PARTNER FOCUS SMT line


Pushing the Boundaries


Circuit Solutions (Cambridge) Ltd. explores how the evolution in electronics systems components has put pressure onto contract manufacturers to come up with solutions to these problems and how the company continues to solves these challenges


its growth of this industry and has been a factor in the success of contract electronic manufacturer Circuit Solutions (Cambridge) Ltd. Both from experience they have found this helps to focus minds on achieving solutions by utilising the technical capabilities of their equipment and the company’s technical knowledge to the fullest. Circuit Solutions has steadily grown their


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customer base due to their in-depth knowledge and experience in electronic manufacturing along with their cutting edge equipment. Their niche market is at the high end of technology in offering full turnkey manufacturing from the research and development stages all the way through to medium volume manufacturing. Design for Manufacturing has also played


an important part in the service that Circuit Solutions offers. This involves evaluating the information supplied by the customer and submitting a full design report of recommendations. Additionally, investment in the right cutting-


edge equipment has been key in pushing the boundaries. This facilitates the creation of a good match between their high technology customers along with the challenges of customer’s complex products. Circuit Solutions investment in new cutting-


edge equipment over the recent years includes:


• 3 x Europlacer surface mount lines – including in line Speedprint printers and BTU


reflow ovens.


• 2 x Aleader automatic optical inspection. • Nikon X-ray equipment.


• Ersa Veraflow selective soldering equipment. Also key to their success has been


developing a close working relationship with their customers, which Circuit Solutions continually strive towards. Everyone at the company is committed to this ethos of developing partnerships with both their


18 OCTOBER 2021 | ELECTRONICS TODAY


ushing the boundaries in the electronics industry has been an important factor in


customers and suppliers. Circuit Solutions product awareness, technical know-how and with sharing of information in all areas enables everyone to contribute to pushing the boundaries. The teams that focus on achieving this include:


• Sales ~ In depth technical knowledge and direct customer support.


• Engineering ~ Design for manufacturing, prototypes to full manufacturing.


• Purchasing ~ Supply chain experience.


• Manufacturing ~ SMT/Selective soldering/Inspection and test.


• Test ~ Design for test, technical product support to customer’s design engineers.


Circuit Solutions demonstrates how some


of the boundaries have been pushed with the following examples:


1. Placement of small devices including 01005 and 0201 size components. Due to the drive to make electronic products smaller and lighter, miniaturisation and reducing spacing between components has been and still is the general trend in the electronics industry, particularly for handheld electronic products. In fact, another driving force for smaller components is the increasing complexity of features and functions. Passive components occupy a significant area of the PCB, especially for analog and mix signal applications that use a large number of passives compared to a typical digital system. Reducing the size of


the passive components and the spacing between them increases the packaging density, which is an efficient way to miniaturise many electronic products. However, the use of such a tiny component


poses challenges for surface mount assembly. Some of the main factors affecting the assembly process are:


• Pad design on the board - associated defects: tombstoning, unsoldered parts.


• Stencil design and thickness - paste deposition issues. The population on the


boards is also very important - the 01005 and 0201 in combination with large components on the same board may require stepped stencils.


• Paste deposition inspection - not enough as well as unbalanced volume can lead


towards tombstoning.


• Pick and place repeatability, component placement pressure, total assembly time -


placement position (x,y) is critical.


• Reflow profile - aggressive profiles will increase the tombstoning problems.


Circuit Solutions investigates these


challenges when carrying out the design for manufacturing process and will submit a recommendation report on their findings to the customer. The company are aware when coming up with solutions that may be pushing the boundaries in overcoming any manufacturing challenges that are presented.


Ersa Veraflow Selective Soldering equipment


2. Insufficient barrel fill during component soldering. Historically, like many contract electronic manufacturers, Circuit Solutions has come across challenges with the soldering of some pth components into printed circuit boards when dealing with numerous ground planes that causes insufficient barrel fill when soldering. There are a number of factors that often combine to cause this problem. Firstly, there is usually a significant temperature gradient between the bottom of the board and the top side. Since solder likes heat, the solder is reluctant to flow up the barrel to a


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