BlueRing’s Data-Driven Approach to Innovation

Data Driven Approach to Stencil Design

Most board defects come from the printing process, this is a well-known and widely published fact. At BlueRing Stencils, we use a data-driven and technology-focused approach to minimize printing process defects for our customers. From our NanoSlic Gold Ceramic Coating technology to our new laser welded step and micro-machined step technologies, we are continuously working to improve the stencil printing process through research and industry presented white papers.

Our data collection process happens at our SMT Testing Lab in Greeley, Colorado. This testing lab, complete with SMT Printer, SPI, Reflow Oven, Pick and Place and X-Ray, allows us to prove and disprove theories we have on stencil design.  Our papers are available on our website at www.blueringstencils.com/documents/ .

NanoSlic Gold

From its inception, NanoSlic Gold was developed by BlueRing Stencils and NanoSlic Smart Coatings and was implemented and improved through research and data feedback. Now it is licensed around the world and from the data we’ve seen, it’s the best stencil coating technology in the world. 

Through the years, many papers have been published and presented at SMTA International and IPC Apex analyzing the advantages of sprayed on/cured nano-coatings vs the early “wipe on” coatings first available to the industry. We’ve studied and published papers on the improvement in solder paste release (transfer efficiency) along with the reduction in variation in the print process when using our ceramic nano-coating technology vs the competition. In recent years we’ve studied and presented white papers to the industry on the durability of ceramic coating technologies. The result of these latest papers was a new improved NanoSlic Gold technology that includes a laser modified surface on the bottom of the stencil enhancing coating adhesion.   This new laser modified surface has proven to increase durability by as much as ten times. Again, we didn’t just make changes to our coating process, we tested, experimented, and printed over 100,000 prints to validate the durability improvements of this new process before rolling out this new improvement.

Most recently, we did research on Vapor Deposited Nano-Coatings for SMT stencils and presented our research Vapor Deposited Stencil Nano-Coatings-A New Break Thru or Just Another Coating at SMTA International in 2023.  Although the coating does exhibit improved transfer efficiency, the benefits of this process did not show improvement over current ceramic coating technologies.  In addition, the cost difference of the vapor deposition process vs our NanoSlic Gold technologies with no added benefit of transfer efficiency or Coefficient of Variation prevents us from currently pursuing this stencil technology. 

Step Technologies

Step technologies have become more utilized in daily SMT assembly and we’ve used the same methodology of research and data gathering to improve step technology then share those improvements to the industry via published white papers. In our paper Evaluating The Next Generation of Stencil Stepping Technologies, A clear understanding of keep out zones was developed for both welded and micro-machined steps, creating clear cut design guidelines previously not available in the industry. We continue to improve our welded step technologies with new laser technologies at all manufacturing locations based on this research. The results of this new welding technology is minimized heat affected zones and flat welds improving print deposits at and around the welded steps. Again, this proprietary information is unique to our welded step process. 

We’ve also continued to develop our micro-machined technologies, which includes the development of three-dimensional pocket and step stencils, along with the improvement offered in reduced keep out zones to allow closer proximity of the component apertures in relation to the edge of the step. Micro-machined step technology is much more accurate than the chemical etching process and we will explore the specifics in an upcoming blog.  Knowing when to recommend welded steps, micro-machined steps or even chemically etched steps is key in offering the best technology to lower board defects from the print process.

From DOE to White Papers, we are dedicated to understanding the dynamics of stencil printing through the research we do while developing and improving the stencil technologies we offer.

Blog by Greg Smith, Manager of Stencil Technology at BlueRing Stencils