OKI Expects to Expand Its EMS Business Through Higher Quality and Shorter Turnaround Time

OKI Electric Industry (TOKYO:6703) today announced it has succeeded in developing “static pressure soldering technology” for lead-free soldering of large, high-density products. Using this technology, OKI and Nihon Dennetsu jointly developed a soldering machine that enables high-quality lead-free (Sn-3.0Ag-0.5Cu）soldering for products up to 490 x 510mm in size and 6mm in thickness.

“We believe this new ’static pressure soldering technology’ will improve the soldering quality and production service for large, high density products at our EMS business in the Systems Network Plant in Japan’s Honjo district (Saitama Prefecture),” said Koh Shimizu, General Manager of EMS Business Manufacturing Service at OKI’s System Network Plant. “As this technology becomes our competitive strength in the EMS business, we will be applying this to manufacture information and telecom equipment, measuring equipment and medical equipment.”

In the industrial electronics field, which is a core area of the electronics industry, machines are becoming faster and more highly integrated. In accordance, printed wire boards^*1 (PWBs) are becoming larger and multilayered, while the shapes of devices are more diverse. On the other hand, from an environmental protection standpoint, there is a growing trend to use lead-free solders, making it more difficult to assemble machines.

For example, on a PWB that is 460×500mm in area and 4mm thick, there are cases where a mix of over 10,000 surface-mounted components^*2 and insertion components^*3 must be soldered to it using lead-free material. To make this more of a challenge, installing an insertion component requires one to first perform reflow soldering^*4 of the surface-mounted components on both sides of the PWB, then insert the component terminal in the PWB’s through-hole^*5, and then perform soldering. However, when using conventional soldering irons or flow soldering machines^*6, under filling of the through-hole can occur due to lack of heat or non-stable solder filling. Moreover, when applying a high degree of heat on a certain part using a solder iron to avoid under filling, it may cut the internal layer pattern of the PWB. Even with a flow soldering machine, if the soldering contact time is too long, the copper may melt, causing damage to the PWB pad patterns^*7 on the PWB.