SMT Assembly

With a production capacity of assembling over 25,000 surface-mount (SMT) components per hour on five machines in Germany and two in Romania, our SMT electronics manufacturing service covers the complete spectrum of case sizes, including QFB, BGA µBGA, CBDA, CSP, Flip-Chip and 0204.

Depending on the project and order size, your SMT assembly project will be produced on our SMT manufacturing lines. Small and medium-quantities are usually assembled on our Stand-Alone machines. After the SMT components are assembled, the boards are soldered with a Reflow process. During the final step of the SMT production process, CAI or automated optical inspection (AOI) is performed to make sure that all components have been soldered correctly and that the boards are ready for delivery.

For prototypes and small-series orders, we also offer vapor phase soldering in addition to standard reflow soldering. For vapor phase soldering, we use the Asscon VP 32 Vapor Phase (Galden LS230) soldering system. Vapor phase soldering allows us to solder electronic components at lower peak temperatures.

In addition to SMT manufacturing processes, we also offer conventional THT assembly, as well as cable assembly and device mounting. For faulty designs or problematic assemblies, we also provide a range of SMT and BGA Rework services, regardless of where your boards were originally assembled.

We use similar machines at our locations in Germany and Romania to be able to manufacture products at both locations and to be able to change over a product in case of emergency. Our machine list is not exhaustive and there are several of all machines in our machine park.

Electronics manufacturing using surface-mount technology (SMT) simply means that electronic components are assembled with automated machines that place components on to the surface of a board (printed circuit board, PCB). In contrast to conventional through-hole technology (THT) processes, SMT components are placed directly on the surface of a PCB instead of being soldered to a wire lead. When it comes to electronic assembly, SMT is the most frequently used process in the industry.

SMT electronic assembly encompasses not only placing and soldering components to the PCB, but also the following production steps:

• Applying soldering paste, which is made of tin particles and flux, to the PCB 
• Placing SMT components in the soldering paste on the PBC
• Soldering the boards with a reflow process.

Applying Solder Paste with Jet Printers

Many of our assembly lines are equipped with a particularly flexible process for printing solder paste. Using so-called jet printers, small paste deposits are shot very precisely onto the printed circuit board. A jet printer can apply several million dots per hour. This allows us to respond flexibly to design changes or demanding PCB designs without having to order paste stencils again and thus losing time.

Applying Solder Paste with Stencil Printers

Applying soldering paste is one of the first steps in the SMT assembly process. At Newmatik, soldering paste is "printed" on the boards using the silk-screen method. Depending on the design of the board, different stainless-steel stencils for "printing" the paste onto the board and various product-specific pastes are used. Lasers cut out the precise design of the PCB into the stainless-steel stencil, which allows the soldering paste to be applied only to the areas where components will be soldered. After the soldering paste is put on the boards, a solder paste inspection is performed to ensure that the paste is evenly and correctly applied. Once the accuracy of the soldering paste application has been confirmed, the boards are transferred to the SMT assembly line, where the components will be soldered.

Component Placement and Assembly

The electronic components to be assembled come in trays or reels, which are then loaded into the SMT machine. During the loading process, intelligent software systems ensure that components are not inadvertently switched or misloaded. The SMT assembly machine then automatically removes each component with a vacuum pipette from its tray or reel and places it on its correct position on the board using precise pre-programmed X-Y coordinates. Our machines are capable of assembling up to 25,000 components per hour. After the SMT assembly is completed, the boards are moved on to the Reflow ovens for soldering, which affixes the components to the board.

Component Soldering

To solder electronic components, we use two different methods, each of which has distinct advantages depending on the order quantity. For series production orders, the Reflow-soldering process is used. During this process, boards are put in a nitrogen atmosphere and are gradually warmed up with heated air until the soldering paste melts and the flux vaporizes, which fuses the components to the PCB. After this stage, the boards are cooled off. As the tin in the soldering paste hardens, the components become permanently affixed to the board and the SMT assembly process is completed.

For prototypes or highly sensitive components, we have a specialized vapor-phase soldering process. In this process, boards are heated until the specific melting point (Galden) of the soldering paste is reached. This allows us to solder at lower temperatures or solder different SMT components at different temperatures depending on their individual soldering temperature profiles.

AOI and Visual Check

Soldering is the second-to-last step of the SMT assembly process. To ensure the quality of the assembled boards, or to catch and correct a mistake, CAI or AOI visual inspections are performed for almost all series production orders. Using several cameras, the AOI system automatically checks each board and compares the appearance of each board with the correct, pre-defined reference image. If there are any deviations, the operator of the machine is informed of the potential problem, who then corrects the mistake or pulls the board from the machine for further inspection. The AOI visual check ensures consistency and accuracy in the SMT assembly production process.