Firstronic installs third IBL vapor phase reflow system

“Firstronic is pleased to add another IBL Vapor Phase reflow oven to our plant in Mexico,” said John Sammut, Firstronic’s CEO and President. “This expanded capability is intended to support the capacity required for several new programs that are ramping up in volume production this year. We have had a great experience with the IBL machines and we plan on continuing to invest in this technology.”

Firstronic LLC provides advanced electronics manufacturing services and optimized supply chain solutions for companies in a wide range of industries including automotive, industrial and medical device. Firstronic has a 35,000 ft² facility, state-of-the-art equipment and a seasoned management team with an average tenure of 20 years’ experience. The company also operates a 70,000 ft² facility in Juarez, Mexico, and supports companies in need of access to global manufacturing locations via operations in China, India and the Czech Republic.

Victor Contreras, Firstronic’s Director of Engineering, located in Juarez, states: “The vapor phase process helps reduce voids and is preferred for BGAs. We do double-sided reflow on BGAs, microBGAs and C4 devices. Because of the very low ∆t,we do not see some of the common problems associated with trying to reflow large boards in a convection oven.” 

Additionally, Contreras said, “Changeover efficiency is far greater than with convection because there are fewer profiles and switching from one to another only takes a few minutes vs. the wait time for a convection oven to stabilize. An additional interesting feature is that the condensation and evaporation cycles leave the solder joints with a clean, shiny appearance, similar to the older water wash processes. Our team has more than 10 years’ experience with IBL Vapor phase systems and continues to be satisfied with the process results and the ongoing overall system improvements.”