Jul22
Should BGA Pads Be Designed as SMD or NSMD? Pros, Cons, and Drop-Test Performance

post on July 22, 2026
Should BGA Pads Be Designed as SMD or NSMD? Pros, Cons, and Drop-Test Performance
Figcaption: Should BGA Pads Be Designed as SMD or NSMD? Pros, Cons, and Drop-Test Performance

Do you know the difference between SMD (Solder Mask Defined) and NSMD (Non-Solder Mask Defined) pad designs for PCB? What are the advantages and disadvantages of each? More importantly, which pad design provides better resistance to BGA solder joint cracking under mechanical stress?

A few years ago, our company went through a management change. It’s a familiar story in many companies—new managers often like to introduce new ideas to make their presence felt. One of the first changes was a new PCB design rule: all future BGA layouts should use NSMD pads instead of SMD pads. The idea was that NSMD pads would create stronger solder joints, making BGAs more resistant to mechanical stress and increasing the likelihood of passing impact drop tests and tumble tests.

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Design, Quality, SMT, Soldering, Uncategorized     WorkingBear    Views (125)     comment (0)
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Jul16
BGA Failure Analysis: Manufacturing Issue or Design Flaw?

post on July 16, 2026
How to Determine Whether a BGA Solder Joint Crack or Component Detachment Is Caused by the SMT Process or Product Design
Figcaption: How to Determine Whether a BGA Solder Joint Crack or Component Detachment Is Caused by the SMT Process or Product Design

Many engineers have asked the same question: When a BGA solder joint cracks or a BGA component falls off the PCB, how can you tell whether the root cause comes from the SMT manufacturing process, the PCB fabrication process, or the product design itself?

Based on Workingbear’s experience, many design engineers immediately assume that any BGA solder crack or component detachment must be caused by poor soldering during SMT assembly. Unfortunately, this often leaves manufacturing engineers with little opportunity to defend themselves because they lack solid evidence proving that the design may actually be the real problem.

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EDX/EDS/SEM/IMC/FTIR, Quality, SMT, Soldering     WorkingBear    Views (250)     comment (0)
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Jul08
BGA Cross-Section Analysis: How to Evaluate Solder Joint Quality and Identify Common Defects

post on July 8, 2026
BGA Cross-Section Analysis: How to Evaluate Solder Joint Quality and Identify Common Defects
Figcaption：BGA Cross-Section Analysis: How to Evaluate Solder Joint Quality and Identify Common Defects

This article is intended for anyone who isn’t yet familiar with how to evaluate the quality of BGA solder joints from cross-section images.

Workingbear happens to have several cross-sectional photos from actual production boards that make excellent teaching examples. Among them are some very typical defects, including Head-in-Pillow (HIP) solder joints and solder balls that were stretched during assembly, resulting in weak solder connections.

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Process, Quality, SMT, Soldering     WorkingBear    Views (553)     comment (0)
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Jun30
What Does CMF Mean in New Product Development Meetings?

post on June 30, 2026
What Does CMF Mean in New Product Development Meetings?
What Does CMF Mean in New Product Development Meetings?

During new product development meetings, We often hears project managers (PMs) asking mechanical engineers (MEs) to confirm the CMF with the Industrial Design (ID) and Marketing teams before moving forward with tooling development. Otherwise, it could even affect the mechanical design itself. So, what exactly does CMF mean?

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Design, Management     WorkingBear    Views (338)     comment (0)
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Jun25
What Is POC (Proof of Concept)? Its Role and Relationship with EVT, DVT, and PVT in New Product Development

post on June 25, 2026
What Is POC (Proof of Concept)? Its Role and Relationship with EVT, DVT, and PVT in New Product Development
What Is POC (Proof of Concept)? Its Role and Relationship with EVT, DVT, and PVT in New Product Development
(This article discusses POC from the perspective of electronic hardware product development. Since Workingbear is not familiar with software development, POC practices in software projects will not be covered here.)

A new management team often brings new management methods. Recently, a new term, POC, started appearing in Workingbear’s new product development meetings. POC stands for Proof of Concept, which simply means verifying whether a concept or idea is technically feasible.

In simple terms, the main purpose of a POC is to validate whether engineers’ concepts, theories, or innovative ideas can actually be implemented. During new product development—especially for completely new or breakthrough products—it is essential to confirm that the core concept is feasible before the entire development team moves forward. Otherwise, a company may spend a significant amount of time and money completing a product design only to discover later that the idea cannot be manufactured or the technology does not work as expected.

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Design, Management     WorkingBear    Views (477)     comment (0)
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