Ask the Experts – A Conversation with Phil Zarrow & Jim Hall

Welcome to another episode of the Reliability Matters podcast. For those of you keeping track, this is episode number 127.

In recent episodes, we’ve covered high-level issues, such as hiring best practices, novel, training, methods, design for manufacturing, highly accelerated, life, testing, and more. On this episode, we’re going to go back to the basics. What common problems are assemblers experiencing today? What are the basics of assembly best practices? Which problems seem to live in perpetuity?

To answer these and other questions, I’ve invited two of my favorite experts on to the show. If you’ve been in the electronic assembly industry for some amount of time, there’s little doubt you’ve heard of Phil Zarrow and Jim Hall. Phil has been involved with PCB fabrication and assembly for more than 36 years. Phil is the President and Principal Consultant of ITM Consulting. Jim Hall has been involved in the electronic assembly industry for the past 27 years. He’s a principal consultant and resident Lean Six Sigma Master Black Belt with ITM Consulting. He’s also an instructor in the Lean Six Sigma programs offered at Dartmouth College. Together with Dr. Ron Lasky, Phil and Jim designed the SMTA’s SMT Processes Certification Course.

A couple of years ago, Phil and Jim published a book in titled “troubleshooting electronic assemblies, tales from the board talk crypt”. I’ll talk to them more about that book later in this broadcast.

Phil and Jim host the popular audio series “Board Talk” a question and answer show hosted on the Circuit-Insight website. On their show, you’ll hear serious questions, and often comical but real answers.

Phil Zarrow’s Contact Info:
phil_zarrow@itmconsulting.com

Jim Hall’s Contact Info:
jim_hall@itmconsulting.com

ITM Consulting:

Home

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Moisture Mitigation Strategies with Dan Jenkins and Rob Lowery

Moisture. The industrial world has been fighting moisture since the beginning of the industrial world. From a general point of view, moisture leads to issues such as • Mold and mildew • Rust • Wood rot • Damage to building materials • Microbial growth • And so much more.

In the electronics world, moisture creates a host of reliability problems including:
• Popcorning
• Delamination of conformal coating
• Corrosion • Electrochemical migration
• Adhesion degradation (such as on labels and glues)
• And more

I wanted to dive into moisture mitigation, so I invited two guests onto my show to discuss this very topic.

Dan Jenkins is sales manager and partner of the Steel Camel, an industrial solutions company specializing in corrosion and water intrusion control for fuel systems and industrial equipment. Prior to Steel Camel, Dan worked as consultant and instructor in the crane accident prevention industry. He has consulted to large organizations such as Shell Oil, and the United States Department of Interior.

Dan earned an MBA from the University of South Florida and earned his BA in Industrial Arts / Technology from Cal St. University Chico and his Post Secondary Teaching Credential from San Francisco State University.

Bob Lowry has both BS and MS degrees in Chemistry. His experience includes 31 years as Sr. Scientist and Lab Manager for three integrated circuit manufacturing companies, where measurement of moisture and moisture control activities were a major part of services he provided.

Dan has 20 years of experience consulting to the microelectronics industry on a wide variety of topics including materials analysis and measurements and methods of moisture control for electronic components. Bob is also the co-author of the book Hermeticity of Electronic Packages.

Dan Jenkins’ Contact Info:
djenkins@steelcamel.com
https://www.steelcamel.com/

Bob Lowry’s Contact Info:
rlowry98@aol.com

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DFM Best Practices with Pride Industries’ Engineering Manager Andrew Williams

As all of you are well aware, this show is all about reliability, specifically reliability of circuit assemblies. One challenge that seems to be persistent within our space is design for manufacturability or DFM. If you’re a contract manufacturer, I have no doubt that you’ve had the experience of being asked to build a product that seems unbuildable. One example that rings true in my world was the introduction of bottom terminated components or BTC’s. BTC’s are marvelous components.

Because all the lead terminations are below the part, they allow for highly dense component placement and highly miniaturized assemblies. They also presented a number of unique challenges in reflow, in many cases voiding, cleaning, and inspection. Like many other industries, we are not immune to the introduction of new technologies that may lack implementation knowledge. We then spend the next several years at technical conferences and symposiums learning us how to implement these new technologies. There are many acronyms in our industry that begin with DF…

Design for testability, mechanical assembly, serviceability, reliability, and so many more. So many in fact, that there is a placeholder acronym for all of the various design fours refer to as DFx. Perhaps the holy grail of DFx is DFM, Design for Manufacturability as it encompasses so many aspects of assembly.

To help us understand what exactly is DFM, I invited Andrew Williams to be my guest on this episode. Andrew Williams is the Engineering Manager for Electronics Manufacturing at PRIDE Industries. He has more than 30 years of experience in manufacturing and design and holds an SMT Process Engineer certification from SMTA and an IPC Certified Electronics Program Manager. Andrew is a guest lecturer at UC Davis and Cal State University Sacramento for Supply Chain Management, Operations, and TQM courses, and speaks frequently on DFM, DFS, and other DFX topics and today, he’s my guest on the Reliability Matters Podcast.

Andrew’s Contact Information:
Pride Industries
andrew.williams@prideindustries.com

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Industry Icon Dave Hillman’s Amazing 3,600 Mile Kayak Journey Down the Missouri River

Industry icon Dave Hillman completed a 3,600 mile solo kayak journey down the Missouri River. I spoke with Dave about the inspiration for the journey, insights gained over his four-month expedition, and how his experience as an engineer helped him prepare for this epic experience.

This video features many photographs taken by Dave Hillman on his 3600 mile kayak journey.

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Introduction to HALT – Highly Accelerated Life Testing with Dr. Christopher Jackson

We all strive to build products that are reliable. If you’re listening to our watching this podcast, chances are you are concerned about or at least interested in reliability. Where does reliability start? Who is responsible for reliability? What types of reliability testing can be performed? My guest on this episode will help answer these and other reliability-based questions.

My guest today is Dr. Christopher Jackson. Dr Chris Jackson is a leader, engineer and logistic specialist who has helped many organizations work towards realizing business goals through improving the reliability of their products and processes. He is cofounder of online training company IS4, founder of Acuitis Reliability, established the Center for the Safety and Reliability of Autonomous Systems (SARAS) at UCLA after retiring as a lieutenant colonel having served 17 years in the Australian Army, where he was the Senior Reliability Engineer. Dr Jackson completed his PhD in Reliability Engineering at the University of Maryland in 2011.

Dr Jackson authored multiple reliability and management textbooks and teaches both professional education courses and post-graduate courses. Industries he has helped range from small satellites through to military vehicles. Dr Jackson is a Certified Reliability Engineer (CRE) through the American Society of Quality (ASQ), a member of the Institute of Engineers, Australia (MIEAust) and a Chartered Professional Engineer (CPEng).

Chris was a guest on this podcast back in June of 2020 (episide 45) and I’m thrilled to have him back as my guest today.

Dr. Jackson’s Contact Information:
chris.jackson@acuitas.com
https://www.acuitas.com

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The Integration of AI Into Inspection Systems

When it comes to circuit assemblies, there are defects, which result in one of two situations. The preferred result of a defect is to capture it on your factory floor and repair it before it ships to the customer. The second scenario is referred to as an escape. That’s when the board ships to the customer and fails in the field. This is a scenario, all assemblers dread and strive to prevent. One way to prevent escapes is through the use of automated inspection or AOI systems.

My guests today are Arif Virani, Chief Operating Officer and co-founder of Darwin AI, and Bart Piwowar, CTO of Darwin AI, a manufacturer of innovative inspection systems.

Arif Virani is a technology leader with over 20 years of experience in the industry. As Co-founder and Chief Operating Officer of DarwinAI, he spearheads the company’s mission to transform manufacturing with a new standard for quality inspection using AI. DarwinAI’s solutions have been implemented at the top Electronics Manufacturers to increase quality and efficiency, while reducing waste. DarwinAI was selected by CBInsights for its AI 100 annual list of the 100 most promising private AI companies in the world in both 2020 and 2021.

Before founding DarwinAI, Arif had a successful career in management consulting at McKinsey & Company, where he advised F500 enterprises on technology investments and transformation. He led several technology-enabled programs, including building and commercializing data and analytics capabilities. Arif started his career working as a software developer at various technology companies. In addition to his work at DarwinAI, Arif is an Advisory Board Member of NGEN Canada’s AI for Manufacturing Initiative. He has a Master’s in Business Administration from the University of Pennsylvania’s Wharton School and a Bachelor’s in Applied Science (Computer Engineering) from the University of Waterloo.

Bart Piwowar is an experienced Product Leader, leading high performing product teams driven by data to deliver solutions that solve customer’s problems. He has spent many years leading data science teams, applying Innovation methodologies, and working with emerging technologies to bring solutions in many disciplines. He graduated from University of Waterloo with a degree in Physics and Computing and later followed with an MBA from Wilfrid Laurier University.
Bart’s career interests range from AI product development, decision science and entrepreneurship.

I met Arif earlier this year at the IPC APEX Expo in San Diego California when he introduced me to his company’s automated inspection system.

Needless to say, I was truly impressed with their technology and I’m thrilled to have him as my guest on this episode of the podcast.

Contact Information:
Arif Virani
arif@darwinai.ca
https://darwinai.com/
Darwin AI’s YouTube Channel:
https://www.youtube.com/@DarwinAI

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Dr. John Mitchell discusses his new book “Fire Your Hiring Habits”

Most of us are well aware of the supply chain shortages, both within our industry and well beyond. Some of us are also keenly aware of labor shortages. This show is all about reliability of circuit assemblies. While reliability is often referred to as a process, it is also rooted in culture.

Reliability begins with people. So, instead of talking about common reliability, subjects, such as voiding, soldering materials, assembly, best practices, and the plethora of other usual suspect topics,
I thought it would be a good idea to talk about people. After all, as I said, reliability begins with people.
My guest today is Dr. John Mitchell. Many of you know John as the president and CEO of IPC, one of our industries largest trade associations. John has recently written a book, entitled fire your hiring habits. I have to admit, the title is quite intriguing.

Here’s a little background on John. Since 2012, Dr. John Mitchell has served as president and CEO of IPC, a not-for-profit trade association driving competitive advantage for more than 3,000 companies across the globe. Leading the global operations and staff, John manages the creation and execution of the Board of Director’s goals.

Under his leadership, IPC has essentially doubled the total company membership globally as well increased the acceptance of standards by over 50 percent. John led the charge for IPC’s Online Certification Portal and the company’s overhaul of it Member Success department. His efforts served to improve relations with members and helped move the needle on positive regulatory change.

Prior to IPC, John was an engineer with General Electric Aerospace and was a founding member of Alpine Electronic’s research company—which pioneered modern navigation systems in the U.S. OEM market. John himself holds a patent in GPS navigation systems. John then served as general manager/director of the largest product development initiative in Bose Corporation’s history. He went on to become CEO of Golden Key International Society, the noted collegiate honor society serving over two-million members.

John earned his doctorate in higher education management from University of Georgia’s Institute of Higher Education, a Master of Business Administration from Pepperdine University, and a Bachelor of Science in electrical and computer engineering from Brigham Young University. In addition to his work with IPC, John is an in-demand speaker and the author of two books so far (sounds like more books may be in the works… I need to ask him about that!).

Fire Your Hiring Habits is available at most book sellers including Amazon:https://tinyurl.com/fire-your-hiring-habits

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Making Reliability Training Entertaining and Effective

Can reliability training be both entertaining and effective? The Manufacturing Game’s Michelle Ledet Henley has a different approach to traditional training methods.

Michelle Ledet Henley has worked with The Manufacturing Game since 1998 as a developer of new simulations and training material. She has traveled worldwide in her capacity as a facilitator and trainer for The Manufacturing Game and other simulations developed by Ledet Enterprises, Inc. Michelle has been instrumental in developing simulations with a focus on reliability, project management and distribution.

She began her career with KPMG Peat Marwick in San Francisco, CA, and then worked for a real estate management and development firm in the Washington, D.C. area. Before joining The Manufacturing Game®, Michelle formed her own company, Innovative Interfaces, which provides computer programming services around the United States.

Michelle has a bachelors of business administration degree from the University of Texas – Austin in Accounting and Information Services.

Michelle’s Contact Information:
mrledet@manufacturinggame.com

We Can Help You Achieve A Better Bottom Line

linkedin.com/in/michelleledethenley

The following books were recommended on this episode:
Don’t Just Fix It, Improve It
https://a.co/d/gYvMKdI

The Story Telling Code by Dana Norris
https://a.co/d/cCgTWNb

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Quantum Mechanics Explained

I first met my guest at the SMTA Pan Pacific Symposium in Hawaii this past January. He was presenting a paper entitled Quantum Technology, A Theoretical Overview of the Possibilities. The more I listened to and watched his presentation, the more I wanted to learn about quantum physics and mechanics. So I selfishly invited him onto my show today so I could learn more, and perhaps you can too.

My guest today is Dr. James Whitfield. Dr. Whitfield is an associate professor of physics at Dartmouth. He earned his Bachelor’s of science and chemistry and mathematics from Morehouse University and his PhD in chemical physics from Harvard University. He was a postdoctoral fellow at Columbia University in New York, Vienna Center for Quantum Science and Technology in Vienna and Gant University and Belgium, and he is currently an Amazon visiting academic and even better than all that, he’s my guest today on the Reliability Matters Podcast.

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Making “Big Data” Useful with Intraratio’s Ryan Gamble

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When Residues Cause Circuit Assemblies to Fail

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Supply Chain Musings

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Making Sense of “Big Data”

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The Remarkable Return of the Post-Reflow Cleaning Process

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A Conversation about Counterfeit Component Detection with Dr. Eyal Weiss

We are all aware of the “oldest profession in the world”. Perhaps the second oldest profession is counterfeiting. Whenever a product is introduced, a counterfeit version soon follows. While the electronics industry has experienced counterfeit components from its inception, recent events such as the pandemic and supply chain shortages have fueled the counterfeit industry.

Statistics by the Semiconductor Industry Association (SIA) reveal that the counterfeiting of electronic parts in the US alone, cost the chip industry more than $7.5 billion in revenue annually. According to new data from the ERAI, a global information board for counterfeiting, reports of counterfeit electronic products are growing. Although it is difficult to put an exact figure on just how many counterfeit products are in circulation, estimates suggest that consumer and industrial businesses lose approximately $250 billion each year due to counterfeit parts.

To talk more about counterfeit components and detection technologies, I invited Dr. Eyal Weiss, Founder and CTO of Cybord to be my guest. Dr. Weiss received his Ph.D. in Electronic and Computer Engineering from BGU (Ben-Gurion University) in Israel
As well as a Masters in Plasma Physics and bachelors cum laude in Mechanical Engineering from the Technion–Israel Institute of Technology.

He worked as a researcher on pulsed plasma at Soreq Research Center (SNRC). He then worked as a technology department manager in the high-tech fiber-optics industry. He was the technology manager at Lynx Photonics and then at Explay, developing state-of-the-art Silicon and optical chips production, packaging, and assembly production lines. He developed a new fiber-pigtailing and packaging technology and built full-scale production lines utilizing this new technology.

He returned to Soreq SNRC and for 15 years served as manager and leading scientist of the R&D Systems Department. He built mass-production lines and assembly lines for new sensors technology and developed their test equipment. He has twice received the prestigious Israel Defense Prize.

In 2018, he founded and became CTO of Cybord, developing electronic component qualification and authentication technologies. He is a member of the Israel Innovation Authority, Euramet, SAE, and IPC committees. He specializes in multidisciplinary technology development and has received significant awards and accolades in the fields of machine learning, plasma physics, optical assemblies, laser technology, and electromagnetics.

Dr. Weiss is an expert in technology development and manufacturing technology and has published over 20 peer-review articles, 4 patents, and a book, and, I’m happy to say, he’s my guest on this episode of the Reliability Matters podcast.

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