December, 2011 Rewriting the Rules Continued from previous page
Breakthrough Technology The breakthrough ProActiv pro -
cess technology, which can be fitted onto all DEK printers, enables the industry’s smallest components to be printed alongside its largest and most complex, using a conventional printing process and a single thick-
we benefited in terms of time and costs right from the start,” he says.
Increased Quality/Yields Increased quality leads to bet-
ter yields, less rework and a host of other benefits that go straight to the bottom line of any business. Another cost benefit has come in the shape of reduced stencil maintenance, as Steve points out: “It is clear, just from watching the squeegees, that ProActiv handles the paste very nice- ly. The paste is print-ready right from the start, and it just falls off the squeegee, so every sweep is clean — the stencils require less cleaning as the paste seems to move better, and paste release is much improved. Our
www.us-
tech.com
manufacturing environment tends to be high mix and low volume so we never wear out our stencils, but given the way it works, it’s easy to imagine that ProActiv could be instrumental in extending stencil life in a higher volume production envi- ronment,” he says. While ProActiv’s many advan-
tages have been so dramatically proven, there are some added bene- fits that are key to a forward-think- ing EMS provider, as Steve under- lines: “ProActiv gives Hansatech a significantly wider process window, and this is invaluable as it allows us to go out with confidence to our clients and take on much more diffi- cult boards, extending our business offerings considerably.” So just as DEK is using Pro -
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Activ to rewrite the rules of electron- ics stencil printing, ProActiv is enabling electronics manufacturers all over the world to revolutionize their processes and rewrite their own rules about what they can achieve for their ever more complex and demanding industry. All of this with a drop-in technology that takes half a day to install. Simple, easy-to-use and a revo-
lution in the making, ProActiv deliv- ers unprecedented paste transfer effi- ciencies and a stable process that sig- nificantly increases quality, yield and throughput while reducing production costs substantially. Contact: DEK, 1785 Winnetka
Circle, Rolling Meadows, IL 60008 % 847-368-1155 Web:
www.dek.com or
www.hansatechems.com r
The business end of ProActiv is special squeegee.
ness stencil. It does this by energiz- ing the paste that is in contact with or in very close proximity to the squeegee blade. This “shear thin- ning” process renders the paste more compliant so that it is ready to print immediately, and enhances the bond between the solder particles while increasing their density within the stencil apertures, providing manu- facturers with better aperture fill. By making the paste more cohe-
sive, ProActiv also facilitates its release onto the board rather than sticking to the aperture walls, improving print quality and paste release. All of these factors combine to allow electronics manufacturers to reduce aperture ratios considerably while increasing the thickness of the stencils they can use. When he heard about ProActiv,
Steve had no doubts whatsoever that this was the answer to his problems. “When I understood that we would be able to use a thicker stencil on our DEK Europa printer while reducing aperture sizes, I knew immediately that ProActiv was perfect for this specific board, allowing us to print everything in one online process, using one single-thickness stencil”. Indeed, he was delighted to find that, by DEK designing the right aperture sizes in a 5 thou stencil, he was able to lay down enough solder paste for the QFP, while maintaining the con- trol and precision work necessary to handle the tiny BGAs. All in one pass, in a drop-in process. By using ProActiv, Hansatech
has significantly cut the time needed to manufacture this board, while eliminating the expensive offline manual printing process — a result that is worth celebrating, as Steve explains: “This has given us greater control over the entire process, and as a direct consequence, our quality has improved — the print is flat and consistent, and the features are impressively well-defined, across the PCB, and throughout the print run — in fact, ProActiv has helped us man- ufacture some of the best-looking products we have seen”. As Hansatech’s confidence in
product quality grew, and Steve’s team learned to trust the process, they were able to increase their cycle speeds, with excellent results: “Al - most from the outset, our throughputs and efficiencies improved no end, so
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