Stencil Aperture Design for Mixed Technology Boards A mixed technology board carries a fine pitch surface mount population and a set of through hole parts, and the two need different paste volumes from the same stencil. Meeting both on one sheet of metal is the problem the stencil design has…

Solder Wick and Rework Tools: Selection and Control Solder wick is a braid of fine copper strands that removes molten solder from a joint by capillary action. It is the simplest desoldering tool in a rework station and the one that causes the most damage when it is used badly,…

Board Level Shielding Design With Cans and Fences A board level shield is a metal enclosure soldered over a circuit to keep electromagnetic energy in or out. It is a mechanical part, a thermal part and an electrical part at the same time, and the design has to satisfy all…

Assembly Traceability Data Structure and Retention Traceability is a data structure rather than a mark. The mark identifies the unit, and the structure decides what can be asked of it afterwards, which is the part that determines whether a field problem can be narrowed to a day or to a…

PCB Traceability Limits: Where the Edges Are Electronics manufacturing has become a discipline of small details. Solder paste volumes, placement accuracy, temperature profiles and inspection limits all add up to the final result. This guide looks at PCB traceability limits from the perspective of a PCBA factory floor, covering understanding…

PCB Traceability Setup: Getting Ready Modern electronics depend on boards that are assembled correctly the first time. Every product – a phone, a charger, a medical instrument or an industrial controller – relies on thousands of solder joints that must conduct current for years. This article explains PCB traceability setup…

PCB Traceability Plan: Laying It Out First Electronics manufacturing has become a discipline of small details. Solder paste volumes, placement accuracy, temperature profiles and inspection limits all add up to the final result. This guide looks at PCB traceability plan from the perspective of a PCBA factory floor, covering planning…

PCB Traceability Review: A Second Look Buyers and engineers often focus on the finished product and forget the production line behind it. In practice, most field failures can be traced back to process decisions made during assembly. Understanding PCB traceability review gives you a practical advantage when you choose a…

Automatic Optical Inspection Programming in Production An automatic optical inspection system is only as good as the program it runs, and the program is built from CAD data, a component library and a set of thresholds that decide what is acceptable. Programming is therefore where the inspection yield, the false…

Wave Soldering: Design Rules and Process Limits Wave soldering is a mature process that still produces a characteristic set of defects: bridging between adjacent pins, icicles and webs, insufficient fill in a plated through hole, solder balls and a dull, grainy surface that suggests the alloy or the flux has…