-
- News
- Books
Featured Books
- smt007 Magazine
Latest Issues
Current IssueIPC APEX EXPO 2025: A Preview
It’s that time again. If you’re going to Anaheim for IPC APEX EXPO 2025, we’ll see you there. In the meantime, consider this issue of SMT007 Magazine to be your golden ticket to planning the show.
Technical Resources
Key industry organizations–all with knowledge sharing as a part of their mission–share their technical repositories in this issue of SMT007 Magazine. Where can you find information critical to your work? Odds are, right here.
The Path Ahead
What are you paying the most attention to as we enter 2025? Find out what we learned when we asked that question. Join us as we explore five main themes in the new year.
- Articles
- Columns
Search Console
- Links
- Media kit
||| MENU - smt007 Magazine
Pillarhouse International's Allan Jiang Discusses Selective Soldering Developments
July 28, 2017 | Stephen Las Marias, I-Connect007Estimated reading time: 2 minutes

Pillarhouse International is a selective soldering equipment manufacturer based in Chelmsford, UK. It offers sales and service, with a supplementary manufacturing facility in Suzhou, China, and a sales and service support office in Chicago, Illinois, in the United States.
Last year, the company set up its second China office in Guangzhou, according to Sales Manager Allan Jiang. "Over the past three to four years, our business has grown really fast in this market," he says in an interview during the recent NEPCON China event in Shanghai. In line with this, the company has also increased its maintenance team in China to provide customer support.
"The market is growing, and we are getting more and more inquiries from the market. Therefore, more equipment manufacturers are entering this area. The bigger brands are still there, but you can see a lot of local brands entering the selective soldering market," says Jiang.
Jiang notes that, while there are a lot of suppliers in the market now, most of them also build wave soldering and reflow soldering systems. Only Pillarhouse is focused solely on selective soldering machines. "Therefore, we have a lot of technologies that others do not have. And we keep on innovating to develop new technologies for this market," Jiang says.
According to Jiang, one of the technology challenges right now is the requirement by customers to have 100% hole fills. This is compared to the minimum 75% hole fill based on IPC standards. "A lot of customers want 100% of the holes filled with solder. This is difficult, especially for thick boards," he says.
To address this issue, Jiang says they developed a 1.5mm nozzle—which he claims to be the smallest nozzle in the world. Not only does this help to completely fill through-holes with solder, it can also help customers solder fine-pitch areas.
As far as reliability issues, Jiang blames many failures on the process, particularly due to improper machine settings. He says the machines are stable; it’s just a matter of defining the proper parameters.
"We help customers find the correct flux, set up the preheat, the soldering speed, soldering time, and soldering height, etc. The customers should understand the machines very well so they can make the proper program," says Jiang. He adds that they always provide customer training.
When choosing a selective soldering system, Jiang says the cost, throughput and solder quality are among the key factors to consider. One of the latest developments from Pillarhouse is PILOT, an entry-level, hand-loaded, benchtop selective soldering system for small- to medium-batch manufacturers.
"A lot of customers still consider selective soldering very expensive, so we developed an entry level machine so that they will have a chance to use our products," says Jiang.
Suggested Items
AIM Solder Partners with Performance Technologies Group for Sales Representation in Northeast US
03/12/2025 | AIM SolderAIM Solder, a global leader in solder assembly materials for the electronics industry, is excited to announce its new partnership with Performance Technologies Group, Inc. (PTG), an established electronic manufacturers’ representative.
Indium Corporation, Industry Partners to Showcase Products 'Live@APEX'
03/10/2025 | Indium CorporationIndium Corporation®, in cooperation with its industry partners, will feature its proven solder solutions live on the show floor throughout IPC APEX Expo from March 18-20 in Anaheim, California.
Indium Experts to Present on Solder and Thermal Solutions at APEX 2025
03/07/2025 | Indium CorporationAs a global supplier of solder and thermal interface material (TIM) products, Indium Corporation experts are proud to share their technical insight and knowledge on a variety of industry-related topics at IPC APEX Expo, March 18-20 in Anaheim, California.
Indium to Showcase High-Reliability Solder Technology at IPC APEX EXPO 2025
03/05/2025 | Indium CorporationIndium Corporation®, a leading materials provider for the electronics assembly market, will feature its high-reliability solder solutions at IPC APEX EXPO 2025, taking place March 18-20 in Anaheim, California.
Black Diamond Orders Hentec Industries/RPS Automation Vector 300 with EMP Upgrade
03/03/2025 | Hentec Industries/RPS AutomationThe Vector 300 is the most compact model in the selective soldering Vector series lineup, making it ideal for facilities with limited space. Despite its size, the Vector 300 can process boards up to 300 x 300 mm (11.8 x 11.8 in.).