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Optimization of Solder Volume in Printed Circuit Board Assembly Through an Operating Window Experiment—A Case Study

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Abstract

Controlling solder paste volume significantly influences printed circuit board bonding. Applying an improper amount of solder paste during the printing process can cause circuit issues, such as an incomplete circuit with insufficient paste and short circuit with excessive paste. These defects can result in high repair cost or over-usage and wasting of solder paste. Therefore, the appropriate solder paste volume should be determined to ensure the quality of printed circuit board assembly and reduce cost. The solder paste printing problem can neither be classified as larger-the-better, nor smaller-the-better. The problem is a range issue. The operating window is a means to solve such problem. This study applies the operating window methodology to identify an optimal condition to maximize the operating window range. A real case study was presented to confirm the effectiveness of the method. The implementation result achieves a noticeable reduction of 15.9% in the mean usage volume of the solder paste, whereas the standard deviation of the solder volume ratio was reduced by 13.42%. The annual cost saving was expected to reach approximately USD 565,122.

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Acknowledgements

This work is partially supported by the grant from the Ministry of Science and Technology, Taiwan, ROC.

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Authors and Affiliations

  1. Department of Industrial Engineering and Engineering Management, National Tsing Hua University, Hsinchu, Taiwan

    C.-T. Su & H.-P. Hsu

  2. Department of Industrial Engineering and Management, Chaoyang University of Technology, Taichung, Taiwan

    C.-C. Hsu

  3. Institute of Manufacturing Information and Systems, National Cheng Kung University, Tainan, Taiwan

    T. Yang

Authors
  1. C.-T. Su
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  2. C.-C. Hsu
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  3. T. Yang
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  4. H.-P. Hsu
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Correspondence to C.-T. Su.

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Su, CT., Hsu, CC., Yang, T. et al. Optimization of Solder Volume in Printed Circuit Board Assembly Through an Operating Window Experiment—A Case Study. Exp Tech 41, 309–316 (2017). https://doi.org/10.1007/s40799-017-0168-3

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  • DOI: https://doi.org/10.1007/s40799-017-0168-3

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