Preventing Production Defects and Product Failures

Estimated reading time: 1 minute

By Dr. Jennie S. Hwang, Ph.D., D.Sc. CEO & Principal, H-Technologies Group & Board Trustee & Distinguished Adj. Professor, Case Western Reserve University

Under today’s manufacturing and market environment, the effort to maximize production yield, reduce cost and assure product reliability is becoming increasingly important to a company’s competitiveness. Considering the new and anticipated developments in packaging and assembly and with the goal of achieving high yield and reliability in mind, the “how-to” prevent prevailing production defects and product reliability issues through an understanding of potential causes is a necessity.

On Thursday, March 17, 2016, from 9:00 am to 12:00 pm, professional development course (PD21) at IPC APEX EXPO will be held at the Las Vegas Conference Center. The course will address the top six production defects and issues:

• PCB pad cratering (vs. pad lifting)
• BGA head-on-pillow defect
• open or insufficient solder joints
• copper dissolution issues
• lead-free through-hole barrel filling
• PCB black-pad issues

The course provides a holistic overview of product reliability including the important roles of materials, processes and testing/service conditions, as well as the crucial principles behind the product reliability. The course addresses the most prevalent production issues and defects that affect yield, cost and reliability, suitable to all who are involved with or interested in SnPb and Pb-free manufacturing including designers, engineers, researchers, managers and business decision makers; also is designed for those who desire the broad-based information.

Specific defects associated with BTCs and PoPs and the reliability of BTC and PoP assembly will also be outlined.

The main topics to be covered in this course are listed below. You are most welcome to bring your questions and issues for solutions and discussions.

Main Topics:

• Premise of production defects and product failure prevention
• The most common production defects/ issues in lead-free assembly
• PCB pad cratering (vs. pad lifting) — causes and solutions
• BGA head-on-pillow defect — causes, factors, remedies
• Open or insufficient solder Joints – different sources, best practices
• Copper dissolution — process factors, impact on through-hole joint reliability, mitigation
• Lead-free through-hole barrel filling — material, process and solder joint integrity
• PCB black-pad issues – causes, remedies
• Defects of BTC solder joints – prevention and remedies
• Defects of PoP solder joints – prevention and remedies
• Product reliability – principles
• Product reliability – roles of solder joint, PCB and component considerations
• Summary – production defects
• Summary – product reliability

For more information on this PD course or to register, click here.