Reliability Matters

Episode 75: 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...

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 Worth...

Episode 73: 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

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

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@restr...

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 a...

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/def...

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/defl...

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 a...

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.

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 informatio...

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...

Episode 63: 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 imp...

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, us...

Special Edition: A Conversation with IPC's Chief Technologist Matt Kelly about IPC APEX Expo 2021. This year's APEX Expo is a virtual event. Matt and I discuss IPC's new technical conference focus and review a small sample of the upcoming technical presentations and professional development courses. Register for IPC APEX Expo here: https://www.ipcapexexpo.org IPC Factory of the Future: https://ape...

Episode 61: A Conversation with Flex Circuit and Additive Expert Tara Dunn Tara Dunn and I discuss the world of flex and rigid-flex circuits including flex best practices when it comes to design and use of flex technology. We also discuss the new world of additive electronics. Tara Dunn is a seasoned professional with more than 20 years in the electronics industry exclusively focused on the PCB se...

Episode 60: A Conversation with Rockwell Collins' Dave Hillman about Solder Voiding Solder voiding has been with us longer than we know. Modern X-ray inspection technology has allowed assemblers to see and quantify voiding. Metallurgical expert Dave Hillman from Rockwell Collins explains the causes and possible remedies for solder voiding. Dave Hillman is a Metallurgical Engineer in the Advanced O...

Episode 59: My guest, Eric Fossum is best known for the invention of the CMOS image sensor better known as the “camera-on-a-chip” used in billions of cameras, from smart phones to web cameras to ingestible pill cameras to DSLRs. In 2017, Eric was a co-recipient of the Queen Elizabeth Prize for Engineering, the world's top engineering prize (and considered by many as equivalent to the Nobel Prize)...

Episode 58: 2020 Round-Up On this last episode of 2020 there are no guests, no experts, no best-practice advice. Just a short recap of 2020. We just reached more than 10,000 downloads of the podcast! A HUGE thank you to my audience and my guests for making this podcast possible! On this episode I'll announce the first few guests of the 2021 season of Reliability Matters. This is looking like a ter...

Episode 57: A Conversation with CAF Expert Graham Naisbitt Conductive Anodic Filament (CAF) is a form of Electrical-Chemical-Migration (ECM). Unlike surface-level ECM, CAF exists beneath the surface of the circuit assembly. Graham and I discuss the causes of CAF and methods to test for and mitigate CAF. Graham has an extensive history working in the electrical and electronic manufacturing industry...

Episode 56: A Conversation about Solder Voiding with Solder Materials, Stencil, and Cleaning Experts Voiding is the cause of multiple failure mechanisms. I spoke with solder material expert Tim O'Neill of Aim Solder, stencil manufacturer Prakash Gango of StenTech, and cleaning materials manufacturer Kalyan Nukala of Zestron about how solder voiding leads to product failures and methods to reduce v...

My guest today is Dr. Martin Anselm. Martin is a professor at Rochester Institute of Technology (RIT) and is also the newly elected President of the Surface Mount Technology Association or SMTA. Martin also worked for Universal Instruments. During his 12 year career at Universal Instruments, Martin was, among other positions, a Process Research Engineer and Manager of Failure Analysis Services. Ma...

Episode 54: A Conversation with Michael Ford about Digital Twin Michael Ford and I talk about Digital Twin, its purpose, value, and its future. Michael Ford, Sr. Director of Emerging Industry Strategy Aegis Software Michael Ford has more than 30 years working within the electronics assembly manufacturing space. Michael has a degree in Electronics from the University of Wales, Michael started his c...

Episode 53: Meet the Press - A Conversation with Industry Journalists about the State of the EMS Industry In this episode, I speak with Mike Buetow, Editor In Chief of Circuits Assembly and Printed Circuit Design and Fab magazines, Trevor Galbraith, publisher of Global SMT and Production magazine, and Philip Stoten of Scoop TV. We discuss the state of the electronics assembly industry, the affects...

Episode 52: A Conversation with Conformal Coating Expert Dr. Sean Clancy of HZO Dr. Sean Clancy and I discuss the various types of conformal coatings designed to protect circuit assemblies from moisture and other hazards. We discuss coating best-practices and current IOT-based products that are increasing the need for protecting circuit assemblies from harsh environments. Dr. Sean Clancy is the Di...