Hand Soldering: The Move Toward Automation

Estimated reading time: 9 minutes

Matties: By having the right tool, the right balance of tip, weld time, temperatures, and solders, they should be able to get really good, high-quality solder joints. A little front end planning and training gives you a lot of long-term benefits.

In terms of temperature, how do they know where the right temperature is? You can attack a board with high temperature, get your solder to melt, create a joint, but it may not be as good as one that you've taken a few seconds longer to create.

Taberner: This is what I call the dweller run. Many customers ask me, what is the right temperature? I say, “You're going to find the right temperature during the testing.” The most important thing at JBC is that the temperature recovery is really fast. The first thing we do with the customer is figure out what their process is and what their temperature is. I don't change their process. We do it the same but we do it with lower temperature, because our system has a thermocouple and micro-processor, so when the equipment sees a loss in temperature it gives more power to keep the temperature uniform and constant.

The idea here is to keep the temperature as low as you can, but the right temperature is really difficult to say. I have customers that need 360°C, 380°C, but it depends on the application and the thickness. I always invite my customers to try the lowest temperature they can.

Matties: The real answer in my mind is automation. Hand soldering just seems like something that can be completely automated or used on a very specialized basis. We've seen it already. It seems like with a system that's completely automated, all of those variables are taken in by computer. Its throughput is unstoppable too, right?

Taberner: It is 24 hours for 365 days. It is true, you're right, but depending on what kind of applications you are making, and sometimes the applications need to be more specific and more specialized.

Matties: How much of this work in China is currently going through automated systems? Do you know?

Taberner: I’m not really sure. According to what I know and the markets I manage, it is not too much at the moment. I think the opportunity is going to come to this market in a few years.

Matties: I think sooner.

Taberner: So we need to focus on the early development.

Matties: That would be my message to you; a year is a long time. But I understand you have to do it right, you can't rush it.

Taberner: JBC’s philosophy is to bring something different to the customers, so we need to bring something different than what our competitors are doing.

Matties: Customers want the quality, the performance, and the lower price. How do you do that?

Taberner: Our equipment is more about the ROI and how fast you're going to pay back this equipment. Our equipment is more expensive than some, but our performance and tip life, for example, is five times longer than our competitors, so you get your investment right back.

There are customers that are more price orientated, or customers that are looking for quality. Our company is also developing for Industry 4.0 so you can connect your stations to one computer. If you have a company in U.S., but you have your factory or your manufacturing in China, and you can analyze data from your computer and deliver meaningful information where and when it is most needed.

Matties: Interestingly, you were talking earlier about how it's different when manufacturing in Europe, China, or U.S., but with automation and the networking you can really standardize your processes.

Taberner: You can standardize the process. The Industry 4.0 allows companies to create a smart and unified production system by connecting multiple plants to each other. This means they can prevent failures and in turn improve quality. That is where we are going. For me, it's perfect; I like to have new products to offer to my customers. I like to offer my customers new solutions they have not thought about, and I think in Mexico, we are not too late.

Matties: How long has JBC been in the market?

Taberner: Since 1929, JBC has been at the forefront in developing soldering and rework tools for electronics professionals.

Matties: That’s a lot of experience there.

Taberner: A lot of experience. We know what we're doing in the game of soldering and now we have to step forward with automation, and that is going to be the next step.

Matties: Thanks for your time.

Taberner: Thank you.

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