SMTA Returns to Silicon Valley, and MicroCare Leads the Way

On Nov. 29th, MicroCare joined with many other members of the electronics assembly industry and exhibited at the SMTA Silicon Valley expo. This event was held on the company premises at Bestronics, which is a large EMS contract manufacturer based in the Bay Area.

There was a lot of buzz around this show since there has not been an SMTA expo in the region for many years. There were around 50 or vendors who exhibited at the event including Indium, AIM, JBC Tools, Jensen Global and others. A number of capital equipment brands also were well represented. As always, the colorful and informative MicroCare stand was eye-catching and really stood out among the exhibition.

Because the MicroCare product line is so broad, we had many inquiries about various PCB cleaning applications. It appears benchtop cleaning continues to be problematic for many OEMs and subcons. MicroCare provided samples of the Circuit Board Cleaning Station to end-users, along with various solvents for “no clean” assembly, rosin flux cleaning and many lead-free applications. For example, the AIM rep requested more info about our products since he is constantly asked about cleaning “no clean” solders and pastes.

Another persistent issue is ESD control. We were approached by RMV Technology group who provide product and test certifications for ESD standards, since this may arise when a customer is audited and they need certification of our products to prove they meet the current industry standards.

We look forward to next year’s SMTA show, since this event was well-attended throughout the day and MicroCare has the answers that SCMs and OEMs both need as companies grow and technologies become more complex.