Benchmarking and QFD: accelerating the successful implementation of no clean soldering

In 1989, with the signing of the Montreal Protocol, the process of cleaning printed circuit boards was challenged. Chlorofluoro-carbons or CFCs, which had long been used as cleaning agents in the industry, were no longer acceptable. During this same time period, consumers began demanding faster, smaller, and cheaper computers. To meet these needs, “no clean” processes were introduced. By eliminating cleaning, cost and cycle time are reduced and product reliability is increased. Austin´s Electronic Card Assembly and Test (ECAT) facility proceeded on the journey from CFC cleaning to aqueous cleaning and then on to the implementation of no clean materials. “No clean” processes in printed circuit board manufacturing provide an excellent way to decrease cost and cycle time while improving the process and environment. However, conversion to these new process materials presents new challenges. To accelerate successful implementation, companies that had already converted to no clean were benchmarked and then quality functional deployment (QFD) techniques were used to prioritize needs and concerns. Benchmarking was used to determine and avoid pitfalls, save qualification costs, and reduce implementation time. QFD was used for translating the voice of the customer into product and/or process requirements. By coordinating skills within the organization to evaluate, then qualify the materials and processes, we were able to achieve customer satisfaction and greatly reduce the time taken in making similar changes