San Jose, CA — Once a year, Techni-ca USA hosts an Annual TechnologyForum Event. This year’s event washeld in San Jose, California on July22 - 23 and was co-sponsored by ASMAssembly Systems, with active par-ticipation from Koh Young andRehm Thermal Systems. The techni-cal presentations were made in themeeting facilities of the Club AutoSport Event Center.

The Event was held for two con-secutive days — both days with iden-tical programs. This was done to ac-commodate the large expected turn -out, and also to allow customers theflexibility they needed to permit staffmembers to attend. The morning ses-sion began with a presentation byJeff Schake, Senior Advanced Tech-nology Specialist at ASM-DEK. Jeff’spresentation was titled “Blueprint toHigh Yield Stencil Printing”. In it,Jeff called on his years of experiencein managing printing-focused pro -cess investigations at DEK, whichenabled him to center his presenta-tion on “Best Practices” of printingprocess design and execution. Hepresented examples of print processdefects and corresponding cause andeffect relationships that were revisit-

Nihon Superior's lead-free

solder paste gets a special

boost with the company cele-

brating its 50th anniversary

at SMTAI.

Page 72

Michigan-based LumaSmart

Technology started out as an

automotive contract manu-

facturer, but today special-

izes in an impressive line of

LED light engines and light

fixtures, in addition to

PCBAs.

Page 20

This Month's Focus:

PCB and TestThe result of gradually im-proving technology that hasfinally come of age, inkjet-ap-plied printed circuits can savehuge costs, time and elimi-nate production problems inthe manufacture of multilay-er bare boards.

VOLUME 30 - NUMBER 9 THE GLOBAL HI-TECH ELECTRONICS PUBLICATION September, 2015

Afirm that started over 38 yearsago in an apartment-sized fa-cility has grown into a well-es-

tablished, electronic manufacturingservices (EMS) company serving mil-itary, aerospace, medical, consumer,and industrial markets from a 20-

acre, 33,000-square-ft. manufactur-ing operation in Oglesby, IL. Hi-TechElectronic Products and Manufactur-ing, Inc., also known simply as Hi-Tech Electronics, has grown steadilyover that span, offering turnkey elec-tronic services — from electronic de-sign and prototyping through to full

production. As the firm’s president,Michael Johnson, describes it: “Wego from napkin to finished board.”

With business growing and elec-tronic assemblies becoming morecomplex, Hi-Tech recently found it-self in need of another SMT produc-tion line capable of handling a widerange of components, from 0201sthrough 740-pin BGA parts to largeconnectors. Production versatilitywas also important, since jobs variedwidely: from a PCB with 20 compo-nents to circuit assemblies with com-ponent counts in the thousands. As adeparture from previous practices,however, Hi-Tech opted not to installduplicates of the equipment in itsfirst SMT production line but, rather,to partner with ASM Assembly Sys-tems GmbH and integrate a DEKHorizon 01iX printer (www.dek.com)and a SIPLACE SX placement ma-chine (www.SIPLACE.com).

According to Johnson, who over-sees much of the production at Hi-Tech, “We needed a line that could of-fer us speed, flexibility, fastchangeover capability, accuracy, reli-ability — everything, really.” He

Hi-Tech President, Michael Johnson, shows CFO Michael Herrmann(left) the simplicity of foil changeover with ASM’s

DEK VectorGuard system.

Technica USA Hosts Tech Forum for Customers

Continued on page 39

Hi-Tech Electronics Boosts ItsGame with New ASM SMT Line

Continued on page 8

IPC Releases T-50 RevisionM, Terms and Definitions

Next Month’s Focus

SMT and

Assembly

Bannockburn, IL — IPC — Associa-tion Connecting Electronics Indus-tries® has released IPC-T-50 Revi-sion M, “Terms and Definitions forInterconnecting and Packaging Elec-tronic Circuits”. This ever-evolvingstandard provides common languageof terms and definitions for the elec-tronics industry.

IPC-T-50M contains more than150 new and revised terms, while al-so eliminating out-of-date terminolo-gy, thus providing a streamlinedstandard that focuses on the trend-ing language of the electronics indus-try. Specifically, this revision in-cludes terms often cited in otherstandards, such as: conformal coat-ing, statistical process control, andstencil design.

“Our goal is to update the IPC-T-50 standard as often as possible

Continued on page 8

productronica

SMTAIProduct Preview

Send News Releases for

See our new 2016

Editorial Calendar(page 112)

EMS Supplier to

Automotive

Plants

Page 58

By Mark Richards

General Microcircuits, Inc. (GMI)has been providing simple solu-tions for electronic printed-cir-

cuit-board (PCB) manufacturing since1980. The company continually laun -ches new products and refines existingones, supporting the entire product de-velopment process from conceptthrough production, and serving awide range of markets including in-dustrial, commercial, telecommunica-tions, medical and defense markets.With headquarters in Mooresville,NC, just 20 miles north of Charlotte,the company also has manufacturingfacilities in Costa Rica and Asia.

At GMI, the goal is to providecustomers with the highest-quality,most reliable products possible, atthe lowest possible cost. Nick Harris,Vice-President of Global Operationsand Chief Technology Officer (CTO),attributes the company’s electronicmanufacturing services (EMS) suc-cess to numerous factors includinglong-tenured, empowered employees,innovative equipment, and strategicpartnerships. Such commitments

benefit customers by providing de-pendable, responsive, customer-fo-cused teams, products at the fore-front of technology, and effective, ef-ficient, economical solutions.

One such strategic partnershipis with Nordson YESTECH. GMI has

worked with YESTECH and its auto-mated optical inspection (AOI) solu-tions since 2010. Harris added, “As aleading EMS business, our mission isto provide high-quality manufactur-ing services for our customers. I esti-mate that approximately 98 percent

of all the components we install on aprinted circuit assembly go throughour YESTECH AOI machines. Youcan’t do what we do without a solidAOI partner.”

Over the past five years, GMIhas purchased four YESTECH FXAOI machines and a YTX-3000 auto-mated x-ray inspection (AXI) systemto fortify its PCB inspection capabili-ties. The AOI machines replaced itsthree previous-model F1 inspectionmachines and a BX inspection sys-tem from the same supplier. Harrissaid that GMI chose to stay withYESTECH as its AOI solutionsprovider due to excellent support andthe reliability of the equipment. AsHarris explained: “The equipmenthas had little to no service issues.The machines just do not break. Inour five years I think we have hadone service visit. However, we havehad several visits for applicationssupport and training. YESTECH hasprovided us with world-class applica-tions support.” Harris added that,

Page 20 September, 2015www.us- tech.com

ElEctronic Mfg SErvicESElEctronic Mfg SErvicES

Nordson YESTECH Helps Keep GMI’sCornerstone Values of

Quality & Reliability StrongBy Jay Handley

GMI’s production floor relies heavily on AOI and AXI texting.

Continued on next page

WKK Congratulates Nihon Superior on 50 Years in Business!WKK has proudly represented Nihon Superior since 1999 in distribution and manufacturing

WKK DISTRIBUTION LTD.17/F, Octa TowerNo. 8 Lam Chak StreetKowloon Bay, Hong KongTel: +852 2357 8888www.wkk.com.hk

Page 22 September, 2015www.us- tech.com

I’ve talked many times about thedisruptive nature of the industryand the way industries are com-

ing together and lines are blurring.But what about business models, willsome of these trends impact upon theway we actually sell our product. Dis-ruptive business models surroundus, Air BnB and Uber have shakenup the markets they operate in andchallenged the incumbents to reviewthe way they do business, and In-diegogo and Kickstarter have revolu-tionized entry-level venture capital.

So, is it a case of disrupt or bedisrupted, or is it just a good time tolook at the basic business model youapply and ask yourself if it’s the bestmodel for you, your investors and ofcourse your customers?

The brands are already review-ing, and in many cases changing,

their business models. Many compa-nies like Apple have, for some time,blurred the lines between product,content and service and have recog-nized that the consumer now wantsto utilise their products and servicesin different ways. Microsoft andAdobe have also applied successfullynew business models based aroundpay-per-use, rather than a single

price for their software. CreativeCloud from Adobe and Office 365from Microsoft have both been wellreceived in the market and representa price point that makes it more at-tractive for users, potentially reduc-ing the use of unlicensed software.

Next down the value chain fromthe brands is the outsourced manu-facturing and supply chain industry,the EMS companies as we call them,but perhaps not as they’d like to becalled. It seems most are exploringthe potential of new business modelsand want to rebrand themselves assupply chain specialists, innovationenablers, or in some cases investors.The EMS industry has suffered fromlow margins due to a “me too” cul-ture, an adversarial relationshipwith their customers, the brands,and a mature global market that

chases low cost labor from geographyto geography. If you analyze theproducts they produce, many are lossleading hardware for companies thatsupply a consumable, like ink jetprinters or coffee machines, that relyon cartridges or pods to make the re-al profit. Can the EMS industryadapt its model to change the way itcharges for its services and can they

really leverage the huge expertisethey have developed in manufactur-ing, product realization and fulfil-ment and supply chain design andmanagement?

And what of the companies thatprovide equipment, software, con-sumables and service into the manu-facturing supply chain? Do they needan overhaul or at least a review ofhow they do business? In many cas-es probably.

Capital equipment manufactur-ers are changing and changing fast;they are keen to be line integratorsor solutions providers, taking onturnkey manufacturing solutionswhen they can. Some have done thisthrough development of a broadproduct family, others by acquisitionand others through joint ventures.Whatever strategy they are employ-ing, they all seem keener to sell a so-lution to a manufacturing need thanto sell a machine to fit into a line.This may be driven by the desire togrow in an overcrowded mature mar-ket or by the needs of the market, buteither way, things are changing andchanging fast.

So, how far can this go? Can apiece of equipment or even a line beoffered to the market free of charge,installed into a facility as a “vendorowned solution” and charged by thenumber of operations it performs,such as the number of prints, thenumber of placements, or the num-ber of PCBs inspected or tested? To

take this even further, could a ven-dor build a facility from the groundup and charge the occupying manu-facturer for each PCB as it goes downthe line?

We saw something similar adecade or two ago with the test in-dustry. Test service companies wouldpurchase and deploy testers at thesites of their customers, managethose machines and charge a per-test

Disruptive Business ModelBy Philip Stoten (@philipstoten)

Philip Stoten is an internation-ally recognized EMS industryexpert. Known for his skills asan inter viewer, reporter and

panel moderator, Philip is a fea-tured multi-media contributor to

U.S. Tech on a regular basis.

DKL Metals Congratulates Nihon Superior on 50 Years in Business!DKL is a founding licensee and Global Partner for the SN100C alloy range

DKL Metals Ltd.Avontoun WorksLinlithgowWest LothianEH49 6QDU.K.+44 (0) 1506 847710sales@dklmetals.co.ukwww.dklmetals.co.uk

Continued on page 25

...is it a case of disrupt or be disrupted, or is it just a goodtime to look at the basic business model you apply and

ask yourself if it’s the best model for you, your investorsand of course your customers?

Page 30 September, 2015www.us- tech.com

YEARS

Congratulates on 50 years in business

Solving Your Board to Board Connector Design ChallengesConnector Design Challenges

1.0mm PitchSMT Connector

SMT Perimeter ConnectorB2B® SMT Connector

800 .424 .9850401 .823 .5200www.advanced.com i n f o @ a d v a n c e d . c om

SMT Connector

B2BConnector

SMT Perimeter ConnectorB2B®B2B® SMT ®

Connector

Huntingdon Valley, PA — Manncorphas introduced its new RW1210 Re -work System. An enhanced touch-screen user interface now contains se-lectable operating modes that fully au-tomate removal, placement, and sol-dering sequences for increased opera-tor efficiency. The RW1210 also in-cludes an enlarged board holder tohandle extra-large PCBs up to 430 x360mm (17 x 14.25-in.). The budget-priced unit is supplied complete out ofthe box, including everything neededto tackle today’s most challenging sur-face mount board repairs.

The rework system comes stan-dard with a 1.3 MegaPixel, split-visionCCD camera and a 15-in. 1080 pixelhigh-resolution display. Joy stick-controlled zoom with 230x magnifica-tion and high-brightness LED lightingprovide ultra-clear, superimposedviews of component leads and PCB sol-der pads for easy alignment usingultra-fine X, Y, and theta axis microm-eters. In conjunction with its high-pre-cision Z-axis drive mechanism and au-tomatic height sensing, the RW1210provides the ±0.01mm placement accu-racy needed for 0.3mm (0.012-in.) leadpitch µBGAs and delicate QFPs.

Five hot air nozzles are included,selected by the customer from a fullassortment available for componentssizes from 2 x 2mm to 55 x 55mm. Thenozzles direct hot air from the 1200Wupper heater to the component, andadjustable air flow control preventseven the smallest chip componentsfrom shifting during reflow.

The unit’s 1200W bottom heater,essential for BGA repair, is surround-

ed by a 2700W, rapid IR underheaterthat quickly and efficiently heats theentire bottom surface of the PCB toprevent board warpage, reduce cycletimes, and limit temperature expo-sure. The multi-level, password-pro-tected software includes sample tem-perature profiles for both lead-free andeutectic solders. These can easily bemodified to suit different rework appli-cations and then stored in the pro-gram library for later use. Set temper-ature versus actual temperature pro-files measured through the unit’sbuilt-in thermocouple input can be

recorded and exported to a flash driveconnected to a USB port on the front ofthe machine. Manncorp offers free, on-site installation and training on theRW1210, which is also backed by a fulltwo-year parts warranty and unlimit-ed factory support.

Contact: Manncorp, 1610 Re-public Road, Huntingdon Valley, PA19006 % 800-745-6266 or 215-830-1200 E-mail: sales@manncorp.comWeb: www.manncorp.com

Budget-priced rework system.

Low-Cost Manncorp Rework System

September, 2015 Page 53www.us- tech.com

See us at SMTAI, Booth 419

Osaka, Japan — This year, Nihon Superior cele-brates its 50th anniversary since first introducingsoldering materials to the market. The best-knownsolder, SN100C® has seen its 15th anniversary andits usage is still expanding. The reliability ofSN100C has been proven in a wide range of elec-tronics assembly products. The alloy delivers a sil-ver-free stable microstructure that can accommo-date the long-term and impact strains to which asolder joint can be subjected. The eutectic charac-ter of the SN100C alloy and the associated highfluidity provides faster wetting and increasedspreadability over SAC305, which is beneficial inwave soldering and hand soldering applications aswell as in reflow. The company willshowcase newly developed productsthat offer solutions for some of thechallenges the electronics industry isnow facing, such as improvements inreliability, thermally stable joining,and lead-free die attach.

SN100CV™ P506 D4 is a lead-free, no-clean solder paste with itsbasic composition of (Sn-Cu-Ni-Ge).This new alloy has an addition thatenables thermally stable solder jointseven after thermal cycling. Unlikesilver-containing alloys that derivetheir strength from a dispersion offine particles of eutectic Ag3Sn,SN100CV gains its strength fromsolute atoms in the tin matrix of thejoint. The unique ability of SN100CVP506 D4 to survive long-term storageat room temperature allows simplifi-cation of stock management whilemeeting all the requirements of mod-ern reflow soldering processes. Thelong open time ensures trouble-freeperformance in production processes.

Another product, AlconanoNano-Silver Paste is based on apatented technology that makes it

possible to effectively join most metals as well as Siand SiC at low sintering temperatures, in nitrogen

if necessary, without the nitrous or sulfurousresidues that are the by-products of the sinteringof some other nano-silver pastes. The highly activesurface of the nano-silver particles and the conse-quent strong capillary forces make it possible toachieve strong bonds with high electrical and ther-mal conductivity at low temperatures without theneed for external pressure.

Contact: Nihon Superior Co., Ltd. OverseasSales Section NS Bldg., 1-16-15 Esaka-Cho, SuitaCity, Osaka, 564-0063 Japan % +81-(0)6-6380-1121 fax: +81-(0)6-6380-1262 Web: www.nihonsuperior.co.jp/english

See at SMTAI Booth #419.

September, 2015 Page 77www.us- tech.com

VJ Electronix, Inc.234 Taylor Street,Littleton, Massachusetts USA 01460

VJ TECHNOLOGIES OFFICESBohemia, NY Suzhou, China Paris, France Budapest, Hungary Bengaluru, India

www.vjelectronix.comEmail: electronixsales@vjt.comTel: +1 631 589 8800Fax: +1 978 486 4550

Automatically “counts” components as small as 01005

One button operation

Substantially speed up part counting process

No need to remove reel from antistatic moisture barrier bag for counting

7” through 15” reels

Integrated barcode printing

>99% part count accuracy

May also be used for electronics inspection

FEATURES:

“Because Performance Matters!”

KEEPING TRACK OF COMPONENT INVENTORY JUST GOT A LOT EASIER

XQuik with AccuCount Technology combines VJ Electronix’ X-ray imaging with AccuAssembly’s image processing and inventory management to provide a highly accurate count of components stored in tape-and-reel.

AccuCountTechnology

with

San Diego, CA — KIC is showcasingthe KIC Auto-Focus Power whichprovides a recommended oven setupfor a new assembly before running asingle profile. The KIC Auto-FocusPower leads to much faster ovensetup for new assemblies and it low-ers the risk of damaging the PCBduring the first profile run. A manu-al profile can still be performed toverify an in-spec profile or for furtherfine-tuning. In addition to the quickoven setup, the Navigator Power canautomatically search for a profiledeep in spec or the oven recipe thatuses the least amount of electricity.

This easy-to-use product en -ables technicians of all levels toachieve expert process results andquickly solve that oven setup puzzle.KIC pioneered the development ofoven profilers and process optimiza-tion tools, and then worked to createthe next generation of thermal sys-tems to help manufacturers improvethe thermal process quality whilereducing cost.

Contact: KIC, 16120 W.Bernardo Dr., San Diego, CA 92127% 858-673-6050 fax: 858-673-0085Web: www.kicthermal.com

See at SMTAI Booth #338.

KIC’s AutoFocus PowerStreamlinesSetup

Nihon Superior: New Solder Pasteand 50th Anniversary

SN100CV solder paste survives long-term storage.

September, 2015www.us- tech.comPage 78

DC-DC CONVERTERSSee PICO’s full line catalog at

www.picoelectronics.com

PICO ELECTRONICS, Inc.

143 Sparks Ave., Pelham, New York 10803

Call Toll Free 800-431-1064 • FAX 914-738-8225

E Mail: info@picoelectronics.com

• DC-1 Series • 120-370 VDC input voltage range • 5-300 VDC regulated isolated outputs • Up to 300 watts output power

• DC-3 Series • 300-900 VDC input voltage range • 3.3-300 VDC regulated isolated outputs • Up to 50 watts single & dual outputs

• HiQP Series • 125-475 VDC input voltage range • 24-200 VDC regulated isolated outputs • Up to 50 watts output power

ALL MODELS AVAILABLE WITH EXPANDED OPERATING TEMPERATURESSELECTED MILITARY SCREENING • CUSTOM DESIGNS

New!New!

DC-3 Series

DC-1 Series

HiQP Series

DC-DC ConvertersHigh Input Voltages Up to 900 VDC

7/30/15 10:13 AM Page 1

Metcal: Scarab Site-Cleaning System

Garden Grove, CA — Metcal is show-ing its new Scarab Site CleaningSystem (APR-2000-SCS), along withthe MX-5200 Soldering and ReworkSystem and HCT2-120 Hot AirPencil.

The Scarab ensures accurateand repeatable cleaning of the com-ponent pad in one user-friendly sys-tem. It redefines performance andaddresses the technical demandspresented by component manufac-turers today. In addition, theScarab addresses the industryneeds with an automated systemcapable of cleaning componentspads without contact.

Another product on display,the MX-5200 soldering and reworksystem has a dual-simultaneoususe option, meaning that two hand-pieces can work from one powersupply at the same time. Thedynamic option enables the twohandpieces to share 80 watts out-put power based on demand, addingeven more application flexibilityand speed. Four different hand-pieces and a comprehensive rangeof soldering and rework cartridgessupport the MX-5200 Series simulta-neous dual operation. These includethe Metcal Advanced™ Hand-Piecefor SMD rework, a Metcal Ultra-Fine™ Hand-Piece for fine access, aPrecision Tweezer capable of remov-ing a range of components from 0201chips to 28mm SOICs, and aDesoldering Gun for safely removingthrough-hole components.

Metcal's HCT2-120 Hot Air

Pencil is especially well suited forapplications that use smaller compo-nents and integrated circuits. Ascomponent miniaturization contin-ues, the ergonomics of a pencil allowa user more freedom to access andrework components on the board,without affecting adjacent parts. TheHCT2-120 has a 120 watt ceramic

heater and dual stage air pump, dig-ital airflow and temperature con-trols, fast response and performance,standby mode and universal powersupply.

Contact: Metcal, 12151Monarch St., Garden Grove, CA92841 % 714-230-2366 Web: www.metcal.com

See at SMTAI Booth #816.

Scarab rework system.

See us at SMTAI, Booth 313