Meet the Press

A conversation with media personalities Mike Buetow (Circuits Assembly Magazine), Trevor Galbraith (Global SMT & Packaging), Phil Stoten (Scoop TV), and Eric Miscoll (EMC Now). During our conversation we covered various topics including post pandemic production, innovations within our industry, supply chain and labor shortages, and more.

My guests may be reached here:
Mike Buetow
mbuetow@upmediagroup.com

Trevor Galbraith
tgalbraith@trafalgarmedia.com

Phil Stoten
phil@wearescoop.com

Eric Miscoll
emiscoll@emsnow.com

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Matric Group’s Patrick Stimpert on Lean Manufacturing with a “Lean-In” Philosophy

EMS provider Matric Group’s Patrick Stimpert incorporated the Toyota Production System’s Lean principles into his contract manufacturing business. Patrick states “Results are Important. How do I get my results? With the use of the Toyota Production System’s Lean principles and my simple rule “don’t waste time rearranging deck chairs on the Titanic, go fix the problem”. I believe in the “LEAN-IN” processes and gain improvements through RIPs (Rapid Improvement Projects) These projects are based on a standard of identifying problems, brainstorming solutions, attempting those solutions, and adjusting from there. “If we are going to fail, we are going to fail fast and cheap.”

Matric Group
https://www.matric.com

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A Conversation about Contract Manufacturing with Worthington Assembly’s Chris Denney

Worthington Assembly’s Chris Denney speaks about the electronic contract manufacturing business.

• How to select an appropriate contract manufacturer
• Evaluating a contract manufacturer’s capabilities
• Mistakes made when selecting a contract manufacturer
• Advantages and disadvantages of selecting a US-based contract manufacturer

Chris may be contacted here:
cdenney@worthingtonassembly.com

Worthington Assembly’s website:
https://www.worthingtonassembly.com

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A Conversation with Solder Paste Expert Tim Jensen of Indium

Tim Jensen talks about:
• Solder paste selection best practices
• Low temperature solder
• Common mistakes made when using solder paste
• Solder paste jetting / micro-dispensing
• And much more

Tim Jensen may be reached here:
tjensen@indium.com

Indium Corporation
https://www.indium.com

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A Conversation About Thermal Profiling with ECD’s Mark Waterman

ECD’s Mark Waterman discusses thermal profiling best practices.

• Common mistakes made when using profilers
• In-use best practices
• Common applications

Mark may be reached here:
mailto:mwaterman@ecd.com

ECD’s Website:
https://www.ecd.com

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A Conversation with Manufacturer’s Representatives About Sales and Support Post Covid 19

Episode 71: A Conversation with Manufacturer’s Representatives About Sales and Support Post Covid 19

Four manufacturer’s representatives share their experience in supporting their customer’s needs. They share how sales and support has changed over the years and review the “new normal”.

My guests are:

David Leventhal
Restronics
dleventhal@restronics.com

Joan Carrol-Kennedy 
Restronics
jcarroll@restronics.com

Murray Percival Jr.
Murray Percival
mapercival@murraypercival.com

Todd Wittmer 
Wittco Sales
toddwittmer@wittcosales.com

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A Conversation with Nano Dimension’s Co-Founder Amit Dror

Episode 70:

My guest today is AMIT DROR
Co-Founder of Nano Dimension Ltd. and Customer Success Officer. Amit served as Nano Dimension’s Chief Executive Officer from 2014 to 2019. 

Nano Dimension has produced a product which, arguably can be best described as a true disruptive force within the electronic assembly space.

We’re all experienced with inkjet printers. Ink jet nozzles travel from left to right back and forth over a sheet of paper. When the printing process has been completed, out shoots a sheet of paper with text or images deposited on the paper’s surface. Now, imagine a different type of printer. Instead of four-color ink cartridges there are two basic inks, one a dielectric ink and the other a silver-based conductive ink. The print heads travel back and forth and, when the printing process is finished, out pops a multi-layer circuit board complete with vias, through-holes, ground planes, and conductive traces, and markings, ready for component placement and reflow. Need another board, just press print. This technology gives new meaning to “printed circuit board”.

Amit Dror
Co-Founder of Nano Dimension Ltd. and Customer Success Officer

Nano Dimension
nano-di.com

NANO DIMENSION USA INC.

13798 NW 4th Street, Suite 315
Sunrise, FL 33325, United States
NANO DIMENSION (ISRAEL)

2 Ilan Ramon St.
Ness-Ziona Science Park
Ness Ziona 7403635, Israel
NANO DIMENSION (HK) LTD.

Unit 202. 2/F, Lakeside 2, Phase Two,
Hong Kong Science Park, Pak Shek Kok,
New Territories, Hong Kong

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Part 2 of an Interview with Me (Mike Konrad) on the Pick-Place Podcast with Chris Denney and Melissa Hough

Episode 69:

I was privileged to be a guest on the Pick-Place Podcast with Chris Denney (Worthington Assembly) and Melissa Hough (CircuitHub). This is the second of a two-part interview.

In this episode we are joined by Mike Konrad to chat about board cleaning. Mike founded Aqueous Technologies in 1992 in response to the Montreal Protocol and the resulting international treaty banning most popular cleaning/defluxing solvents. Their board cleaning equipment assists manufacturers with increasing product reliability while saving both water and energy, reducing the industry’s environmental impact.

In addition to being the President of Aqueous Technologies, he is also a fellow podcaster and runs the Reliability Matters Podcast, which discusses reliability of circuit assemblies, reliability “best practices” and success stories.

In the first part of this conversation we delve into the history of board cleaning, the electronics the industry’s transition to primarily using no-clean flux, and why more and more companies are reintroducing board cleaning back into their assembly process.

This episode gets us into the nitty gritty details of how to implement a proper circuit board cleaning process.

Chris Denney may be reached here:
cdenney@worthingtonassembly.com

Melissa Hough may be reached here:
melissa@circuithub.com

Mike Konrad may be reached here:
konrad@aqueoustech.com

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An Interview with Me (Mike Konrad) on the Pick-Place Podcast with Chris Denney and Melissa Hough

Episode 68:

I was privileged to be a guest on the Pick-Place Podcast with Chris Denney (Worthington Assembly) and Melissa Hough (CircuitHub). This is the first of a two-part interview.

In this episode we are joined by Mike Konrad to chat about board cleaning. Mike founded Aqueous Technologies in 1992 in response to the Montreal Protocol and the resulting international treaty banning most popular cleaning/defluxing solvents. Their board cleaning equipment assists manufacturers with increasing product reliability while saving both water and energy, reducing the industry’s environmental impact.

In addition to being the President of Aqueous Technologies, he is also a fellow podcaster and runs the Reliability Matters Podcast, which discusses reliability of circuit assemblies, reliability “best practices” and success stories.

In the first part of this conversation we delve into the history of board cleaning, the electronics the industry’s transition to primarily using no-clean flux, and why more and more companies are reintroducing board cleaning back into their assembly process.

If you want to listen to us get into the nitty gritty details of how to implement a proper circuit board cleaning process, make sure to listen to the second half of this episode.

Chris Denney may be reached here:
cdenney@worthingtonassembly.com

Melissa Hough may be reached here:
melissa@circuithub.com

[Read more…]

A Conversation with Rework/Repair Expert Norman Mier of Best Inc.

Episode 67: A Conversation with Rework/Repair Expert Norman Mier of Best Inc.

Norman Mier is a U.S. Marine Corp. retired veteran with over 20 years of experience in the electronics rework and repair industry. He received his training through the Navy’s Micro Miniature (2M) Electronic Repair Program. He has progressed through every level of rework and repair recognized in the industry. Norman has also earned the highest certifications awarded by IPC in electronics training, being certified as a Master Instructor in IPC A-610, IPC J-STD-001D, IPC/WHMA-A-620 and IPC 7711/7721.

He has worked through BEST for several electronics industry leaders and created tailored courses for their equipment. This also includes providing training to technicians and engineers in surface mount and advanced surface mount technology. The knowledge Norm has brought to these companies has been invaluable to their process improvement efforts. His skill has also been a major factor in keeping BEST training at the forefront in the electronics-training field.

Norman may be contacted here:
nmier@solder.net

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A Conservation with Dr. Ron Lasky and His Students Annaka Balch, Nadia Clement, and Raaga Kannan

Dr. Ron Lasky (Professor at Dartmouth College) and three of his students talk about the papers they wrote which were presented at SMTA’s Pan Pacific Microelectronics Symposium in Hawaii in 2020 as well as a new paper to be presented at the same conference in 2022.

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Part 2 of our Conversation with Tim O’Neill and Fred Dimock on Oven Profiling

Welcome to episode 65 of the Reliability Matters podcast. This is part 2 of our conservation with Aim Solder’s Tim O’Neill and BTU’s Fred Dimock. On this episode, we’ll dive into oven profiling best practices.

Timothy O’Neill is the Technical Marketing Manager for AIM Solder. Operating out of AIM’s U.S. Headquarters, Tim is responsible for developing and optimizing product and technical information, collaborating with complimentary suppliers and equipment manufacturers and ensuring AIM’s products exceed expectations and meet market requirements.
Tim is also a technical writer and presenter for industry trade publications and events. He has co-authored several papers on PCB assembly subjects.

Tim is also an IPC-A-610 Certified IPC Specialist.

Fred Dimock is the Manager of Process Technology at BTU International and recently started a consulting business, FCD-Global services.

Fred holds an Associate Degree in Mechanical Design from Wentworth in Boston and a Bachelors Degree in Ceramic Engineering from the State University of New York.

Fred has authored numerous articles on lead free solder, process control, and the operation of continuous furnaces. His papers have been published in English, Chinese, and German.

He has taught numerous SMTA solder reflow classes and participated in the 5-45 Subcommittee for the development of IPC-7801 Reflow Oven Process Control Standard.
Additionally, he wrote the chapter on solder reflow for the Handbook of Electronic Assembly and A Guide to SMTA Certification by Dr Lasky and Jim Hall.

He received Distinguished Speaker status at SMTA Guadalajara Mexico and is a key presenter for the SMTA Jump Start program for new engineers.

Tim O’Neill may be contacted here:
toneill@aimsolder.com

Fred Dimock may be contacted here:
fdimock@btu.com

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A Conservation with Tim O’Neill and Fred Dimock

Welcome to episode 64 of the Reliability Matters podcast. On this episode, we’ll have a conversation with two industry experts on the subject of solder voiding mitigation and oven profiling, two subjects which influence solder voiding. This will be a two part episode. Today, we’ll dive into void mitigation and how vacuum reflow technology can help reduce or eliminate voiding. Part two, on episode 65 (in two weeks), we’ll discuss profiling best practices.

My guests today, and one the next episode are Tim O’Neill from AIM Solder and Fred Dimock of BTU. Tim will discuss voiding mitigation from a materials standpoint while Fred will bring cover equipment and profiling stragities.

Timothy O’Neill is the Technical Marketing Manager for AIM Solder. Operating out of AIM’s U.S. Headquarters, Tim is responsible for developing and optimizing product and technical information, collaborating with complimentary suppliers and equipment manufacturers and ensuring AIM’s products exceed expectations and meet market requirements.
Tim is also a technical writer and presenter for industry trade publications and events. He has co-authored several papers on PCB assembly subjects.

Tim is also an IPC-A-610 Certified IPC Specialist.

Fred Dimock is the Manager of Process Technology at BTU International and recently started a consulting business, FCD-Global services.

Fred holds an Associate Degree in Mechanical Design from Wentworth in Boston and a Bachelors Degree in Ceramic Engineering from the State University of New York.

Fred has authored numerous articles on lead free solder, process control, and the operation of continuous furnaces. His papers have been published in English, Chinese, and German.

He has taught numerous SMTA solder reflow classes and participated in the 5-45 Subcommittee for the development of IPC-7801 Reflow Oven Process Control Standard.
Additionally, he wrote the chapter on solder reflow for the Handbook of Electronic Assembly and A Guide to SMTA Certification by Dr Lasky and Jim Hall.

He received Distinguished Speaker status at SMTA Guadalajara Mexico and is a key presenter for the SMTA Jump Start program for new engineers.

Tim O’Neill may be contacted here:
toneill@aimsolder.com

Fred Dimock may be contacted here:
fdimock@btu.com

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A Conversation with and a Presentation by Reliability Expert Dock Brown

Welcome to episode 63 of the Reliability Matters Podcast. Today, I’ll be speaking with Dock Brown.

Dock Brown brings his more than 30 years of electronics reliability experience to clients of Ansys. Prior to joining Ansys, he spent 20 years at Medtronic where he most recently concentrated on cross business unit implementation of reliability initiatives for Class III medical devices. He was also responsible for supplier assessment and approval, on-going supplier audits, failure analysis, corrective actions, MRB, sampling, and ultimately full accountability for quality and reliability of commercial off-the-shelf and custom parts and assemblies from a worldwide supplier base. Earlier in his career, Mr. Brown also spent time at Sundstrand Data Control where he led the implementation of Boeing’s Advanced Quality System program and with Olin Aerospace.

As a volunteer, he has been involved with ASQ, IEEE, IPC, and SMTA. He was the keynote speaker at the SMTA Cleaning Conference and won the best paper award at the SMTA Microelectronics Conference. He has taught on the subjects of design for reliability, tin whiskers, statistics, design of experiments, and contributed to standards development.

Today’s episode is a little different than others. Dock will be sharing a very interesting presentation on the subject of reliability. If you’re listening to the audio-only version of this episode, you may want to view the video version so you can see Dock’s slide-deck. The video version of this episode, and several others are available on the Reliability Matters YouTube channel.

Dock Brown may be reached here:
dock.brown@ansys.com

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A Conversation with Cogiscan’s Co-Founder François Monette

Welcome to the Reliability Matters Podcast. This is episode number 62. By now, most of us have heard of Industry 4.0, or the Industrial Internet of Things (IIOT), or Smart Factory, or Factory of the Future. The key all of these acronyms is Connectivity, Data Management, Material and Process Control, Traceability, and Analytics. It’s not as simple as collecting data. The data much be understood, useful, and contextual. 

My guest today is François Monette, is the co-founder and Chief Business Development Officer at Cogiscan, a company specializing in Track Trace Control products for the electronics industry.

François co-founded Cogiscan in 1999 with two other partners in Canada. François earned his mechanical engineering degree from McGill University in Montreal. François started his career at IBM, and worked at contract manufacturers, C-Mac and Solectron, before joining Universal Instruments.

François Monette may be contacted here:
fmonette@cogiscan.com

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