The following excerpt is from The Printed Circuit Assembler's Guide to...™ Smart Data: Using Data to Improve Manufacturing book.

Introduction
Whenever we discuss data, keep in mind that people have been collecting data, verifying it, and translating it into reports for a long time. And if data is collected and processes are changed automatically, people still will be interpreting and verifying the accuracy of the data, creating reports, making recommendations, solving problems, tweaking, improving, and innovating... More >

From the IPC website: The Dieter Bergman IPC Fellowship Award is given to individuals who have fostered a collaborative spirit, made significant contributions to standards development, and have consistently demonstrated a commitment to global standardization efforts and the electronics industry. Each recipient will be eligible to bestow the Dieter Bergman Memorial Scholarship upon the university or college of his/her choice... More >

No matter how long you have been in the SMT industry, there is always something new to learn because SMT is constantly evolving even though it is a mature technology. For example, we have been manufacturing SMT products in high volume for almost four decades, but less than 10% of companies have a first pass yield of more than 90%. In other words, 90% of companies are conducting too much rework.

In some of my previous columns, I have gone into detail on the types of defects that are predominant... More >