SMS Selects Metcal CV-500 System

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SMS – Smart Made Simple’s strategic capital equipment partner Metcal, have selected them as the first company in the UK to trial the new Metcal CV-500 system, the latest addition to their Connection Validation family of products.

“Strong working relationships are critical to our business development and SMS – Smart Made Simple has proven to be an invaluable source of feedback and inspiration to Metcal for many years. We share the same drive and ambition. Constantly pushing boundaries, improving technology in cutting-edge design, process control, and high-quality high-reliability manufacture.  We are excited to place our new system into their nurturing hands,” said Neil Edwards, Metcal regional sales manager.

So, what can SMS – Smart Made Simple expect the new Metcal CV 500 system to do for their operations?

The new Metcal CV-500 Connection Validation soldering system offers process control via a visual indication to the operator that a solder joint has been formed with a satisfactory Intermetallic Compound layer (IMC) in real time. This technology, Connection Validation, provides a mechanism of ensuring consistent joint integrity by ensuring the hand soldering process delivers an IMC layer between 1.0µm and 4.0µm (SAC305).

The Connection Validation algorithm is a Metcal propriety Technology and utilises static characteristic of the solder tip, Idle Power, and tip thermal efficiency descriptors to characterise energy delivery in the soldering process using polynomial interpolation and curve fitting techniques to determine the IMC formation as a function of the power signature for the thermal energy demand of the process

The system also provides the operator with a visual indication of the Tip’s idle temperature, Tip Part number, Tip Serial Number and Lot number to ensure the correct tip cartridge is selected and process traceability is achieved. Metcal Tip cartridge temperature is fixed and controlled inherently by the curie point of the material in the heater with Metcal’s proprietary “Smart Heat” technology and therefore does not require calibration

A first for the industry the new CV-500 Soldering system also captures Hand soldering Data for accurate process control and Data analysis. Improve your solder process traceability and create a performance baseline using CV's intelligent cartridges plus CV-500 Monitor software. Using our Connection Validation patented technology, CV Monitor software allows you to capture solder process information over time for each joint when attached to the systems communication port. Now that you have a baseline, you can quickly analyse your soldering performance, identify changes in your solder conditions, and make changes to your process

“Metcal and SMS have shared a common vision based on many years of expertise and industry experience, it’s Smart Made Simple to collaborate in this way and bring their product to life within our real-world electronics manufacturing environment.  We are looking forward to the driving results, efficiency, and yield,” Graham Shaw, chief operations officer, SMS – Smart Made Simple concluded.