Trends in Selective Soldering

Frost & Sullivan, December 2009, Pages: 75

This research covers the development trends in the selective soldering industry. It includes evaluation of selective soldering technology over conventional soldering technologies. It also discusses about growth and retraining factors that affect the developments in the selective soldering industry. It provides an insight into market-, pricing-, and patent- trends with details of major industry participants. The research service also profiles some of the key developments at the corporate level.

This Frost & Sullivan research service titled Trends in Selective Soldering evaluates the key technology and market trends, pricing trends, and industry adoption factors including initiatives such as collaborations. Some of the major market participants and their core competencies are also discussed.

Technology Overview

Lead-free Initiatives Creates Increased Opportunities for Selective Soldering Technology

Selective soldering (using nozzles) is being increasingly preferred to traditional wave (using pallets) and hand soldering techniques due to the enhanced capabilities in terms of cost, defect reduction, solder quality, and improved throughput. Lead-free soldering has enabled selective soldering technology to gain more prominence and wider adoption. Industrial, telecommunication, aerospace, and medical segments are some of the areas where opportunities abound for selective soldering. The technology would be appropriate for electronics assembly manufacturers dealing with mixed technology boards. Currently, selective soldering is gaining traction among contract manufacturers. "The automotive segment has been a vital factor in driving innovations in the selective soldering sector," notes the analyst of this research service. "Moreover, as mission critical applications such as military/defense and homeland security require highly reliable electronic assemblies, selective soldering has proved to be an excellent alternative to wave and hand soldering."

Although wave soldering is a traditional technology, the element of competition with selective soldering still exists. Some of the applications still rely on the dexterity of the hand; thus, it is difficult to completely replace hand soldering. Press-fit and pin-in-paste are other competing technologies for selective soldering. A large number of manufacturers compete in the selective soldering space. Major market participants include Pillarhouse, ERSA, Vitronics Soltec, SEHO Systems GmbH, JUKI CORPORATION, ACE Production Technologies Inc., and RPS Automation, LLC. There is an increasing pressure to offer distinctive services in terms of pricing, specifications, performance, brand name, sales, services, and training support. Therefore profit margins may be influenced, driving the market toward consolidation. Due to intensifying competition, manufacturers are devising pricing strategies, but truncated margins are the inevitable fallout. The gravitation toward low-cost machines could trigger a tradeoff between cost and performance. Manufacturers involved in high-volume production can manage to achieve economies of scale. For other manufacturers, price reduction is likely to seriously impair profit margins. Significant price variations exist with different categories of equipment and this is heavily dependant on the functionalities and level of sophistication provided by the manufacturer.

Competition from traditional technologies, improving the performance characteristics of the machines, and lack of standardization are some of the challenges associated with selective soldering technology. There is a need for high-throughput, reduced cycle time, and highly precise selective soldering machines. Selective soldering is a mature technology and over the past years, research and development activities are directed toward new nozzle designs, modular and flexible machines, multipoint fluxing systems, and low-cost machines. Some of the manufacturers are interested in integrating inspection systems with selective soldering machines to monitor solder quality. In future, it is desirable to have a single machine with multiple soldering capabilities fitting into various production profiles and applications. Manufacturers are contemplating complete transition to surface mount components, though through-hole technology has not been eliminated. Selective soldering will continue to find opportunities as long as through-hole components are employed in circuit boards. Considering the overall scenario, savvy participants would be wise to enter into strategic partnerships with original equipment manufacturers (OEMs) or contract manufacturers to enable the market to move forward in high gear.

1. Executive Summary
- 1.1 Research Scope and Methodology
-- 1.1 a Research Scope
-- 1.1 b Research Methodology
- 1.2 Overview and Key Findings
-- 1.2 a Overview
-- 1.2 b Key Findings

2. Industry Overview and Adoption Factor Analysis
- 2.1 Selective Soldering: Industry Overview
-- 2.1 a Evaluation of Soldering Technologies
-- 2.1 b Assessment of Selective Soldering Processes and Configurations
- 2.2 Factors Influencing Technology Adoption--Drivers and Challenges
-- 2.2 a Growth Drivers
-- 2.2 b Industry Challenges.

3. Assessment of Existing and Emerging Trends
- 3.1 Opportunities and Insights
-- 3.1 a Market Trends and Key Players
-- 3.1 b Pricing Trends
- 3.2 Industry Initiatives and Market Data
-- 3.2 a Patent Trends
-- 3.2.b Market Data.

4. Profiles of Developments in the Selective Soldering Industry
- 4.1 Equipment Developers/Providers
-- 4.1 a Selective Soldering with High-Velocity JetWave Nozzle Technology
-- 4.1 b Integrated Multi-Wave and Point-to-Point Selective Soldering Systems
-- 4.1 c Selective Wave and Laser Soldering
-- 4.1 d Stamp Soldering for High Speed; High Volume/Low-Mix Production Applications
-- 4.1 e Selective Soldering for Low Volume/High Mix and High Volume/Low Mix Production Applications.
-- 4.1 f High-Precision Selective Soldering Systems
-- 4.1 g Selective Soldering for Short Run/High-Mix Mission Critical Applications
-- 4.1 h Selective Soldering with Parallel Processing Capabilities
-- 4.1 I End-User Perspectives--Contract Manufacturers
-- 4.1 j Selective Soldering for High-Mix Low-Volume Applications
-- 4.1 k Selective Soldering for a Lead-Free Environment
-- 4.1 l NEMI Lead-Free Assembly and Rework Project

5. Patents and Key Industry Participants
- 5.1 Key Patents in this Sector
-- 5.1 a Patents – I
-- 5.1 b Patents – II
- 5.2 Industry Participants
-- 5.2 a Equipment Providers
-- 5.2 b Contract Manufacturers

6. Decision Support Database
- 6.1 Decision Support Database Tables
-- 6.1 a Global Printed Circuit Board Sales (2005 to 2015)
-- 6.1 b Global Semiconductor and Semiconductor Equipment Market (2004 to 2014)
-- 6. 1 c Global Electronic Component Contribution to Electronics Industry (2005 to 2015)
-- 6.1 d Global Number of Manufacturing Units (2004 to 2014)

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