Placement of new, super-small components
With extensive test series at its SIPLACE Application Centers, ASM Assembly Systems has evaluated theplacement of 03015 components on its current SIPLACE machines. First results: 03015 placement requires modified pickup and placement procedures, optimized travel profiles and special nozzles. At this time, the SIPLACE experts are working closely with selected customers to develop concrete recommendations for 03015 volume production processes. The test runs with the new, super-small 03015 components have shown that having perfectly coordinated process parameters makes the difference – from the board layout and solder pad design to the use of special solder pastes to the actual placement process and the heat profile of the reflow oven. To ensure this level of coordination, the SIPLACE experts advise their customers to run concrete 03015 implementation projects and establish close, collaborative relationships with their equipment suppliers.Taking the first step, SIPLACE invitedProductronica visitors to come to its headquarters wherethe company offered special presentations and workshops on its 03015 test series.
With a width of only 0.15 millimeters and a length of 0.3 millimeters, the new 03015 components are the latest stage in the miniaturization of resistors and capacitors that poses new challenges for electronics producers and their SMT processes. ASM Assembly Systems has already tested the 03015 capabilities of its current SIPLACE placement platforms in a wide-ranging series of tests.
Positive results: 03015 tests on SIPLACE placement platforms
To check out the 03015 process under real-life conditions, the SIPLACE engineers ran placement tests with large numbers of the miniscule components in the company’s Application Center. Besides measuring the results, each procedure was analyzed via videos taken with high-speed cameras. The travel profiles as well as the pickup and placement procedures were optimized, and a special nozzle was developed. In the first test runs the current standard machines achieved zero dpm (defects per million) and pickup rates exceeding 99.91 percent.
Many factors outside of the placement machine
The SIPLACE team’s 03015 tests also showed that the level of quality and process reliability is affected by the entire SMT process chain. As a result, the SIPLACE experts recommend coordinating the entire process from PCB and pad design to solder paste selection and application to placement and reflow, as well as to establish process parameters that have been optimized for 03015 applications. “The new model ranges of SIPLACE machines master the 03015 process without modification. In the areas of solder paste printing and inspection the challenges are a lot tougher, though. As the industry’s technology and innovation leader, we are obligated to not only deliver first-class placement machines to our customers, we also must help them to improve their production processes. It doesn’t matter whether we are talking about NPI processes or the introduction of new component shapes such as 03015. To fully understand the 03015 process, we have initiated our own printer and inspection projects. Our SMT process experts did a first-class job in this endeavor. As a result, we are now able to give our customers all over the world valuable tips and good advice,” says Günter Lauber, the CEO of ASM Assembly Systems.
Visitors of Productronica 2013 who were invited to attend the workshops and presentations on the 03015 tests at the Munich headquarters of ASM Assembly Systems were altogether very impressed with the performance and the thorough process knowledge of the SIPLACE team. More information about the placement of 03015 components (including slow-motion videos) is also available at www.siplace.com.
From the board layout and solder pad design to the use of special solder pastes to the actual placement process and the heat profile of the reflow oven – for 03015 placements, all process parameters must be perfectly tuned.
