SMT Vendor Selection, Qualification and Management

Objectives of This Course
The objective of this course is identify the key technical and management issues in outsourcing SMT assembly and to provide specific vendor selection, qualification and management guidelines. Based on Ray's textbook, SMT Principles and Practice, Second Edition, this course focuses on specific steps that should be taken to prevent potential product crashes in production when one can least afford them. This course also deals with strategies the subcontractors can use to develop a competitive edge to meet OEM demands.

Managers will learn details of risk management and the engineers and purchasing personnel will learn the technical details for selecting a vendor to avoid manufacturing problems when difficulties arise (and they do). Vendors will learn what the OEMs look for and how to gear up to meet their requirements and thrive in a very competitive environment.

What You Will Learn
After completing this course you will be able to:
* Solve common problems in contract manufacturing
* Manage SMT, BGA and Fine pitch implementation at an assembly house.
* Learn about common concerns of OEMs
* Understand specific vendor selection and qualification issues
* Learn to ask relevant questions and judge the answers
* Learn how to meet OEM/vendor requirements for mutual benefit

Topics Covered
* SMT & Related Technologies And Future Assembly Trend
* Common Problems In Contract Manufacturing
* Subcon Industry Background
* Organizational Structure For Vendor Management
* Areas Of Evaluation And Their Relative Importance
* Reasons For Using & Not Using Subcontractors
* Vendor Selection Criteria
* Quantifying Vendor Selection Issues
* Stages Of Vendor Qualification
* Vendor Management Versus Partnership

Who Should Attend
Managers, designers manufacturing, process and quality engineers as well as anyone in management, purchasing, design, process, quality and manufacturing who is working with vendors or plans to get into it in the near future will benefit from this course.

About the Instructor

Current Job Description

In his consulting practice, Mr. Ray Prasad provides SMT solutions for management action. This includes SMT/RoHS/BGA/BTC assembly vendor selection and qualification, expert witness in legal matters, technical assessment for merger and acquisition and workshops in all aspects of SMT, fine pitch, BTC and BGA. He also helps companies build self-sustaining infrastructure in areas such as in-house engineering and operator training, process improvement and equipment selection and evaluation.

Previous Work History

Mr. Prasad has helped many clients successfully implement SMT/BGA/BTC (Surface Mount Technology/Ball Grid Arrays/Bottom Termination Components) and improve their manufacturing yield. He has developed extensive on-site training for all organizational levels and has provided technical expertise in legal disputes.

Before starting his consulting practice in 1994, Mr. Prasad held key technology positions at Boeing and Intel for 15 years. He was the SMT Program Manager at Intel responsible for developing and implementing SMT for the system products. He also developed and taught DFM and SMT manufacturing courses to Intel engineers. He also managed the Intel PentiumProTM package program for Intel and introducing SMT into Boeing airplanes when he served as a lead engineer at that company.

Awards/Associations

Mr. Prasad is the recipient of SMTA's Member of Distinction Award and IPC President's award for his contribution to the advancement of electronics industry and recipient of Intel's highest award - Intel Achievement Award.

Publications/Patents

Author of the text book Surface Mount Technology: Principles and Practice published by Walter Kluwer Academic Publishers and over 100 papers, Mr. Prasad holds two patents in BGA and is a popular workshop leader for in depth SMT, BTC, BGA/CSP and Lead free professional courses at national and international conferences and in major OEM and EMS companies.

A long time member of IPC, he is currently the chairman of BGA committee IPC-7095 "Design and Assembly Process Implementation for BGA". He is also the Co-Chairman of IPC-7093 "Design and Assembly Process Implementation for Bottom Terminations surface mount Components (BTCs) such as QFN, DFN and MLF. Ray is the past chairman of the Surface Mount Land Pattern (IPC-SM-782, now IPC 7351) and Package Cracking (J-STD-020) committees.

He is a columnist for the SMT magazine and also serves on its advisory board.