Build Cycle Time Reduction through Process Optimisation*

Since establishing a low volume, high reliability surface mount technology(SMT) facility, a number of problems have been overcome as part of the learning experience. The tailoring of processes for a flexible assembly area brought to light a number of issues that traditional SMT facilities do not face. This paper describes the many processes optimised by the SMT facility team in becoming an on‐time, high reliability producer. The topics include the development of design standards, forming, tinning, stencil printing, and component placement. Several producibility enhancements are also described in a case‐study of a solder mask evaluation project. The paper describes the many process improvements implemented over the past few years.