Journal of Electronics Manufacturing

Multichip modules (MCMs) are an advanced packaging technique that features greater packing density and performance than traditional packaging technologies. At present, the lack of a merchant MCM infrastructure and high costs are together limiting the widespread use of MCM technologies outside the captive markets. However, in the near future, current packaging technologies will not be able to deliver the equivalent size, weight and reliability advantages offered by MCM technology. Evidence shows that MCMs are migrating towards low- and mid-range computer applications thanks to technological advancements and to the increased demands for higher performance within this market. This paper presents MCM classifications, design issues, interconnection techniques, trends in the technology and the changing marketplace and applications for these packaging systems.

In the face of growing competition in the PCB assembly industries, considerable effort has been applied to determine the most effective solutions to the problems of printed circuit board (PCB) design, manufacture and test to meet changing market demands as well as to improve productivity and quality. Conceptually, the ideal solution is believed to lie in the creation of a practical computer-integrated manufacturing (CIM) environment. To achieve this, the integration of computer-aided design (CAD) systems with auto-insertion and placement machines in a flexible manufacturing system (FMS) is a vital requirement. This paper describes the design and development of a generic CAD interface applicable to a wide variety of CAD systems and auto-insertion and placement machines.

The paper reports on an experimental study on solder paste printing in which the speed of separation between stencil and substrate was varied and the resulting prints were examined for height and defects. The main conclusion of the study is that the speed of separation does not significantly affect the number of printing defects for some solder pastes whereas for others a very low value of separation speed results in more defects. These differing responses reflect the differing solder particle size distributions and chemical structures of the four solder pastes tested. The flow behaviour of the pastes is a crucial factor in determining defect rates.

Developed in Japan and becoming increasingly talked about under the name 'Taguchi methods', robust design minimizes the sensitivity of a product or a process to external uncontrolled factors. The present paper expands robust design methods to situations common in electronics design in which design factors interact or in which multiple performance characteristics are to be made robust. This paper proposes a constrained optimization method to achieve robust performance of electronic devices, by limiting attention to only the truly relevant (i.e. feasible) designs that meet all target performance criteria. A recently-solved circuit design problem is revisited to illustrate the proposed method's superior model development, optimization, and robustness-seeking capability.

This paper examines how 169 executives from leading North American electronics businesses assess their competitive operations abilities and performance, trends in business and manufacturing performance, technological readiness and manufacturing strategies. Comparative analysis reveals that the world-class electronics performers are accelerating their overall competitiveness, both internally by investing in technology and human assets and externally by forging strong relationships with customers. As a result, the most successful firms display heightened levels of organizational agility and performance.