SMART group. Design for reliability success
Design for reliability success
The SMART Group seminar on 29th January, "Design for Reliability in a Lead Free World" proved to be a highly popular event with 70 delegates attending.
Speakers came from TRW, Thales, Tin Technology, Merlin Circuit Technology,NPL, NMRC and Concoat. The Chairman for the day was Graham Naisbitt of Concoat,a SMART Group Technical Committee member.
Design issues were reviewed from the science of reliability testing, the aspect of board fabrication, through components and the overall process.
Dr Brizoux from Thales, France, was asked about the high cost of their testing system. He replied that the cost was justified "It depends upon the cost of failure, we make aircraft and defence systems!"
The speaker from TRW, Dr Stephen Prosser, showed that the automotive industry is not avoiding lead free, but actually evaluating its introduction as early as the 2004 model year. He also highlighted the importance of circuit miniaturisation with an eye on 0201 components. This is an important factor that will be discussed at the SMART Group upcoming 0201 seminar on February 14th.
