Although plenty of part numbers go through our shop which are classified and their end use is unclear, it is still quite possible to recognize the end users and the importance of performing quality work.  Products, processes, and chains are only as strong as their weakest link; and narrowing our focus too far on one spot in the product development cycle can have catastrophic consequences.  Our company, Cirexx International, does a fair bit of work within the defense industry.  For this reason, I will use the following hypothetical example as a reference.

“Although PN xxxxxxx is a simple 6 layer rigid-flex, it plays a critical role within a hand-held communications device our warfighters in Iraq rely on and expect to be functioning regardless of extreme conditions.  It’s failure, delamination, improper design could mean life or death for a whole troop.  And we all know who our military serves… us.”

If we focus on and remember who our end user is, the technical nature of our boards, our workplace morale, and our general business practices will all be affected.

Technical
If we were to keep in mind the big picture of who we serve with our products, many technical aspects of our products would be affected.  Most notable, I believe quality and quality assurance would improve.  Technicians, managers, suppliers, etc would all hold themselves to a high moral standard above and beyond their ISO or corporate quality mandate.  Responsiveness to issues and concerns on the part of the customer would increase.  Recognizing that each delay in the product life-cycle keeps a potentially life-saving product out of production and out of the hands of our soldier, nurse, pilot, etc for a greater period of time.  Paperwork and voicemails will have less likelihood of being put off until the afternoon, the end of the week, etc.  And lastly, collaboration will improve.  Although it is not necessarily the job of the lamination technician to determine proper materials for use in the final product, they may have some knowledge of past performance that the designers did not.  Whether it’s that they heard from a colleague that a particular thickness of laminate has been having issues in extreme temperatures, or in humidity.  Knowing that the board will be in a product in use in the rain forest may happen to be a huge help.

Workplace Morale
Not only will the technical integrity of your boards increase, but also workplace morale and spirit.  Employee sense of ownership and duty will grow when their understanding of the big picture increases and the tunnelvision we often fall susceptible to is countered.  This will lead to increased attention to detail, greater job satisfaction, and a greater sense of community within your organization and between organizations.

Business Practices
Lastly, recognition of the true impact your company’s product has will lead to changes in how your business operates.  Customer service and support will take greater precedence.  Also, capital improvements and research/development will take greater priority.  Recognition of the ways we need to remain competitive, and provide the most cutting edge products to our customers will occur when we step back and think about the importance we play in the lives of so many people.

Who are your customers?  Your real customers… probably people who have never and will never hear of you.  Yet it is them who you serve, it is for them that we work day and night, providing the highest quality products with the best customer support and responsive attitudes possible.

What other improvements do you feel would occur if we were to all continually remind ourselves of these things?  Feel free to comment below.

I see a variety of similarities between Tin whiskers… and my own: Elusive, thin, short, and never helpful.  And there is always the random single hair that frustrates you to no end.

Unfortunately, the costs associated with tin whiskers in the electronics, defense, health, and aerospace industries are astronomical compared to my need to shave once every two weeks.  Failure of products due to tin whisker growth can undermine an entire mission, scrap a program, or take a life.  I think about electronic pacemakers, our men and women traveling to space, or our servicemen and women flying at Mach speeds thousands of feet above the ground.

There has yet to be a definitive ruling made concerning the cause/prevention of whiskers, although pure tin components and plating seem to exhibit the highest likelihood of developing them.  Best practices at this time are to use a tin/lead mix with no greater than 97% tin.  However, RoHS regulations are throwing a wrench into this with its demands for lead-free products.  Some RoHS frequently asked questions are answered here.

This issue received significant attention at the IPC Technology Interchange this last December.  Also, the Center for Advanced Life Cycle Engineering at the University of Maryland (CALCE) and The Institute of Scientific and Industrial Research at Osaka University (ISIR) are putting on another International Symposium on Tin Whiskers this June.  The call for papers is still out.  Read more about this at PCB007. Proceedings from past Symposiums can be found here.

For a great overview of tin whiskers, be sure to check out the resources provided by NASA.  The pictures in this article have all been sourced from NASA.

Have you dealt with tin whiskers in your products/designs? What types of damage have they caused?  What are some of the things you have done to diminish the likelihood of them?

Homepage Image Original found here

The first was the Industry Keynote speaker, Ken Krieg, former Under Secretary of Defense for Acquisition, Technology, and Logistics.  He spoke in depth on historic defense cycle spending, and predicted off-record where he believes budgets will be tightened in the next few years. One of the most intriguing comments he made was in regards to project management and time-lines.  He explained how the Defense industry is the only place in the world where you can look forward 20 years and act as though it is the present.  Many projects are designed and funded to be worked on in the present, but as though the future is already here.  They do not simply look ahead and prepare, but rather, there is a truly unique mindset of considering the predictions of the future to be the present reality and acting accordingly.

The second most intriguing lesson was something I realized as I was considering their various marketing messages.  I attended a breakout session with Chip, a Wind River employee, who was speaking to the issue of how their software was designed to save weight on airplanes and UCAVs (Unmanned Combat Aerial Vehicles).  Now, you might be saying to yourself, “software doesn’t weigh anything… so how can it save weight?”  Well, it does weigh a lot.  In fact, software may “weigh” mor depending on how complex it is.  Don’t forget that all software requires hardware to run.  Wind River has designed software that takes advantage of Multi-Core Semiconductor technology, essentially making it possible to run multiple operating systems on the same chip at close to full capacity.  By reducing the number of chips and boards necessary to run all of these systems, they save weight.  In fact, for the new Boeing 787, they were able to save 500 lbs of weight by using their HyperVisor.

A few weeks ago my manager told me that one of the most pertinent marketing messages to the UCAV market should be how they can reduce their payload by using our flex and rigidflex circuit boards.  I found it very interesting that the issue of weight is so important, even software companies are developing ways to meet that need, and it is one of their primary marketing message as well.

I would like to thank Wind River for sponsoring this series of seminars.  The time I spent at the event was very informative.  It was well attended, the food was fabulous, and many beneficial connections were made with potential customers.  It was a day very well spent and I look forward to it again next year.