Solder jet printing becomes indispensable for STI

As an existing user of MYDATA MY12e and MY100DX14 pick-and-place machines, STI had been kept fully informed about the new MY500 solder jet printer, which completely eliminates the need for stencils, and ultimately the company expressed an interest in evaluating this new technology for itself. As a result, MYDATA arranged for a MY500 to be supplied to STI on a try-before-you-buy basis.



“We immediately saw benefits,” said Chris Lyon, Operations Director at STI. “In particular, the machine allowed us to meet urgent customer requirements because we didn’t have to wait for a stencil to be made before we could start production. By eliminating the need for stencils, it also allowed us to make modifications to existing products easily, quickly and inexpensively. Nevertheless, we were still undecided about whether we should invest in purchasing an MY500 outright.”



At this point, STI was awarded the contract to manufacture an assembly that included a special custom component, one of the characteristics of which was that, for successful mounting, it needed a large deposit of solder on one pad, and a much smaller deposit on an adjacent pad.



The usual answer to problems of this type is to use stepped stencils, but in this case, STI found that the difference between the amounts of solder needed and the closeness of the pads made a solution of this type impossible. The company decided, therefore, to try the MY500. As this allows total control of solder paste deposition on a pad-by-pad basis, it provided a complete solution to the problem, and allowed STI to reliably produce faultless boards.



“In the light of this, we decided to go ahead and purchase the MY500,” said Chris Lyon, “And, since we’ve had the machine, we’re finding it more and more useful and convenient for a wide range of applications including rapid prototyping and avoiding delays when stencils are delivered late.”



“In short, despite our initial hesitation in buying the machine, it has proved to be an excellent investment, and an invaluable addition to the wide portfolio of SMD equipment we were already using.”



To ensure that it would get the best from its new machine, STI was provided with comprehensive training by MYDATA. The operators report, however, that the MY500 is so easy to work with that the training was needed only for them to be sure that they were, in fact, making full use of the machine’s potential.