Product-specific moisture levels: A conceptual framework

An improved schedule to evaluate surface-mount technology popcorn jeopardy based on physics of moisture absorption is proposed. Key features are: 1) each lettered level implies a certain performance irrespective of package thickness (i.e., no penalty for thinner packages); 2) each successive level has stepped moisture concentration at the interior (i.e., clear stepped discrimination between levels); and 3) the time required for preconditioning is substantially reduced from current practice and an acceleration factor can be clearly computed.