Date: 23/01/2012

The difficult semiconductor packages in board assembly are BGAs, QFN, and LGA

IPC has recently surveyed 350 engineers at a recently held IPC webinar on their biggest headaches with printed boards, PCB components and PCB assembly process failures. The survey finds solder finish, ball grid array (BGA) components and reflow soldering as the greatest challenges.

"The survey shows where we need to concentrate our efforts in design, specification and process control," says webinar instructor Bob Willis, an international technology expert who helps companies solve their most perplexing process-related issues.

The finding shared by IPC includes:

The results indicate that among semiconductor and other components, BGAs stir up the most problems for 29 percent of engineers with a close second of 27 percent voting for quad flat no-lead (QFN)/land grid array (LGA) components.

In problems associated with printed board manufacturing, 39 percent chose finish solderability as most troubling with 27 percent selecting electrical shorts/opens. In assembly process failures, 27 percent point the finger at reflow soldering while 20 percent credit paste printing for their headaches.