verify completion of each step. 

• ERP/MRP systems provide no capabilities. 

• MES enables the integration to machines (paste, testers, AOI, oven, 

etc.) and automatically collects process, quality and defect data. 

• MES provides receiving and processing loops for both internal repair 

and returned product. 

• ERP/MRP systems provide no capabilities. 

Legend: l = full functionality, m = partial functionality, no = no functionality 



offer this specialized functionality. ERP/ 

MRP companies have generally added 

these capabilities by acquiring successful 

MES solutions and integrating those solutions 

into their existing systems. While 

these integrated capabilities provide significant 

value for electronics assembly companies, 

securing this functionality from 

the ERP/MRP provider often requires an 

investment level that is only afforded by 

the industry’s largest manufacturers. 

Securing manufacturing execution 

capabilities from a third party MES solution 

provider offers a variety of key advantages: 

• MES functionality is most often 

provided in a modular fashion, which 

allows manufacturers to purchase 

and implement these capabilities 

incrementally over time. This not only 

reduces the need for major upfront 

capital expenditures, it also reduces 

the transition barriers that can be created 

by a comprehensive, “all-in-one” 

system exchange. 

• The integration of MES and ERP/MRP 

systems can be a relatively straightforward 

process; therefore, the required 

information can be easily shared 

across the systems, resulting in significantly 

lower overall investment levels. 

• MES providers are focused exclusively 

on creating and delivering manufacturing 

execution capabilities; therefore 

these companies are better positioned 

to offer the precise functionality 

required to meet the unique needs of 

specific manufacturing verticals. As 

a result, MES-specific solutions often 

provide an added level of value that 

ERP/MRP solutions simply cannot 

provide. 

Utilizing a centralized database, the 

foundational capabilities delivered by a 

quality MES system include the full range 

of integrated functionality manufacturers 

need to effectively control, monitor and 

manage all phases of the electronics assembly 

process: 

• Materials management including 

inventory and warehouse management, 

materials tracking throughout 

the plant, and materials serialization, 

and MSD control, bar code and RFID 

data collection. 

• Pre-production control including 

kitting, offline and online setup 

verification, feeder management and 

work-in-process tracking. 

• Production control including scheduling, 

programming, optimization, 

single component library, assembly 

modeling, production line monitoring, 

finished goods tracking, scrap reporting, 

materials issues, manual assembly 

processes, machine setup and downtime, 

electronic setup instructions and 

routing control. 

• Materials traceability from the work 

order level to the circuit level. 

• Process traceability and control 

including process definition and 

enforcement, multi-level routing, full 

process traceability, verification and 

data collection across the production 

facility. 

• Quality management from quality 

and defect data collection for 

automated equipment and manual 

processes, to support for repair and 

returns processing. 

• Visibility including real-time information 

access and visibility across the 

production process, as well as historical 

reporting. 

erP/MrP vs. MeS: What role 

does each play? 

Since ERP/MRP and MES systems offer 

varying types of functions and features, 

their most basic functionality differences 

and overlap should be clarified. At a high 

level, it is important to note that ERP/MRP 

systems generally do not provide some of 

the most critical capabilities needed for 

effectively managing key manufacturing 

processes, data and activities. For example, 

typical ERP/MRP systems lack the 

machine interfaces needed to enable data 

collection from manufacturing equipment; 

they offer no traceability, process control, 

or quality management functionality; and 

they provide no modeling capabilities for 

plant equipment or processes. 

The ERP/MRP vs. MES comparative 

summary shown in Table 1 provides a 

more detailed view into the specific role 

that these solutions play in the overall production 

process. 

a closer look at MeS 

capabilities 

The following overview provides a more 

in-depth look at the key functionality and 

additional layers of value that an MES solution 

offers, beyond the basic capabilities 

delivered by traditional ERP/MRP systems. 

Production scheduling 

In many production environments, the 

critical task of production scheduling is 

done in a manual fashion using a whiteboard 

or a simple spreadsheet. This is due 

to the fact that companies who rely solely 

on ERP/MRP systems do not have the ability 

to automate and optimize the overall 

scheduling process, since these systems 

deliver work orders into the production 

process on a one-by-one basis. Given the 

myriad variables and data involved, scheduling 

is an inherently complex challenge— 

one that cannot be effectively managed 

with a manual approach. 

The primary issue that manufacturers 

need to address in the scheduling phase is 

“how can machine utilization be fully maximized?” 

The key is to shift the production 

paradigm away from the manual one-byone 

work order model and toward an automated 

job clustering approach that aims to 

Snapshot: 

rockwell automation 

Case Study Metrics 

• Reduced setup time by 65% 

• Slashed total setups by 80% 

• Nominated for Chairman’s 

Award 

Before MES implementation 

• 23% machine utilization 

• 20 to 30 changeovers per day 

• 1 hour avg. setup time 

After MES implementation 

• 40% machine utilization 

• 3 to 6 changeovers per day 

• 20 minute avg. setup time 


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extract maximum equipment capacity. The 

clustering capabilities provided by an MES 

solution enable manufacturers to increase 

utilization by automatically grouping as 

many work orders as possible into a single 

production run, based on the maximum 

capacity the line equipment can support. 

By creating larger work-order groupings, 

the clustering approach enables production 

lines to run longer, drastically 

reducing the number of changeovers and 

minimizing machine downtime, as well as 

streamlining and reducing kitting requirements. 

New dynamic scheduling optimization 

technology takes this approach one 

step further by allowing the production 

schedule to be dynamically adjusted and 

re-optimized as new work orders enter 

the production stream. By optimizing the 

fixed feeder setup, rather than just the 

groups, the range of assemblies that can be 

included in a group is much broader, further 

increasing production and flexibility. 

This new automated dynamic optimization 

approach enables manufacturers to maximize 

production capacity far beyond the 

gains that can be achieved with basic work 

order grouping approaches. 

Kitting 

With traditional ERP/MRP-centric 

approaches, the kitting process is initiated 

by the plant’s production control department, 

based on the shop floor order as 

generated by the ERP/MRP system. The 

production control department verifies the 

materials availability for each part number 

and orders additional parts when shortages 

are identified. The kit is then released 

to the stockroom for picking and is typically 

routed to the offline setup area within 

48 hours.. 

The primary issue with this approach 

is that ERP/MRP systems are ineffective 

at maintaining accurate and real-time 

inventory information, as materials move 

throughout the shop floor during kitting 

and restocking. In most cases, a plant’s ERP/ 

MRP system only contains data regarding 

the total quantity of a part type, and does 

not capture how the material is delivered 

(i.e., 20,000 total components vs. four reels 

of 5,000 components). This lack of granularity, 

combined with frequent stockroom 

errors, leads to kitting problems such as 

insufficient or excess component quantities, 

wrong components, incomplete kits, 

insufficient quantities of component packages 

(quantity of reels for split parts, for 

example). 

Manufacturers can utilize the automated 

capabilities of an MES solution to 

dramatically reduce, or eliminate, kitting 

inefficiencies. The materials management 

capabilities provided by an MES solution 

streamlines the kitting process by identifying 

components that can be left on the 

shop floor for the next production run, and 

directing kitting personnel to only pick 

Snapshot: automotive 

Contract Manufacturer 

A major auto manufacturer was 

experiencing costly machine downtime 

due to lack of offline setup capabilities. 

The manufacturer addressed 

this challenge by implementing an 

MES which provided fully automated 

offline setup and verification 

capabilities. 

Before MES implementation 

• 1 hour average setup time 

• 9 changeovers per day 

• Wrong reels/parts loading 

After MES implementation 

• Average setup time decreased 

33% 

• Wrong part placement 

eliminated 

• $1.03M annual cost reduction 

the remaining components required. This 

approach provides additional production 

efficiencies. For example, with material 

counts on the line being displayed in realtime 

in the stockroom, part outages on the 

production floor can be eliminated. Also, 

automated part usage counting on the line 

can totally eliminate the need for manual 

part counting after reels are returned to the 

stockroom. 

Setup verification 

With the implementation of an MES, manufacturers 

can achieve new levels of production 

efficiency by streamlining offline 

and online setup verification processes. 

Automated setup and verification enables 

materials traceability data to be collected 

in real-time, machine setup time dramatically 

reduced, and component tracking 

significantly improved. Additionally, the 

possibility of wrong component placement 

can be eliminated and advanced 

part outage warnings can further reduce 

machine downtime. 

• Offline setup: Offline setup capabilities 

are used in the stockroom or the 

point-of-use setup area to associate 

materials license plates to the feeders 

for each setup. Offline setup functionality 

that can be provided by an MES 

includes such capabilities as parts and 

substitute parts verification and feeder 

unloading and checking. 

• Online Setup: An MES enables online 

setup verification to be automatically 

performed on the assembly machine, 

at assembly time. The system verifies 

that the assembly machine programming 

matches the specified materials 

and their designated slot locations. 

Online setup capabilities provided by 

the system include such functions as 

initial setup and feeder changeover 

verification, setup and component 

moving, splicing, print setup configuration, 

setup and materials history 

viewing, feeder unloading history, 

machine status and scanned panels 

listing. 

Process traceability 

and quality management 

A comprehensive MES provides process 

enforcement and traceability capabilities 

for the electronic assembly line portion 

of the manufacturing operation—from 

PCB and panel serialization through shipment. 

Assembly line process enforcement 

is enabled by placing electronic scanners 

at strategic points along the assembly line 

to scan serial numbers of board assemblies 


and panels, allowing specific activities to 

be tied to the assemblies and their work 

orders. 

The overall system goals for this aspect 

of the production process include not only 

process enforcement, validation and verification, 

but also complete traceability for 

capturing and reporting process parameters 

for each routing step for each panel 

or serial number circuit assembly. These 

capabilities are key for minimizing defects, 

improving quality consistency and certifying 

process conformance. 

With regard to quality management, 

MES solutions can deliver significant 

functionality that enables manufacturers 

to effectively capture and manage defect 

information, address repair conditions, 

manage defect codes, and view quality 

metrics reporting including the identification 

of boards with frequent defects. An 

MES typically provides for defect inputs 

from quality inspections and repair, as well 

as for defect tracking. Defect data collection 

is integrated with work order routing 

and typically includes such information 

as status, defect, component part number, 

reference designator, operation, quantity, 

log time and component placement on the 

board. 

erP/MrP meets MeS: from 

coexistence to integration 

Until recently, it could be said that “what 

happened on the plant floor, stayed on 

the plant floor.” While the company’s 

MES managed the manufacturing plan- 


ning, processes and information at the 

plant level, ERP/MRP systems hummed 

along, operating independently, back on 

the corporate side of the world. However, 

as a rapidly growing number of companies 

have realized, to be profitable in today’s 

competitive environment, a manufacturing 

organization must not only leverage 

the strengths of each system, they should 

be tightly integrated. 

Through the integration of these systems, 

manufacturers can establish a more 

powerful, holistic view across all the key 

functions of the organization—from overall 

business operations to the myriad manufacturing-specific 

aspects. This provides 

much greater agility and better data to aid 

in decision making and forecasting, from 

sales and purchasing to asset utilization, 

hiring and manufacturing planning. 

However, it is important to note that 

while both MES and ERP/MRP systems 

can provide a view into what is happening 

within a the specific aspects of the business, 

ERP/MRP systems can only provide a snapshot. 

An MES is essential for providing management 

a way to utilize, react to and control 

the manufacturing processes and events 

being tracked. 

While ERP/MRP systems are essentially 

a reporting technology, an MES provides 

real-time visibility into shop floor 

operations, so that manufacturers can 

respond—and monitor the immediate 

results that occur from adjustments. MES 

systems can feed accurate, timely information 

in the ERP/MRP system, such as production 

levels, work-in-process status, and 


part and serial numbers for tracking purposes. 

For example, using industry-standard 

database protocols, an MES can provide 

effective synchronization with MRP/ 

ERP systems by importing and exporting 

such information as inventory and BOM 

data, storage locations, customer and work 

order data, finished goods inventory, usage 

and scrap reporting. 

These integrated capabilities are especially 

valuable in today’s competitive environment, 

where the marketplace demands 

faster and leaner manufacturing response 

times—and where visibility into the plant 

floor system is increasingly important for 

responding to customer questions regarding 

delivery times and parameters. Also, 

the return on an ERP/MRP investment can 

be significantly increased by integrating 

it with the accurate, real-time, plant level 

information that an MES provides. 


Case Study: Full-service EMS provider adds AXI for full coverage 

Case Study 

full-service eMS provider 

adds axI for full coverage 

Headquartered in Penang, Malaysia, and with offices in Asia 

and the Unites States, ViTrox Technologies is a total solutions 

provider of innovative, advanced and cost-effective 

automated vision inspection systems and equipment for the semiconductor 

and electronics packaging industries. In June 2011, the 

company sold its first V810 automated x-ray inspection (AXI) 

system in the United States. The sale was made to AsteelFlash, a top 

electronics manufacturing services (EMS) customer in Fremont, 

California, with AsteelFlash’s director of engineering, 

John Burke, facilitating the sale. 

AsteelFlash is a full-service, end-to-end EMS provider 

specializing in product design, engineering and 

manufacturing services, including mechanical design, 

printed circuit board assembly (PCBA), sheet metal and 

plastic enclosure fabrication, final assembly, and logistics 

support. The company services customers in 

the communications, networking, computing and 

storage, industrial, consumer products, automotive, 

medical, and lighting markets. Headquartered in 

Paris, France, AsteelFlash has 16 production sites on four continents 

(Europe, Africa, North America and Asia), more than 1.25 

M sq ft of manufacturing space and employs over 4700 associates 

worldwide. The AsteelFlash Group was formed in February 2008 as 

a result of the merger of ASTEEL (established in 1999) and Flash 

Electronics (established in 1994), and is in the top 15 of the top 50 

EMS companies worldwide. 

AsteelFlash’s electronic plants are equipped with the latest 

PCBA equipment that ensures that its customers’ manufactured 

boards are of the highest quality. This is accomplished by using full 

inspection and testing on assemblies that require automatic visual 

inspection, in-circuit testing and functional testing. 

In designing manufacturing processes, AsteelFlash is aware 

of the limitations of electrical test. Electrical test does not cover 

the solder quality of the components; therefore, added automated 

visual inspection is a necessity in the PCBA line. To have a complete 

solution of automated visual inspection, AsteelFlash conducted 

evaluations on several market-leading AXI systems based 

on its stringent requirements. After meticulous examination and 

careful verification of both the system capabilities and cost of ownership, 

ViTrox V810 was selected as the company’s qualified supplier 

for AXI systems. 

John Burke, director of engineering at AsteelFlash, said, 

“Considering that ViTrox is a healthy financial yet vision-focused 

organization, ViTrox V810 was singled out for its higher throughput, 

better focus repeatability, better image quality and system 

mobility.” 

One of the main reasons that the ViTrox V810 was chosen by 

AsteelFlash to be applied in the manufacturing line is because of its 

high test coverage for structural defects occurring at the solder joints. 

Test coverage for structural defects of 3-D automated x-ray inspection 

is more than 90 percent, giving manufacturers the upper hand in 

detecting failure up front—before the 

structural failure occurs at the end user’s 

facility. This minimizes parts return and 

warranty cost, which significantly increases 

the return on investment to the manufacturer. 

As a top EMS company, AsteelFlash believes the ViTrox V810 

delivers the quality it needs. This level of performance provides 

direct benefits to the overall business model of the company and 

its customers, as well as helps AsteelFlash continue to successfully 

partner with its customers and suppliers while manufacturing 

superior quality integrated electronics systems and solutions. As an 

additional benefit, the system is cost-effective, innovative and will 

help AsteelFlash provide customer satisfaction through its flexibility 

and high-quality performance. 


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Reducing graping through process optimization 

reducing graping through 

process optimization 

Ed Briggs and Ron Lasky, Indium Corporation, Utica, NY, USA 

Not too long ago, 0401 (40 x 10 

mils) passives were seen as the 

ultimate in miniaturization, yet 

the introduction of 0201’s and 

most recently 01005 passives has 

occurred. For active components, 

area array packages with 0.4 mm 

lead spacing have become virtually 

a requirement for enabling the 

many features in modern portable 

electronic devices, with 0.3 mm 

packages already on the way. 

This miniaturization trend, 

occurring at the same time as the 

conversion to RoHS compliant 

lead-free assembly, has put a 

considerable strain on the electronic 

assembly industry. This paper will 

discuss the specific challenge of the 

graping effect and the work that 

has been performed to mitigate 

this phenomenon. Discussed are 

the effects of the solder paste 

material attributes, consistent 

stencil printing of the small solder 

paste deposits required, and 

minimizing oxidation of the small 

solder paste deposit during reflow. 

All of these steps are necessary to 

assure a good finished solder joint. 

This paper was first published at SMTA 

International Conference on Soldering and 

Reliability, May 2010 

Figure 1. The graping effect. 

graping phenomenon 

As the solder paste deposit decreases in 

size, the relative surface area of exposed 

solder particles increases and the amount 

of available flux to remove surface oxide 

decreases. Add to this, the added heat necessary 

to reflow most lead-free solders and 

you have a formula conducive to producing 

the graping phenomenon. During the heating 

process, the flux viscosity decreases and 

the flux begins to spread downward and 

outward, exposing the solder particles at 

the top of the paste deposit. If there is no 

flux in proximity, these solder particles may 

become oxidized as the paste enters into 

the actual solder reflow stage. These oxides 

will inhibit the full coalescence of the particles 

into the solder joint. The unreflowed 

particles often exhibit the appearance of a 

cluster of grapes. 

Stencil printing 

Area ratio 

The area ratio (AR) is a critical metric in 

successful stencil printing. It is the area of 

the stencil aperture opening divided by 

Figure 2. A schematic showing the definition 

of the area ratio for a circular stencil. 

Powder 

Size 

Type Diameter Range (micons) 

3 25 45 

4 20 38 

5 15 25 

6 5 15 

Table 1. Types 3, 4, 5, and 6 particle size 

powders were utilized in both water-soluble 

and no-clean chemistries. 

the area of the aperture side walls. Figure 1 


Figure 3. Ramp-to-peak profile (242˚C peak and 60 seconds timeabove-liquidus) 

shows a schematic for a circular aperture. 

A simple calculation shows that the area 

ratio (AR) is simplified to the diameter (D) 

of the circle divided by 4 times the stencil 

thickness (t): AR = D/4t. Somewhat sur- 

prisingly, the result is the same for square 

apertures, with D now equal to the sides 

of the square. For the AR of a rectangular 

aperture, the formula is a little more complicated: 

ab/2(a+b)t, where a and b are the 

sides of the rectangle. 

It is widely accepted in the industry that 

in order to get good stencil printing, the 

AR must be greater than 0.66. Experience 

has shown that if AR < 0.66, the transfer 

efficiency will be low and erratic. Transfer 

efficiency, another important stencil printing 

metric, is defined as the volume of the 

solder paste deposit divided by the volume 

of the aperture. 

[The previous section on stencil printing was 

taken from “Fine Feature Stencil Printing in a 

Lead-free SMT Process” presented International 

Conference on Soldering & Reliability May 2008.] 


The experimental design 

To investigate ways to minimize graping, 

we performed some experiments. The 

design of these experiments was to assure 

the previous guidelines with respect to 

Figure 5. Typical results—Type 3 (left) vs. Type 6 (right) using the same no-clean flux chemistry 

and reflow profile (RTP). 

area ratio and transfer efficiency have 

been followed. In addition, we wanted to 

observe the effect of solder paste material 

attributes, specifically particle size and 

flux chemistry, in both water-soluble and 

no-clean solder pastes, as well as the effect 

of the reflow profile on the graping phenomenon. 

Therefore, in an effort to reduce 

the number of variables, the same stencil, 

squeegee blades, printer parameters and 

PWB surface were utilized. 

A 3 mil laser cut/electropolish stencil, 

200 mm squeegee with edge guards, foiless 

clamps, and landscape vacuum support 

blocks were optimized on the stencil 

printer. Each solder paste was printed at 50 

mm/second with a blade pressure of 4 kg. 

A test board including 6 mil circles 

and squares in both solder mask defined 


Figure 4. Soak profile (110 second soak @ 190-210˚C, 242˚C peak, 

and 60 seconds time-above-liquidus). 

(SMD) and non-solder mask defined 

(NSMD) pads on a Cu OSP surface finish 

were the focus of observation. 

results 

Particle size (Figure 5) 

To accommodate fine feature stencil printing 

it is not uncommon to look at finer 

powder solder pastes to optimize the printing 

process. However, as the size of the 

powder particles within the solder paste 

decreases, the relative amount of surface 

area exposed increases. With this increase 

in surface area, an increase in total surface 

oxides is also introduced. This increase in 

surface oxides requires the flux chemicals 

to work even harder at removing the oxides 

and protecting the surfaces during the rest 

of the reflow process, as seen above. 

For the same profile, the graping phenomenon 

increases as the particle size 

decreases. 

Water-soluble vs. no-clean (Figure 6.) 

No-clean flux chemistries are generally 

rosin/resin-based (hereafter referred to 

only as resin) formulas. Because resins 

are not very soluble in the solvents used 

in water-soluble flux chemistries, they are 

typically replaced with large molecular 

compounds such as polymers in watersoluble 

fluxes. The activator(s) within the 

flux chemistry removes the current oxides 

on the joining surfaces as well as the solder 

paste particles within the solder paste 

itself. Further oxidation/re-oxidation does 

occur during the heating stage. Whereas, 

in no-clean fluxes the resins are excellent 

oxidation barriers and protect against reoxidation, 

the lack of resins in water-soluble 

chemistries cause them to fall short in 

providing that same oxidation resistance. 

Hence, for the same reflow profiles, 

though water-soluble chemistries are gen- 



Figure 6. Typical results—Water-soluble (left) vs. no-clean (right) using 

the same Type 6 powder size and reflow profile (RTP). 

Figure 8. Typical results—Non-solder mask defined pad (left), solder 

mask defined pad (right) using the same Type 6 powder size, flux 

chemistry (no-clean), and reflow profile (RTP). 

erally more active, the lower oxidation 

resistance of water-soluble chemistries 

makes them more sensitive in long and/or 

hot profiles, increasing the graping defect. 

Ramp-to-Peak (RTP) vs. Soak (Figure 7) 

In years past, the “soak type” reflow profile 

was very prevalent, but focus has shifted 

somewhat to RTP as the preferred reflow 

profile. Contributing to this shift is the 

introduction of higher reflow process 

temperatures associated with lead-free 

solders and the need to diminish the total 

heat exposure of the smaller paste deposits 

and temperature sensitive components. 

Another benefit of the soak profile was its 

utilization to reduce voiding; however, it is 

not as effective with lead-free solders due 

to the increased surface tension of leadfree 

solders and the higher temperature 

used to reflow them. 

To minimize graping, the shorter the 

time in the oven the better, provided you 

use the same time-above-liquidus and 

peak temperature. The soak profile typically 

produces more of the graping phenomenon 

than RTP profile. The graping 

effect is exacerbated as the total time in the 

oven increases. Decreasing the total heat 

dramatically decreases the graping affect. A 

ramp rate (from ambient to peak) of 1˚C/ 

second is recommended, which equates to 

about 3 minutes 40 seconds to a peak temperature 

of 245˚C. 

SMD vs. NSMD (Figure 8) 

Results of the experiments using solder 

masking show that for the solder mask 

defined pads the graping effect was less 

prevalent. It is believed that the solder mask 

provides a barrier (dam), which restricts 

the spread of the flux during the heating 

process so that it does not “run away” as 

easily, increases the potential availability of 

the flux to remove oxides. 

Square aperture vs. round aperture 

See Figure 9. 

Figure 7. Typical results—RTP profile (left), soak profile (right) using 

the same Type 6 powder size and flux chemistry (no-clean). 

Figure 9. Typical results—Circular aperture/pad (left), square aperture/pad 

(right) using the same Type 3 powder size, area ratio, flux 

chemistry (no-clean), and reflow profile (RTP). 

In years past, the “soak type” reflow profile was 

very prevalent, but focus has shifted somewhat to 

RTP as the preferred reflow profile. 

Transfer efficiency comparing 8mil circle 

vs. 8mil square aperture design 

The area ratio for a 6mil square and 6mil 

circular apertures on a 3 mil thick stencil 

equals 0.50. In comparing the two, however, 

the volume for the square solder paste 

deposit is greater (~108 cubic mils) than 

the circular deposit (85 cubic mils). The 

additional paste volume provided by the 

square aperture may help reduce the graping 

phenomenon. Of greater importance 

though, is the increased transfer efficiency 

provided by the square aperture. As shown 

above for both solder mask defined and 

non solder mask defined pads of the same 

area ratio, the square aperture design provides 

more consistent transfer efficiency, 


educing the potential for the graping phenomenon. 

Conclusion 

To reduce the graping effect, it is vital to 

ensure an optimal printing and reflow process. 

Using the guidelines provided for the 

area ratio and good process/equipment 

set-up will ensure good transfer efficiency. 

From a reflow standpoint, decreasing the 

total heat input will decrease the likelihood 

of the effect. Using a RTP type profile with 

a ramp rate of ~1˚C/second is suggested. 

Material factors also influence the outcome, 

with an increase in the observance 

of graping as the solder paste particle size 

decreases and the area of surface oxides 

increase. Water-soluble solder paste chemistries 

do not provide the oxidation barrier 

that resins do for no-clean chemistries and 

are more prone to the graping effect. 

Though the area ratio for circular and 

square aperture designs may be equal, 

the potential for the graping phenomenon 

increases with circular aperture 

designs due to decreased paste volume and 

decreased transfer efficiency. 

Though not performed in this experiment, 

but observed with customer evaluations, 

the use of nitrogen does diminish or 

eliminate this effect. 



From One Engineer 

To Another® 

Dr. Ning-Cheng Lee, Vice President of Technology 

nclee@indium.com 

“ Voiding under low stand-off 

components, such as QFNs, 

can be effectively minimized 

through material and process 

optimization. Let me show 

you how.” 

Find out: indium.us/D154 

• answers 

• blogs 

• tech papers 

• one-on-one 

• support 

• live chat 

ASIA • CHINA • EUROPE • USA 

www.indium.com 

©2011 Indium Corporation 

scan code with 

mobile device 


Slow global growth at year end 

An estimated $2019 billion of electronic 

equipment will be produced 

this year, up 5.7% at constant 

exchange rates from 2010. Charts 1 and 2 

show “final assembly” electronic equipment 

production by geography and product type 

for 2011. For more details on the global 

and country-specific electronic equipment 

and component markets see the new 

“Electronics Industry Outlook 2011” report 

at www.hendersonventures.com. 

A global slowdown is certainly now 

upon us as world manufacturing growth 

had flattened by September (Chart 3). 

The electronics end market expansion 

has also “lost steam.” Regional 3-month 

(3/12) growth rates for electronic equipment 

shipments (Chart 4) were -16.1% in 

July for Japan, +11.4% in August for Europe, 

-0.4% in August for the USA and +0.2% in 

September for Taiwan/China. 

The largest electronic equipment producer 

SE Asia had a weak September at a 

time when the typical fall seasonal upturn 

would normally occur (Chart 5). By contrast 

Europe had out-performed the rest of 

the world on a growth basis through late 

summer. 

Semiconductor shipments have also 

flattened (Chart 6), and Custer Consulting 

20111006 

Slow global growth 

at year end 

(but hooray for Europe) 

World Electronic Equipment by Region 2011 

@ 2010 Exchange Rates 

N America 

Electronic Outlook 

10/11 

W Europe 

21.6% 

ROW 

9.3% 

12.5% 

6.2% 

Japan 

50.4% 

Total Production: $2,019 Billion 

Group’s new semiconductor leading indicator 

projects minus 5% growth vs. the same 

period last year for at least the next two 

months (Chart 7). 

Printed circuit board growth was negative 

in all regions based upon the latest 

data available in late October (Chart 8), 

and our global PCB model now predicts 

zero growth for total 2011 and only a mild 

expansion in 2012 (Chart 9). 

If this information interests you, Walt 

will be presenting his “Business Outlook 

for the Global Electronics Industry” at 

Productronica in Munich. The talk will be 

given three times—Tuesday, Wednesday 

and Thursday, November 15 to 17 @ Halle 

A1 from 16:00 to 16:30. If you can’t attend 

Productronica send an e-mail to walt@ 

custerconsulting.com and we’ll send you a 

set of the charts. 

end markets 

Computers & peripherals 

• Mobile PC shipments are expected to 

increase 27% y/y to 276.9 million units 

in 2011 with 188 million notebook PC 

shipments and 64 million tablet PC 

shipments.—DisplaySearch 

• Worldwide PC shipments grew 3.2% to 

91.8 million units in 3Q’11.—Gartner 

Final 

Assembly 

Rest of Asia 

COMMUNICATION 

CONSUMER 

Walt Custer 

and Jon Custer-Topai 

• Worldwide media tablet sales are on 

track to grow 261.4% y/y to 63.6 million 

units in 2011.—Gartner 

• Worldwide media tablet shipments 

increased 303.8% y/y to 13.6 million 

units in 2Q’11.—IDC 

• E-book reader sales are forecast to rise 

from 27-30 million units in 2011 to 30 

million units in 2012.—Digitimes 

Mobile communications 

4G smartphone shipments are expected to 

grow from 4.6 million units in 2010 to 245 

million in 2016.—ABI Research 

Consumer electronics 

• Global flat-panel TV shipments fell 

1.3% q/q to 48.0 million units in 

2Q’11.—IHS iSuppli 

• Global TV shipments are expected 

to reach 248 million units in 2011.— 

DisplaySearch 

• Smart TV sales are forecast to grow 

from 25.2 million units in 2011 to 

52.9 million units in 2012.—Topology 

Research Institute 

Other 

• Ethernet switch sales fell 3% y/y to $4.4 

billion worldwide in 2Q’11.—Infonetics 

Research 

24 – Global SMT & Packaging South East Asia –november/December 2011 www.globalsmtseasia.com 

20111006 

World Electronic Equipment by Type 2011 

Electronic Outlook 10/11 

AUTO 

13.2% 

22.9% 

6.6% 

BUSINESS 

1.7% 

8.1% 

29.8% 

COMPUTER 

INSTRUMENT 

8.6% 

9.3% 

INDUSTRIAL 

GOV 

MILITARY 

$2,019 Billion @ 2010 exchange 

Chart 1. Chart 2.

20110910 

Global "Purchasing Managers" Index 

32 

0 

1 3 5 7 9111 3 5 7 9111 3 5 7 9111 3 5 7 9111 3 5 7 9111 3 5 7 9111 3 5 7 9111 3 5 7 9111 3 5 7 9 

03 

JPMorgan 

04 05 06 07 08 09 10 11 

• RFID readers & tags market is projected 

to reach US$8.9 billion by 

2015.—MarketResearch 

• Storage device shipments for hard disk 

drives, optical disk drives and solid 

state drives combined increased 4.5% 

q/q to 248.8 million units in 2Q’11.— 

IHS iSuppli 

• Wireless test equipment market revenues 

are expected to grow from $2.79 

billion worldwide in 2010 to $ 5.81 billion 

in 2017.—Frost & Sullivan 

eMS, oDM & related 

assembly activity 

European EMS industry is expected to 

expand 6.4% y/y to Euro 27.7 billion in 

2011.—Reed Electronics Research 

Absolute Turnkey added a DEK Horizon 

screen printer. 

Agility Mfg. was named to Inc. 5000 list of 

20111012 

60 

58 

56 

54 

52 

50 

48 

46 

44 

42 

40 

38 

36 

34 

DIFFUSION INDEX 


EXPANSION 

CONTRACTION 

Global Electronic Equipment Shipment Growth 

1.6 

1.5 

1.4 

1.3 

1.2 

1.1 

1 

0.9 

0.8 

0.7 

0.6 

3/12 rate of growth in local currency 

1 4 7 10 1 4 7 10 1 4 7 10 1 4 7 10 1 4 7 10 1 4 7 10 1 4 7 10 1 4 7 10 1 4 7 10 1 4 7 10 1 4 7 10 1 4 7 10 

00 01 02 03 04 05 06 07 08 09 10 11 

CALENDAR YEAR 

Taiwan/China 

Europe 

Japan 

USA 

0 Growth 

Europe = Eurostat EU27 NACE C26 (computer, electronic & optical products) 

fastest growing small and medium sized 

companies in U.S. 

Aisling Industries: 

• passed first article inspections from 

Cobham Composites and Raytheon 

based on the AS9102 Aerospace 

Standard. 

• passed their TUV Rheinland ISO 9001: 

2008 re-certification audit. 

• had all its in-house personnel engaged 

with ITAR and MilSpec regulated programs, 

complete the IPC J-STD-001 

solder re-certification. 

Badger Technologies consolidated all its 

operations to Farmington, New York. 

Benchmark Electronics temporarily closed 

its Ayudhaya, Thailand, facility due to 

flooding. 

Cal-Comp purchased a 125,000 SF manu- 

20111011 

800 

600 

400 

200 

70 

60 

50 

40 

30 

20 

10 


facturing facility in Reynosa, Mexico. 

Chamberlain Group added a GEN3 

Systems’ MUST III solderability tester. 

Deltec Automotive added a Viscom’s 3-D 

solder paste inspection system in Furth im 

Wald, Germany. 

Elcoteq declared bankruptcy and began 

closing down its Pécs, Hungary plant. 

Enics Beijing received IRIS certificate. 

Eolane moved its R&D team in Caen 

to Innovaparc, Campus Effiscience 

Colombelles, Calvados. 

Escatec appointed Stefano Losa as sales 

manager for Escatec Switzerland. 

FCT Assembly appointed PacWest 

Technical Sales as its sales and service representative 

in Washington, Oregon, Idaho, 

Utah and British Columbia and Promark 

Electronics as its representative for New 

York and Eastern Pennsylvania. 

Fideltronik is constructing a manufacturing 

facility in Poland which is scheduled to 

be operational in April 2012. 

Flextronics: 

• Hungary received a Business 

Superbrands award for its FLEXpledge 

program. 

• closed its Skive, Denmark facility. 

• began manufacturing Xbox 360 in 

Manaus, Brazil. 

Foxconn / Hon Hai: 

• acquired Scientific-Atlanta’s set-topbox 

facilities in Mexico from Cisco 

Systems for US$44.949 million. 

• had a fire on the top floor of a plant 

building in Shandong, China. 

• is investing CNY 100 billion to create a 

global precision manufacturing center 

in Jincheng, China. 

• plans to invest several billion dollars 

to expand manufacturing capability 

for high tech displays and precision 

mechanical and material science in 

Guangdong, China. 

Global-Tech appointed John Sham chair- 

Taiwan/China Electronic Equipment Producers 

Composite of 101 Manufacturers 

0 

NT$ (billions) 

Chart 3. 

2010/2009 up 32% 

1 3 5 7 9111 3 5 7 9111 3 5 7 9111 3 5 7 9111 3 5 7 9111 3 5 7 9111 3 5 7 9111 3 5 7 9111 3 5 7 9111 3 5 7 9 

02 03 04 05 06 07 08 09 10 11 

CALENDAR YEAR 

Taiwan listed companies, often with significant manufacturing in China 

Chart 4. Chart 5. 



20111003 

30 

25 

20 

15 

10 

5 

SIA 

man of the board. 

Hindustan Aeronautics is investing Rs 

200 crore to build a facility in Seethangoli, 

India. 

HPI Electronics & Cable filed for bankruptcy. 

Kitron opened an electronics manufacturing 

facility in Ningbo, China, for medical 

equipment, industry, energy, offshore/ 

marine and telecom market segments. 

Lenovo-Compal formed notebook PC JV 

in Anhui, China, that is expected to start 

production by end of 2012. 

Novil leased a 1,200 m2 production hall in 

Miszewko, Poland. 

OEM Worldwide is adding 50,000 SF in 

Watertown, South Dakota. 

PG Electroplast plans to use Bombay Stock 

Exchange IPO proceeds to expand manu- 

20111008 

1.7 

1.6 

1.5 

1.4 

1.3 

1.2 

1.1 

1 

0.9 

0.8 

0.7 

0.6 

0.5 

0.4 

0.3 

3/12 rate of growth 

World Semiconductor Shipments 

US$ Billions (3-month average) 

CCG Semiconductor Leading Indicator 

vs. Global Semiconductor Shipments 

CCG Semiconductor Leading Indicator 

Zero Growth 

SIA Semiconductor Shipments 

1 7 1 7 1 7 1 7 1 7 1 7 1 7 1 7 1 7 1 7 1 7 1 7 

00 01 02 03 04 05 06 07 08 09 10 11 

CALENDAR YEAR 

http://www.census.gov/indicator/www/m3/ 

Monthly US$ 

facturing facilities in Noida and Pune. 

Plexus Hangzhou, China facility achieved 

AS9100 certification. 

Quad Electronic Solutions began manufacturing 

Aakash, the world’s cheapest 

tablet PC. 

REStronics hired Ken Sigler as its manufacturers’ 

representative for Oregon and 

Washington. 

Sanmina-SCI began producing hybrid 

integrated optical components for Kaiam 

Corporation. 

Season Group entered a collaboration 

memo of understanding with Outsource 

Electronics. 

SMT Technologies received ISO13485:2003 

quality management system certification 

for medical devices. 

2-month 

lead 

Record high 

2009 recession 

much sharper 

but shorter 

than 2001 

0 

1 1 1 1 1 1 1 1 1 1 1 1 1 1 1 1 1 1 1 1 1 1 1 1 1 1 1 1 1 

83 84 85 86 87 88 89 90 91 92 93 94 95 96 97 98 99 00 01 02 03 04 05 06 07 08 09 10 11 

SMTC: 

• acquired ZF Array Technology. 

• Sr. VP, Finance, and CFO Jane Todd 

resigned. 

• San Jose, California facility received 

ITAR registration with the US 

Directorate of Defense Trade Controls. 

• Dongguan, China facility received a 

contract to build precise laser leveling 

equipment for Prim’Tools. 

Southwest Systems Technology appointed 

Jesus Saldivar as its sales associate for 

Northern Mexico. 

Suntron: 

• hosted 30 year anniversary celebrations 

at its Tijuana, Mexico, and Methuen, 

Massachusetts, facilities. 

• was named an Arizona Top 25 “Fastest 

Growing Company” and Top 25 “Top 

Private Company” based on 2010 performance. 

• plans to close its Sugar Land, Texas 

facility in 2012. 

Syncron EMS relocated its headquarters to 

Palm Bay, Florida. 

Teknoflex added a Yamaha SMT pick & 

place line. 

The Morey Corporation named Diego 

Borrego VP of design engineering and 

Stewart Skomra VP of product management 

and market development. 

PCB fabrication 

IPC began search for new president and 

CEO to replace Denny McGuirk who left 

for SEMI president position. 

Apex is investing NT$4 billion (US$132 

million) to expand PCB capacity to 3 million 

SF/month by 4Q’12. 

Aspocomp appointed Jari Isoaho to COO 

and deputy of CEO. 

Astorg Partners acquired FCI Group’s 

Microconnections division for $436M. 

Regional PCB Shipment Growth 

3/12 rate of growth in local currency 

1.9 

1.8 

1.7 

1.6 

1.5 

1.4 

1.3 

1.2 

1.1 

1 

0.9 

0.8 

0.7 

0.6 

0.5 

0.4 

1 4 7 10 1 4 7 10 1 4 7 10 1 4 7 10 1 4 7 10 1 4 7 10 1 4 7 10 1 4 7 10 1 4 7 10 1 4 7 10 1 4 7 10 1 4 7 10 

00 01 02 03 04 05 06 07 08 09 10 11 

CALENDAR YEAR 

Taiwan/China 

Europe 

Japan 

N America 

0 Growth 

26 – Global SMT & Packaging South East Asia –november/December 2011 www.globalsmtseasia.com 

20111010 

Chart 6. 

Sources: IPC, JPCA, Taiwan/China composite; modified SIA chip shipments to approximate Europe 

Chart 7. Chart 8.

atg Luther & Maelzer was certified to test 

PCBs that utilize Shocking Tech’s Voltage 

Switchable Dielectric material. 

Cambridge Circuits added a second dry 

film laminator from Viking. 

Career installed double-sided roll-to-roll 

equipment at its factories in Taiwan and 

Kunshan, China. 

Cicor Group’s microelectronics division 

received a EUR 8 million hybrid/electronic 

module manufacturing contract from 

Hamilton Sundstrand. 

DDi named Wayne Slomsky interim CFO 

to replace J. Michael Dodson who left 

company for CFO position with Mattson 

Technology. 

Electropac named Paul LaLiberte operations 

manager and Denis McCarthy, technical 

sales/project manager. 

Evatech received NT$165.75 million in 

financing from DBS Bank to complete construction 

of a new plant in China by 4Q’11. 

eXception named Mark O’Connor CEO. 

Farnell and Eurocircuits jointly began providing 

quick-turn bare board PCB prototyping 

services for European customers. 

Fidus Systems set up a design center in 

Kitchener, Ontario, Canada. 

Flexium is expanding its factory in 

Kunshan by 30% with completion scheduled 

for 1Q’12. 

Graphic Plc achieved AS9100 revision C 

accreditation in Devon, UK. 

GSPK Circuits added a Dalco machine and 

a MicroCraft KMH digital ink jet printer. 

Ichia is expanding its FPCB production 

capacity to120,000 m2/month. 

KCE Technology shut down its Ayutthaya, 

Thailand, plant due to flooding. 

Legacy Electronics moved its headquarters 

from San Clemente to a 40,000 SF facility 

in Canton, South Dakota. 

MEC (Screaming Circuits, MEC 

Innovation and MEC EMS) hired Scott 

Pohlmann as director of business development. 

Merlin Artetch achieved AS9100 to Rev C 

accreditation in Littlehampton, UK. 

Merlin Circuit Technology ordered two 

more wet process lines from Viking Test. 

Minnitron Circuits purchased a 16-beam 

laser potter from Viking. 

Olympic Circuits’ co-founder Jon Pereira 

was named to BE Resources’ board of 

directors. 

Panasonic is building an “ALIVH” high 

density multilayer circuit board manufacturing 

plant in Vietnam scheduled to be 

operational in August 2012. 

Prototron Circuits appointed JT 

Technologies as its sales representative for 

upstate New York. 


20111010 

60 

50 

40 

30 

20 

$ Billion 

Spirit Circuits installed an Ucamco 

SilverWriter 8800-P laser plotter. 

Stadium Group appointed Charles 

Peppiatt as operations director. 

Taiwan PCB Techvest: 

• PCB subsidiary, Xiangfeng Electronics 

is expanding production capacity to 

900,000 SF/month by the end of 2011. 

• subsidiary T-Mac Techvest is expanding 

capacity to1.2 million SF/month by 

the end of 2011. 

Unimicron’s IC substrate plant in Taoyuan, 

Taiwan, had a fire. 

Westshore Design increased its design, 

engineering and production space by 

15,000 SF with addition of a 2nd 9,800SF 

building. 

Wrekin Circuits added 6,000 SF and a 

drilling machine in Shropshire, UK. 

Materials & process 

equipment 

EDA industry revenue increased 17.6% to 

$1438.1 million in 2Q’11.—EDAC 

PCB & MCM EDA revenue increased 

21.7% to $144.9 million in 2Q’11.—EDAC 

Global SMT equipment market is projected 

to reach US$11.2 billion by 2017.— 

Global Industry Analysts 

AIM: 

• Shenzhen, China, facility achieved ISO 

14001 certification. 

• Solder opened an office in Bangalore, 

India. 

Air Products received an integrated 

oxy-fuel solution supply contract from 

Guangzhou Chung Shun Century 

Fiberglass (for Kingboard’s PCB produc- 


World PCB Shipments (with forecast) 

Converted @ Constant 2010 Exchange Rates 

Growth calculations: 

Europe = composite European SIA & local PCB 

assoc data 

Japan & N. America from JPCA & IPC data 

Taiwan/China:44 rigid & flex company 

composite 

Rest of Asia growth = Taiwan/China 44 

company composite 

+19% 

-14% 

0% +3% 

31.6 38.6 31.2 29.4 31.7 37.6 42.9 51.7 54.3 53.2 45.9 54.5 54.9 56.5 

1 3 5 7 9111 3 5 7 9111 3 5 7 9111 3 5 7 9111 3 5 7 9111 3 5 7 9111 3 5 7 9111 3 5 7 9111 3 5 7 9111 3 5 7 9111 3 5 7 9111 3 5 7 9111 3 5 7 9111 3 5 7 9111 

99 00 01 02 03 04 05 06 07 08 09 10 11 12 13 

CALENDAR YEAR 

Source: Custer Consulting Group - 2010 base year expanded by monthly growth of N. American, 

European, Japanese & Taiwan/China monthly PCB shipments 

Chart 9. 

tion). 

Apex Factory Automation was named 

exclusive North American distributor for 

SJ Inno Tech. 

ASM Assembly Systems named Jeff Timms 

CEO and GM for the Americas. Congrats 

Jeff! 

Asset InterTech introduced a toolset for its 

ScanWorks platform for embedded instruments. 

Christopher Associates promoted Martin 

Gershenson to GM. 

Co-Tech Copper Foil cut copper foil production 

by 30% to 1,100 tons due to declining 

demand. 

DfR Solutions launched its Sherlock 

Automated Design Analysis software for 

the electronics industry. 

Dow Chemical and Haier Group opened 

a joint innovation lab in Qingdao, China. 

Dow Electronic Materials formed a new 

LED Technologies business segment. 

Dymax: 

• introduced DYMAX 9481-E, a UV/ 

moisture-cure conformal coating. 

• appointed Brent Newblom as Sales 

Manager for Ohio, Indiana, Michigan, 

and Canada. 

Europlacer named Chris Merow North 

American sales manager and Debbie 

Merrill customer operations manager. 

Furukawa Electric is spending NT$4.6 

billion (US$150.39 million) to build electrodeposited 

copper foils plant in Taiwan’s 

Yunlin County. 

Indium named Mike Steenbeke regional 

sales manager/key account specialist. 

Continued on p. 29 


Area ratios of 0.40 and 0.48 with nano-coated stencils 

area ratios of 0.40 

and 0.48 with nano-coated 

stencils 

Carmina Läntzsch, LaserJob 

Reduction of failure costs in SMD 

electronic production is a permanent 

challenge. Insufficient solder 

paste deposits lead to a significant number 

of open solder joints below area array 

components, and detection of this failure 

mode—as well as the later repair operation—are 

difficult and expensive. 

There are two main waste producers: 

solder paste, and the stencil printing process. 

Stencils for the solder paste printing 

process for high area array components and 

fine pitch components, or passive components 

like 0201 or 01005, are made by laser 

cutting (electroforming) or nickel plating 

stencils. But these production methods are 

not able to overcome the big conflict of the 

stencil printing process: Solder paste must 

stick in acceptable value to the upper side 

of the stencil but should not adhere to the 

bottom side of the stencil and to the aperture 

walls. Adhering to the wall causes 

missing or insufficient solder paste while 

adhering to the bottom side of the stencil 

causes solder paste smearing. 

Dealing with this unsolvable production 

handicap leads to frequent bottomside 

cleaning. For very advanced boards, 

This article is part of a presentation held at 

the IPC APEX EXPO 2011 Conference: “Nano 

coated stencils for optimized stencil printing,” 

by Carmina Läntzsch. 

Figure 1 (left). Stencil apertures of an uncoated and a nano-coated stencil with area ratios of 0.40 

and 0.48 using solder paste type 4. Figure 2 (above). Solder paste deposits printed with a nano-coated 

stencil at an area ratio value of 0.36 (d = deposit diameter, h = stencil height). 

“Nano-coatings allow a large multiplicity of 

application-specific advantages in comparison 

to conventional coatings. ” 

it may need to be done after every print! 

This fumbling cannot solve the cause of the 

problem. What it does do is increases the 

costs of cleaning material and slow down 

the whole SMD-production line. 

With nano-coated stencils, the top side 

of the stencil is uncoated while the bottom 

side and the aperture walls are permanently 

coated with an anti-adhesion effect. 

The objective of all finishing technologies 

is the reduction of adhesion between 

the solder paste and the surface energy of 

the stencil surface. Because the adhesive 

forces of solder paste to the aperture wall 

are a decisive factor in paste transfer, an 

improved paste transfer with the nanocoatings 

is guaranteed. The focus of this 

paper is on the printing performance of 

the nano-coated stencil, produced in a laser 

cutting process. 

Nano-coatings allow a large multiplicity 

of application-specific advantages in 

comparison to conventional coatings. On 

the one hand, nano-materials can be processed 

with the most environment friendly 

solvent: water. On the other, nano-coatings 

show an excellent mechanical and chemical 

resistance, due to the inorganic basic 

structure. 

Figure 1 illustrates exemplarily the 

stencil apertures of uncoated and nanocoated 

stencils with area ratios of 0.4 and 

0.48 respectively using solder paste type 4. 

As it can be seen, there is no solder paste 

remaining within the apertures of the 

nano-coated stencil. While the solder paste 

releases completely from the apertures of 

the nano-coated stencils, the apertures of 

the uncoated stencil with area ratios of 0.4 

are blocked. A reliable paste release is not 

possible. 

Due to the reduced adhesion between 

solder paste and stencil surface, a nanocoated 

stencil enables a complete solder 

paste transfer to the printed circuit board. 

The resulting shape of the solder paste 

deposit is equivalent to the geometry of the 

aperture opening. Figure 2 shows two representative 

solder paste deposits for an area 

ratio value of 0.36. The stencil material is 

stainless steel with a thickness of 150 µm 

(6 mils). The paste deposit height shows the 


same height as the stencil thickness, in particular 

150 µm. The diameter of the paste 

deposit is d=220 µm; the theoretical diameter 

of the stencil aperture is d=215µm. The 

deposit shape is uniform and constant over 

the whole printing process. 

Conclusion 

Nano-technology is now in use use in all 

fields of industries. Special sol-gel processes 

are widely spread to create surfaces with 

specific functional properties. Permanent 

hydrophobic finishes avoid adhesion, range 

from skillets to nano-coating on chiplevel. 

Hydrophobic finishes on stencils make it 

JPS Industries received an unsolicited 

takeover proposal from Steel Partners. 

Juki president & CEO Robert Black, Jr. was 

also named executive operating officer. 

Kyzen installed a Riebesam 23-03T sprayin 

air-batch machine in its applications 

laboratory in Maldegem, Belgium. 

LeCroy appointed Central Company for 

Components Ltd. as its distributor. 

Longcheer sold SMT equipment to HEG 

Electronics (Huizhou) for RMB 43.59 million 

(US$6.83 million). 

Manncorp introduced a 2-pot dual-wave 

solder machine. 

Nordson: 

• ASYMTEK’s Steven Adamson received 

IMAPS Daniel C. Hughes, Jr., Memorial 

award. 

• YESTECH provided upgraded FX 

Series AOI systems to EE Technologies. 

NuSil Technology introduced a low viscosity 

silicone elastomer for encapsulating 

components and PCBs. 

OK International appointed Gary Stoffer 

director of global marketing. 

Park Electrochemical named William 

Pappani VP of business development and 

planning. 

Photo Stencil added a chemical etching 

line in Malaysia. 

Plasmatreat appointed Creyr Innovation 

as its representative for its New England 

region in the U.S. 

Rogers named Bruce Hoechner president 

and CEO. 

Rohde & Schwarz is adding engineers in 

Beaverton, Oregon, and Singapore over the 

upcoming year. 

Sono-Tek celebrated its 35-year anniversary. 

Taimide Technology was listed on Taiwan 

Stock Exchange. 

Teradyne acquired LitePoint. 


possible to solve the big conflict in stencil 

printing. Hydrophobic walls of apertures 

are no longer clogging. Particles from 

the solder paste don´t adhere and can no 

longer reduce the transferred amount of 

solder paste. 

The results 

• Better transfer efficiency = significant 

lower failure rate on the SMD line. 

• More flexibility in stencil design. On 

condition of a reliable aperture, filling 

area ratio values of 0.4 can be realized. 

• Usage of nano-coated stencil offer 

a more uniform deposit shape and 

Slow global growth at year end—Continued from p. 27 

Testing House Korea joined GOEPEL electronic 

GATE Partner Program in Asia. 

Viscom appointed SILGAL IBERICA as its 

representative for Spain and Portugal. 

ViTrox was named one of “Forbes Asia’s 

200 Best Companies under a Billion.” 

Volker Kühnle took over management of 

seven LPKF subsidiaries in China. 

Zero Defects acquired a new facility in 

the Rivers Edge business park in San Jose, 

California. 

ZESTRON received ISO9001 recertification 

Semiconductor & other 

components 

Asia-Pacific semiconductor market revenue 

is expected to grow 2.3% to US$183.6 

billion in 2011.—Gartner 

China’s automotive MEMS market is 

expected to expand from $194.3 million 

in 2010 to $387.9 million in 2015.—IHS 

iSuppli 

Global microprocessor revenues grew 

10% y/y to US$10.8 billion in 2Q’11.—IHS 

iSuppli 

Global semiconductors sales increased 

0.7% m/m to $25.03 billion in August 

2011.—SIA 

Semiconductor inventories grew to 83.4 

days, exceeding last record high of 83.1 

DOI seen in 1Q’08.—IHS 

Worldwide semiconductor capital equipment 

spending is forecast to decline 19.2% 

to $35.2 billion in 2012.—Gartner 

Area ratios of 0.40 and 0.48 with nano-coated stencils 

lower variances in transfer efficiency = 

more robust process. The bottom side 

stays longer clean without solder paste 

contamination. No smearing around 

solder paste deposits = less solder 

bridges. Less solder paste contamination 

= less cleaning materials—cost 

saving and environment protections 

without additional costs. 

• Reduced cleaning frequency = better 

utilization of the whole SMD production. 

With an integrated holistic 

manager view, the slightly higher costs 

of nano-coated stencils outbalance 

cost savings in production and quality 

costs. 

Walt Custer is an independent consultant 

who monitors and offers a daily news 

service and market reports on the PCB and 

assembly automation and semiconductor 

industries. He can be contacted at walt@ 

custerconsulting.com or visit www. 

custerconsulting.com. 

Jon Custer-Topai is vice president of Custer 

Consulting Group and responsible for the 

corporation’s market research and news 

analysis activities. Jon is a member of the 

IPC and active in the Technology Marketing 

Research Council. He can be contacted at 

jon@custerconsulting.com. 


Cleaning non-hermitically sealed components on assembled Pwbs 

Cleaning non-hermitically 

sealed components on 

assembled PWBs 

Mike Bixenman, D.B.A., Kyzen Corporation 

Component suppliers are continuously 

innovating advanced packaging 

with increased processing 

power. One of the design issues is the need 

to dissipate heat from the device during 

operation. To achieve this design metric, 

heat spreaders are used. One example is the 

use of a vented heat dissipating lid over the 

flip chip die on a flip chip/BGA package. 

The lid vent allows for expansion and contraction 

from temperature swings during 

device operation. 

The problem is that the lid vent provides 

an entryway for cleaning fluids—both 

the cleaning agent and water—to become 

entrapped within the heat spreader body 

during the cleaning process (Figure 1). 

Liquid left under the lid may spread trace 

ions across discrete components under the 

lid, creating the potential for reliability concerns. 

One potential solution to the problem 

is to post-bake circuit boards following the 

cleaning process and before final conformal 

coating. Numerous high-reliability assemblers 

have found bake out processes to be 

an effective solution but still have doubts 

as to whether a source of contamination 

may be present that could cause a reliability 

issue. For products that must perform each 

Figure 2. Straight and cone vents on top of component lid. 

Vent Hole 

(Gap in lid attach adhesive) 

Figure 1. The vent provides an opening for 

cleaning fluids to get trapped within the 

heat spreader. 

and every time, a better solution to the bake 

out process is needed. 

Customers who faced this issue contacted 

their cleaning agent supplier with 

recommendations about solving this process 

issue. A research project was initiated 

by the cleaning agent supplier. The first area 

of focus was to identify sealants, tape, caps 

and lids that may be placed over the component 

during the wash process. Any of the 

proposed solutions were far from desirable 

since they added additional process steps to 

the process. Additionally, the vent was on 

the side of the flip chip/BGA package. 

The cleaning agent supplier contacted 

companies who molded plastic caps (lids) 

that can be placed over components during 

the wash process. These caps (lids) worked 

well on through-hole capacitors and connectors 

but were less than ideal on surface 

mount components. In regards to the flip 

chip/BGA device, there was not sufficient 

depth for the lid to provide a tightly sealed 

fit that would not be removed during the 

cleaning process. This process solution 

failed. 

A second approach was to investigate 

peelable spot masks. Water-soluble and 

clay-based spot masks are commonly used 

on through-hole and mixed-technology 

assemblies to mask areas where the assembler 

does not want solder to fill unpopulated 

through-holes when passing the circuit 

board over the solder wave. There were 

numerous problems encountered with 

using solder mask to seal the side vent. The 

first issue is that many of the temporary 

solder masks are designed to dissolve in 

aqueous-based cleaning agents. For temporary 

masks that do not dissolve in water, 

the solvents in the cleaning agent tended to 

Figure 3. Kapton® tape used to seal vent 

hole during cleaning process . 


Figure 4. Crimped lid design. 

Figure 5. Four corner lid design. 

dissolve the spot mask. A third issue was 

the inability of the spot mask to adhere to 

the side of a package without being dislodged 

during the cleaning process. Similar 

to the molded plastic cap alternative, this 

solution failed. 

A third approach was to tape the side of 

the device with Kapton® tape. Of the three 

stop-gap solutions, placing Kapton tape 

along the side of the component worked. 

Similar to the other approaches, on highly 

dense boards it was difficult for an operator 

to place tape around the periphery of the 

lid. With the depth from the side of the lid 

and substrate being less than 1.5 µm, there 

was no guarantee that the operator could 

successfully seal the vent holes and prevent 

moisture entrapment during the cleaning 

process. 

At this point, the cleaning agent supplier 

visited design engineers at one of the 

companies that manufacture the flip chip/ 

BGA package in question. The goal was to 

seek out a collaborative effort between the 

component supplier, cleaning agent supplier, 

customer and reliability testing lab to 

design a solution to the problem. The effort 

hinged on the component supplier’s willingness 

to study the problem and investigate 

alternative designs. After presenting 

the basis of the problem to the component 

supplier, they agreed to collaborate, study 

and design alternative heat spreader lids 

for testing. 

The component supplier designed two 


lid options with straight and cone shape 

vent holes in the top of the lid (Figure 2). 

Placing the vent hole in the top of the lid 

allowed the component manufacturer to 

seal the whole perimeter of the lid to the 

substrate with adhesive. The sealed lid 

perimeter prevented cleaning fluids from 

permeating into the side of the package. 

By designing the vent hole on top of lid, 

the assembler could seal the vent hole with 

Kapton tape before the cleaning process 

(Figure 3). This option required operator 

intervention to seal the lid before cleaning 

but provided a means for preventing cleaning 

fluids from entering the lid cavity. 

A designed experiment was initiated to 

test the level anions and cations left under 

the lid using the existing standard vented 

package (control), and the packages with 

the vent holes in the top of the lid. The data 

findings showed higher levels of anions 

and cations under the lid of the control 

(existing) package than the two lid designs 

with the holes in the top of the lid. For the 

cone and straight vent holes, there were less 

cleaning fluids adsorbed under the package 

lid whether taped or not taped. The 

packages with tape vent holes resulted in 

very low levels of anions and cations. The 

new lid designs with vent holes in the top 

worked but the solution still required customer 

intervention to tape the top of the 

lid before cleaning. 

In an effort to design a package that 

does not require user intervention to seal 

Cleaning non-hermitically sealed components on assembled Pwbs 

the vent hole, the component supplier 

designed a second set of lids with crimped 

and corner attached lids (Figures 4 & 5). 

The remaining portion of the lid has a 

sufficient gap that allows cleaning fluids 

to penetrate and be removed during the 

cleaning process. 

A new designed experiment was used 

to test the effectiveness of the crimped and 

four corner lid designs. The level of anions 

and cations were significantly lower than 

the standard (control) vented lid design. 

The crimped and four corner lid designs 

provide ingress and egress of cleaning 

fluids during the cleaning process. These 

two designs overcome the entrapment of 

cleaning fluids under the lid when cleaning 

is required and do not require user intervention 

to seal the vent hole with Kapton 

tape. 

This case study illustrates the power of 

the collaborative process at work with different 

companies and knowledge experts 

working together to solve a customer problem 

initiated by a necessary process step. 

The problem had no bearing on the quality 

the package but the issue centered on 

cleaning fluids penetrating the non-hermitically 

vent hole in the package design. 

From the cleaning process perspective, a 

good cleaning process should wet and penetrate 

small gaps. 

Credit the component manufacturer 

for its willingness to change the lid design. 

The net result is a reliable design for highreliability 

hardware that cannot fail during 

operation. 

The companies that participated in 

this study were Xilinx, Raytheon, Precision 

Analytical Laboratories and Kyzen. The 

research titled “Cleaning Fluid Entrapment 

under Vented Flip Chip Packages” can be 

ordered from both the SMTA and IPC. 


Interview Title 

Interview— 

Soni Saran Singh, 

NMTronics 

NMTronics has had a long presence in the Indian electronics industry and 

entered the solar PV business two years ago as well. In an exclusive with 

Pradeep Chakraborty, Soni Saran Singh, executive director, NMTronics, 

explains how the company has managed to stay on top this long. 

Please provide an overview of NMTronics. 

It gives me great pleasure to say that 

NMTronics is synonymous to SMT in 

India. We have completed the 12th year 

of our operation in 2011, and in these 12 

years, we have seen the SMT business grow 

from a nascent stage to complicated and 

modern designs. 

As a brief introduction, we are a 100 

percent subsidiary of Sojitz Corp, Japan. 

We are a technology-oriented company 

and are active in the SMT, solar and semiconductor 

business domains. 

In the last 12 years, we have grown 

to a strong team of 150+ professionals 

with operations in all the major manufacturing 

hubs across India. In these years, 

NMTronics has evolved into a turnkey 

solution provider, across different product 

categories, where our clients do not look at 

us merely as equipment supplier but as a 

solution provider. This is why we call ourselves 

“Partners in Technology,” as we partner 

with our clients to have a successful 

technology venture. 

We have been working with great technology 

providers like FUJI Machines, Koh 

Young, Mentor Graphics (formerly Valor 

Software), Nisshinbo Mechatronics and BE 

Semiconductors, all of whom have helped 

us to develop a strong customer-centric 

philosophy and raise our performance 

standards, so that we can provide high 

level services to the Indian manufacturing 

industries and become their preferred 

choice. 

What has NMTronics recently achieved 

in the Indian electronics industry? 

What’s planned ahead? 

NMTronics has been able to maintain 

its market leadership in the electronics 

Industry with 55 percent market share, 

despite having stiff competition in the 

Indian market even with some of the 

OEMs. This is a great achievement for all 

of us at NMTronics. 

Also, as a recent development, we took 

initiatives in bringing interest among 

Indian entrepreneurs for local mobile 

phone manufacturing. We are pioneers 

in providing turnkey solutions for mobile 

phone manufacturing, with an experience 

of over six years. The Indian government 

is putting initiatives by introducing 

domestic manufacturing policy, and 

therefore we see huge potential in mobile 

phone manufacturing in the coming years. 

We are sure that NMTronics will play a 

key role in this segment. 

Healthcare is said to be a key segment in 

India. What are you doing in that area? 

I agree that healthcare is going to be a key 

segment in India, but unfortunately India 

is far behind as compared to the global 

development in healthcare. 

Components required for healthcare 

require a very high level of quality, and 

although we have done quite a few projects 

with some of our clients, at mass scale, the 

major components are still not being manufactured 

in India. We have been carefully 

evaluating this sector for the last two years, 

with some interesting solutions for manufacturing 

disposable lenses, insulin pens, 

dialyzers, etc. With our strategic marketing 

background and with unmatched access 

to decision makers in Indian industry, we 

will scout for new customers getting into 

healthcare product manufacturing to help 

them by providing suitable solutions to 

meet their demands. 

What is your take on the Indian power 

electronics scenario for 2011? 

In power electronics, still, we find a considerable 

gap between the domestic demand 

and supply, which is currently fulfilled by 

imports. ODM imports from China and 

Taiwan in the low power and high volume 

UPS and inverters have been a growing 

trend in the past years. New design firms 

and new entrants in these segments have 

provided India a competitive edge to the 

marketplace. Given the vagaries of Indian 

grid, there will be many local challenges 

that cannot be directly served by the solutions 

developed in other countries, so the 

opportunity to develop local capabilities 

and benefit is great. 

How do you see the electronics industry 

in India performing so far in 2011? 

There is no doubt about the fact that Indian 

electronics industrial growth is booming. 

With a sizeable domestic market, which 

India has all along, with the country’s economic 

growth being in rapid track, with 

lots of government inflation measures, 

the investments in manufacturing in consumer 

electronics, automotive, medical, 

defense and power electronics is growing. 

New investments happened in most of 

these industry segments due to the fuelled 


growth and this trend is stable and continuing. 

Has enough has been done about the 

Indian electronics industry? What more 

needs to be done? How should it go 

ahead in 2012? 

With miniaturization becoming part and 

parcel of each electronic gadget, with more 

and more sophistications coming day by 

day, there is no end for electronics manufacturing 

growth. As an equipment supplier, 

our role will continue to bring in the 

latest technology equipment to meet those 

challenges. Industry is in the trend to shift 

to handle more complex, more volume 

assemblies. 

With MNCs in this segment already set 

the example of quick ramp up with developed 

ecosystems, it is the time for the local 

Indian companies to adopt those initiatives 

for increased domestic manufacturing. 

The government also has to introduce 

some local manufacturing policy. and there 

is a need to set up the necessary infrastructure 

faster in terms of uninterrupted power, 

water and good connectivity for the industries 

to go with their investments. There are 

few products like MP3 players, flat panel 

displays, memory cards, gaming consoles, 

cameras, etc., which are yet to be see light 

in Indian manufacturing. When I see this, I 

feel there is a lot yet to come to India and 

therefore, foresee lots of new investments 

to happen in the year 2012 and beyond. 

How do you see the Indian semicon 

industry evolving, if at all, in 2012? What 

needs to be done? 

Everyone knows that semicon is a very 

big opportunity for India, considering the 

market size and the increasing application 

of semiconductors in our day to life. 

Semiconductor consumption in India is 

estimated at $43 billion, which will grow 

multifold in next few years to reach about 

$80 million. We have been closely monitoring 

the industry for over a decade now, but 

India has restricted itself to only design and 

R&D when it comes to the semiconductor 

industry. Unfortunately this strength 

was never converted to mass manufacturing 

till now. There are some less complex 

products like bright LEDs, memory chips, 

memory cards, etc, which does not require 

very high level of investment, but still there 

is no major growth in semiconductor manufacturing. 

The Government announced its semiconductor 

policy, which helps in settingup 

of semiconductor manufacturing, but 


the big question is that how India will 

compete in marketing of these products 

compared to Chinese or Taiwanese manufacturers, 

who have more than 30 years of 

experience in these industries. There is a 

need for strong government policy to protect 

the Indian manufacturers initially (in 

the learning phase), by duty exemptions 

on raw materials and equipment, mandatory 

local content in government projects 

and so on. The India Semiconductor 

Association (ISA) has been working on 

this for very long, but there has been no 

appreciable result. We hope someday that 

policymakers will understand the requirement, 

and the Indian semiconductor 

industry will see a new light. 

In solar PV, what does the industry need 

to do in 2012? Has the Indian industry 

learned anything from the global perspective, 

especially with firms closing 

shop? 

Solar PV will continue to be a major business 

in the next two decades. Energy is the 

backbone of growth for any nation, and 

therefore, demand for energy will continue 

to grow in coming years. Especially now, 

when nations are looking for renewable 

source of energies, PV stands at top slot of 

growth due to its low cost of operation and 

maintenance. 

The PV business cycle over the last five 

years has seen cyclical business in different 

segments. In 2006-2007, there were major 

investments in module manufacturing 

looking at the potential in Germany. When 

pressure started coming on to cell cost, 

there were major investment observed in 

wafer and cell manufacturing in 2008-2009, 

causing over capacities to build up in cell 

manufacturing. This increased the demand 

of polysilicon and more module manufacturing 

capacities in 2010-2011. 

Until now, the cost of PV power was 

a subject of economical demand and 

supply, but now, we see a balance in the 

entire value chain. Therefore, we do not see 

major fluctuations in the pricing of PV in 

2012. Currently, polysilicon spot price is 

about $50/kg and it will further go down 

to $37-38/kg in 2012. This will bring down 

the cost of module below $1/Wp, which 

will help achieving grid-parity sooner than 

it was anticipated by experts. 

In 2012, we expect the industry to 

focus on improving the efficiency of modules 

and smooth completion of solar PV 

projects, which are currently under installation. 

These two things will bring down 

the investment cost in PV power plants 

and develop the confidence of investors 

Interview 

Title 

in the sector. With developed economies 

facing pressure on debts, there is scarcity 

of funds in the market, which has slowed 

down the investment in PV power projects. 

Looking at the set-up cost of PV power 

plant, even today, this gives a decent IRR 

(investor return ratio), but many investors 

would like to see the project executions 

to gain confidence in this business. Policy 

makers need to observe the cost and availability 

of finance to support this sector. 

The government of India has made a 

very good policy of putting up local content 

requirement of cells and modules 

manufacturing in India, which will help 

Indian manufacturers grow their capacities. 

But still there are some loopholes, like 

no local content for thin film modules, 

high duties on import of raw material, 

which have to be looked into. We expect 

some concrete steps in the 2nd phase of 

the JN-NSM to close these loopholes, to 

avoid the mistakes that other economies 

are going through. 

What are your plans for NMTronics in 

2012? What are the challenges? 

NMTronics has gained considerable 

growth in SMT Industry over the years, 

and we shall continue our effort in retaining 

our leadership position. 

Solar business is our most recent venture 

and though we have completed just 

two years in this domain, we have been 

able to create our identity in the industry 

by getting orders from some of the leaders. 

We will continue our growth in this sector. 

Currently, we have supplied equipment for 

module manufacturing only, and we plan 

to launch ourselves as a single-window 

solution provider for the entire PV value 

chain in 2012. 

We are very ambitious for both domestic 

mobile phone manufacturing and our 

solar Venture, but success will depend 

on government policies and initiatives 

in encouraging investments the global 

market scenario. This is the only challenge 

we see at the moment. 

Our commitment to clients in the SMT, 

solar and semiconductor industries, and 

the passion to offer world-class technology 

products and services will continue. 


India plays host to SMaLED 2011—the first-ever conference on surface mount & LED 

India plays host to SMaleD 2011—the firstever 

conference on surface mount & leD 

Bangalore, known as the Silicon 

Valley and the R&D hub of India, 

is home to many firsts. Recently, 

the city played host to SMaLED, the 

Surface Mount and Light Emitting Diodes 

Conference 2011, which again is another 

first to its credit, organised by Trafalgar 

Publications Group Private Ltd. 

The two-day conference, held on 

October 31 and November 1 at the 

Nimhans Convention Centre, deliberated 

on a host of subjects including current 

commercial developments in electronics 

manufacturing and solid state lighting, 

including high brightness LEDs. The 

conference also provided an opportunity 

for table top exhibitions. SMaLED laid out 

a perfect platform for participants from 

across the country—individuals and representatives 

from the electronics and LED 

manufacturing sector—to learn, discuss, 

debate and network. 

In his keynote address, M.N. 

Vidyashankar, Principal Secretary, 

Department of e-Governance, IT, BT 

and Science & Technology, Government 

of Karnataka, congratulated Trafalgar 

Publications for organising the SMaLED 

conference, which was eagerly looked forward 

to by India, especially Bangalore. He 

said that such events should take place 

every year, thus bringing all sectors concerned 

on a single platform. 

“It is very important that we have 

these kinds of conferences and exhibitions, 

simply because the economy cannot 

sustain itself for too long on just mercurybased 

inputs,” he said. 

Throwing light on the city’s ecosystem, 

which would support the electronics 

and LED manufacturing industry in a big 

way, Vidyashankar said, “Bangalore has 

an excellent ecosystem, with a number of 

semiconductor firms headquartered here. 

We are also doing very well in avionics and 

aviation. We are the biggest R&D hub in 

the country and the fourth largest in the 

world, with 40 percent of all innovations 

taking place in Bangalore. This ecosystem 

has to be harnessed to the maximum.” 

Highlighting the State Government’s 

initiatives in promoting alternative energies, 

the Principal Secretary said, “An 

economy based on fossil fuel is something 

that’s just not sustainable. Government of 

Karnataka is promoting alternative sources 

in a big way, more so looking at the carbon 

footprints we produce on an annual basis. 

We are going green in many ways. “ 

“As we all know, the future of lighting 

lies in LED and OLED, which will make 

a significant dent on the carbon footprint 

and carbon emissions in the years to come,” 

he added. 

Karnataka was one of the first states 

in India to develop Karnataka Renewable 

Energy Development Agency (KREDA), he 

informed, and concluded saying, “Unless 

we innovate, we cannot see a sustainable 

growth.” 

The two-day event saw ten eminent 

speakers share and discuss valuable information 

on various topics related to surface 

mount and LED. Some of the key topics 

discussed included “Four ways to reduce 

voiding in BGA/CSP packages to substrate 

connections,” ‘’Recent Technology 

advances in X-Ray inspection,” “Exploring 

the complementary technologies of AOI 

and X-ray,” “Lesson for EMS vendors in 

low volume high mix manufacturing,” “Key 

challenges and strategies for LED lighting,” 

“Improving reliability of LED assemblies,” 

“LED lighting and drivers for Indian environment,” 

“Solid state LED lighting technology—thermal 

design & life expectancy,” 

and “Thermabond—specially designed for 

LED manufacturing.” 

The conference, sponsored by Nordson 

DAGE, will have its second edition in 

Bangalore, India, in October 2012. 

—Usha Pradad 


New products 

Count on Tools introduces 

customized shipping options 

Count On Tools Inc. introduces new shipping 

options and an online shipping calculator, 

allowing customers to customize 

the shipping process for online orders. The 

new online shipping options and calculator 

allow customers to choose how they want 

their order to ship (UPS, FedEx, USPS). 

Additionally, customers can decide how 

quickly their orders ship and how much 

they want to spend on shipping, making 

shipping rates both simple and predictable. 

www.cotinc.com 

Nihon Superior debuts 

selector guide for SN100C 

solder pastes 

Nihon Superior Co. Ltd., a supplier of 

advanced soldering materials to the global 

market, introduces the new Selector Guide 

for SN100C solder pastes. The guide 

includes a detailed list of features for 

SN100C Solder Pastes. It includes SN100C 

P500 D4 for excellent reflow with minimum 

incidences of solder balling and midchip 

balling, SN100C P520 D5 for excellent 

reflow on very small pads and chip 

components down to 01005 (0402 metric), 

and SN100C P800 D2 low voiding paste for 

high-reliability assembly. 

www.nihonsuperior.co.jp 

Teknek announces step 

change in contact cleaning 

technology 

Teknek announces its new patent pending 

EcoFilm Product. EcoFilm product is the 

first Oxydegradable clean machine adhesive 

roll to be available on the market. It retains 

all the benefits of the Teknek Nanocleen+ 

adhesive roll (silicone free, static dissipation, 

extra wide format, slant cut ) plus the 

added advantage of being “green.” 

www.teknek.com 


light/ 

moisture-cure 

conformal 

coating 

lowers annual 

operating 

costs 

D Y M A X 

Corporation introduces 

DYMAX 

9481-E, a UV/moisture-cure 

conformal coating engineered 

for superior circuit protection in coating 

applications that require ambient shadowed-area 

cure. Solvent-free 9481-E offers 

OEMs and EMS providers key benefits 

versus solvent-based and heat-cured coatings 

including faster throughput, increased 

production capacity and floor space, maximum 

material usage, and lower annual 

operating costs. 

www.dymax.com 

oK International launches 

powerful new desoldering 

system & introduces unique 

upgrade option 

OK International has launched a new 

shop air desoldering system, providing a 

powerful desoldering solution for today’s 

production assembly specialists. The new 

MFR-1150 desoldering system adds a shop 

air desoldering option to the MFR range 

of solder and rework tools. The advanced 

desoldering system also features a handpiece 

that can be used in two different configurations, 

either a pencil style or pistol 

grip. 

www.okinternational.com 

Title 

new products 

Manncorp debuts 2-pot dualwave 

solder machine for easy 

lead-free / Pb switchover 

PCB assemblers faced with the need to go 

lead-free while maintaining a tin/lead soldering 

presence will welcome Manncorp’s 

16.350 wave solder machine. The 16.350 

can now be configured with two pots on 

roll-out carts to provide lead-free-to-Pb 

switching with ease. The 16.350 is less than 

5 ½ ft. long and includes a 350mm wide 

adjustable finger conveyor with built-in 

cleaner and a 600mm pre-heat tunnel with 

forced hot air convection for thorough and 

even heat penetration. 

www.manncorp.com 

BPM Microsystems achieves 

the fastest programming 

speeds for managed NaND 

devices with release of 

BitBlast 

BPM Microsystems announces the 

release of BitBlast for 8th Generation 

and Flashstream® MK2 device programming 

solutions. BitBlast is a Vector Engine 

Co-Processor® enhancement. Because 

BitBlast can be attained via firmware 

changes, all 8th Generation and Flashstream 

MK2 customers with models 2800, 3800, 

4800, 2800F-MK2 and 3000FS-MK2 plus 

with a current support agreement can take 

advantage of the enhancement by downloading 

the latest version of BPWin. 

www.bpmmicro.combitblast 


Title 

The Global Assembly Journal for SMT and 

Advanced Packaging Professionals 

Global Technology Awards 

BGA ASSEMBLY RELIABILITY...PWB QUALITY 

IS THE KEY 

METALLIZATION OPTIONS FOR OPTIMUM 

CHIP-ON-BOARD ASSEMBLY 

International Diary 

EPTC Electronics Packaging 

Technology 

December 7-9 

Singapore 

www.eptc-ieee.net 

India Telecom 

New Delhi, India 

December 7-9 

www.indiatelecom.org 

Volume 10 Number 2, February 2010 

ISSN 1474 - 0893 



Volume 10 Number 1, January 2010 

ISSN 1474 - 0893 

Pan Pacific Microelectronics 

February 14-16, 2012 

Kauai, Hawaii 

smta.org/panpac 

Hong Kong Electronics 

April 13-16, 2012 

Hong Kong 

hkelectronicsfairse.com 

Semicon Singapore 

May 2-4, 2012 

Singapore 

semiconsingapore.org 

EMC Asia-Pacific 

May 21-24, 2012 

Singapore 

apemc2012.org 

NEPCON Malaysia 

June 12-14, 2012 

Penang, Malaysia 

nepcon.com.my 

Fred Hume 

Interview Inside 

one Magazine 

Mike Konrad 

2010 Company Milestones 

Guidelines for establishinG a lead-free wave 


Also Global SMT & Packaging’s 10th anniversary 

solderinG process for hiGh-reliability 

TRACK, TRACE & CONTROL: HIGH 

PRODUCTION OUTPUT AT LOW COSTS 

investiGation and development of tin-lead 

NEW PRODUCTS 

1/6/10 5:46 PM 

10.1-EU-temp.indd 1 

2/9/10 10:14 AM 


Industry News 

and lead-free solder pastes to reduce head- 

FAILURE DEFINITION—NOT AS EASY AS IT 

in-pillow defects 

INDUSTRY NEWS 

SOUNDS 

New Products 

Bryan Gass 

International Diary 

process challenGes and solutions for 

INTERNATIONAL DIARY 

SYNERGY, 

NEW PRODUCTS TWISTED | WIRE INDUSTRY INTERCONNECT 

NEWS smt | assembly 

INTERNATIONAL 

THE 

DIARY 

OCCAM PROCESS AND 


embeddinG chip-on-board into mainstream 

NEW PRODUCTS 

SYNERGY, THE 

| INDUSTRY NEWS | Interview Inside 

INTERNATIONAL 

embeddinG 

DIARY 

chip-on-board into mainstream 

OCCAM PROCESS 

TWISTED WIRE 

AND 

INTERCONNECT 

Diary 

smt assembly 

process 

International 

challenGes INTERNATIONAL and DIARY 

Bryan solutions Gass 

for 

New Products 

SOUNDS 

IT 

FAILURE DEFINITION—NOT AS EASY in-pillow defects 

INDUSTRY NEWS 

AS 

Industry News 

10.2-EU-temp.indd 1 head- 

reduce to pastes solder lead-free and 2/9/10 10:14 AM 


PRODUCTS 

NEW 

1/6/10 5:46 PM 

and investiGation COSTS 

LOW AT OUTPUT PRODUCTION tin-lead 

of development 

CONTROL: & TRACE TRACK, HIGH 

hiGh-reliability 

for process solderinG 

& SMT Global Also wave 

lead-free a establishinG for Guidelines anniversary 

10th Packaging’s 

Inside 

Interview 

Konrad 

Mike Milestones 

Company 2010 

METALLIZATION OPTIONS FOR OPTIMUM 

CHIP-ON-BOARD ASSEMBLY 

BGA ASSEMBLY RELIABILITY...PWB QUALITY 

IS THE KEY 

Global Technology Awards 



Fred Hume 


Volume 10 Number 2, February 2010 

ISSN 1474 - 0893 

Six 

ContinentS 



Volume 10 Number 1, January 2010 

ISSN 1474 - 0893 

www.globalsmt.net 

SMT 

SMT 


Global SMT & Packaging Southeast Asia Vol. 1 No. 1 Spring 2010 

Global SMT & Packaging Southeast Asia Vol. 1 No. 1 Spring 2010 


Southeast Asia 





Asia 

Southeast Asia 

Southeast 


Volume 1 Number 1 Spring 2010 

Volume 1 Number 1 Spring 2010 

www.globalsmt.net


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Global SMT & Packaging South East Asia Vol. 2 No. 5 September/October 2011 


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Covering India, Thailand, Malaysia, 

Singapore, The Philippines and Hong Kong 

FOUR WAYS TO REDUCE 

VOIDS IN BGA/CSP 

PACKAGE TO SUBSTRATE 

CONNECTIONS 

THE RUSH TO CLEAN NO-CLEAN 

SCAVENGING IN TODAY’S MANUFACTURING 

OPERATIONS 

Volume 2 Number 5 September/October 2011 

Raminder Singh Soin 


SEA_SMT_2.5.indd 1 9/2/11 9:10 AM 

Job Title/Function 

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