-
- News
- Books
Featured Books
- smt007 Magazine
Latest Issues
Current IssueBox Build
One trend is to add box build and final assembly to your product offering. In this issue, we explore the opportunities and risks of adding system assembly to your service portfolio.
IPC APEX EXPO 2024 Pre-show
This month’s issue devotes its pages to a comprehensive preview of the IPC APEX EXPO 2024 event. Whether your role is technical or business, if you're new-to-the-industry or seasoned veteran, you'll find value throughout this program.
Boost Your Sales
Every part of your business can be evaluated as a process, including your sales funnel. Optimizing your selling process requires a coordinated effort between marketing and sales. In this issue, industry experts in marketing and sales offer their best advice on how to boost your sales efforts.
- Articles
- Columns
Search Console
- Links
- Events
||| MENU - smt007 Magazine
This Month in SMT007 Magazine—Continuous Improvement: As Simple as X = Xc – 1
January 4, 2021 | I-Connect007 Editorial TeamEstimated reading time: 2 minutes
X=Xc– 1 is a conceptual equation for continuous improvement. You define X and work to reduce it by a factor of 1. This could be one work hour, one process step, one day less in a cycle, and so on. We recently met with Ronald Lasky, Ph.D., PE, Sr. Technologist, Indium Corp. and Professor of Engineering at Dartmouth College, to discuss the concept of X=Xc – 1 and get his advice on generating enthusiasm among readers and the next generation about continuous improvement. As this discussion illustrates, many process improvements are small in scale, not yearlong, major efforts.
Nolan Johnson: Continuous improvement is not a new idea, but we would like to shine a light on the idea of “X=Xc – 1.” To do this, first, you define what X is, and then you make an action plan to reduce it by one. It could be reducing your design spins, the number of steps in your process, or the number of gates in manufacturing. It could be any approach where you can incrementally improve, take something out, and get it done with fewer steps and iterations.
Happy Holden: It’s the concept of solid base hits rather than going for the home run all the time.
Ron Lasky: It’s sort of a formulaic approach, but maybe that’s better. Continuous improvement is the essence of Lean Six Sigma. There is a term in Lean Six Sigma called DMAIC (define, measure, analyze, improve, and control), assuming you want to improve something. You define what it is that you want to improve (D). You measure where you are (M). You collect some data and analyze it (A). Then, you improve it (I), usually with a designed experiment. Once that’s all set up, you must develop a plan to control it (C). That’s statistical process control.
For example, let’s say a small mom-and-pop shop collected the data for the year 2020, and they found that at the end of the line before repair, they had 2% fallout: 2% of the boards had to be repaired. They collected the data in a Pareto chart. If they made 100,000 boards, they had about 2,000 boards that were defective, and they found that the primary defect was shorts. That was 1,200, and then the second defect was a missing component and on down the list. Usually, you would want to attack the most significant defect mode. That was shorts. They started to look at what typically causes shorts. Two-thirds of end-of-line defects can be attributed to stencil printing, so that is good place to start.
This mom-and-pop shop may hire a local college student as an intern, who has a Lean Six Sigma Green Belt, and they teach the intern about electronic assembly. The company may also have pictures of all 2,000 defects. They analyze those images and decide that the main reason they had too many shorts is that there’s too much solder paste on the pads. When the component is placed, excess solder paste spills over the pad that occasionally, when it melts, creates a solder bridge to an adjacent pad. They do some more work and decide that maybe they should make all of their stencil apertures a little tighter, or maybe they should get a different solder paste. They call their current solder paste vendor and discuss some of these issues.
To read this entire interview, which appeared in the January 2021 issue of SMT007 Magazine, click here.
Suggested Items
AIM to Highlight NC259FPA Ultrafine No Clean Solder Paste at SMTA Wisconsin Expo & Tech Forum
04/18/2024 | AIMAIM Solder, a leading global manufacturer of solder assembly materials for the electronics industry, is pleased to announce its participation in the upcoming SMTA Wisconsin Expo & Tech Forum taking place on May 7 at the Four Points by Sheraton | Milwaukee Airport, in Milwaukee, Wisconsin.
Hentec/RPS Publishes an Essential Guide to Selective Soldering Processing Tech Paper
04/17/2024 | Hentec Industries/RPS AutomationHentec Industries/RPS Automation, a leading manufacturer of selective soldering, lead tinning and solderability test equipment, announces that it has published a technical paper describing the critical process parameters that need to be optimized to ensure optimal results and guarantee the utmost in end-product quality.
Empowering Electronics Assembly: Introducing ALPHA Innolot MXE Alloy
04/16/2024 | MacDermid Alpha Electronics SolutionsIn the rapidly evolving electronics industry, where innovation drives progress, MacDermid Alpha Electronics Solutions is committed to setting a new standard. Today, we are pleased to introduce ALPHA Innolot MXE, a revolutionary alloy meticulously engineered to address the critical needs of enhanced reliability and performance in modern electronic assemblies.
New Book on Low-temperature Soldering Now Available
04/17/2024 | I-Connect007I-Connect007 is pleased to announce that The Printed Circuit Assembler’s Guide to… Low-temperature Soldering, Vol. 2, by subject matter experts at MacDermid Alpha Electronics Solutions, is now available for download.
Inkjet Solder Mask ‘Has Arrived’
04/10/2024 | Pete Starkey, I-Connect007I was delighted to be invited to attend an interactive webinar entitled “Solder Mask Coating Made Easy with Additive Manufacturing,” hosted by SUSS MicroTec Netherlands in Eindhoven. The webinar was introduced and moderated by André Bodegom, managing director at Adeon Technologies, and the speakers were Mariana Van Dam, senior product manager PCB imaging solutions at AGFA in Belgium; Ashley Steers, sales manager at Electra Polymers in the UK; and Dr. Luca Gautero, product manager at SUSS MicroTec Netherlands.