First Article Inspection for Assemblies What FAI Is For First article inspection is the structured check of the first unit produced by a new process, a new program or a changed design, and its purpose is to prove that the process can make the drawing before the process makes thousands…

Dry Packing and Component Storage Why Storage Is a Process Components are sensitive to moisture long before they reach the reflow oven. Plastic packages absorb water from the air, and when they are heated quickly that water turns to steam inside the body. The result is internal stress, delamination, wire…

SMT Reflow Solder Joint Crack Detection: From Design to Repeatable Production 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.…

Counterfeit Components: Detection and Avoidance What Makes a Part Counterfeit A counterfeit part is one that is misrepresented: a recycled device sold as new, a lower grade sold as a higher one, a different manufacturer relabelled, or a device that was never made by the brand printed on it. The…

PCB Laminate Flame Retardant: Slowing the Fire 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…

BOM Sourcing and Part Substitution Why the BOM Decides the Project A bill of materials looks like a list, but it behaves like a schedule. Every line carries a part number, a package, a tolerance, a temperature grade and a supplier, and any one of those fields can stop a…

SMT Stencil Linearity: Keeping the Openings True 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 SMT…

PCB Copper Trace Adhesion Promotion: Helping the Copper Stick 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 copper trace adhesion promotion from the perspective of a PCBA…

Masking Methods for Coating and Plating What Masking Does Masking protects parts of an assembly from a process that is applied to the whole board, and it is used for conformal coating, for plating and finishing, for potting and for any operation that must not reach a connector, a contact…

SMT Reflow Solder Joint Thermal Resistance: How the Joint Moves Heat 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 SMT reflow solder joint thermal resistance gives…