Category Archives: Quality


Dec31
Understanding TAL (Time Above Liquidus) and Why It Matters in PCB Assembly

post on December 31, 2025

TAL (Time Above Liquidus) refers to the amount of time during the SMT reflow process when the solder material (such as solder paste) is above its liquidus temperature. You can think of it like ice melting into water and then … Continue reading →

Process, Quality, SMT, Soldering     WorkingBear    Views (3,873)     comment (0)
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Nov26
Youtube: 5 Key Mindsets Before You Start Writing an 8D Report

post on November 26, 2025

Do you ever find yourself being less than honest when writing an 8D report to a customer? Or maybe in your company, the 8D report is more like a “one-man show”? What should we really pay attention to when writing … Continue reading →

Management, Quality     WorkingBear    Views (1,571)     comment (0)
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Oct08
What Can an SPI (Solder Paste Inspection) Machine Really Do?

post on October 8, 2025

SPI stands for Solder Paste Inspection. If we’re talking about the actual inspection equipment, people usually add “machine” after SPI. But in most cases, when you mention SPI in an SMT factory, everyone just assumes you’re talking about the inspection … Continue reading →

Manufacture, Process, Quality, SMT, Soldering, Test/Inspection     WorkingBear    Views (3,941)     comment (0)
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Sep30
How PCB S/M and Silkscreen Thickness Can Mess with Solder Paste Volume and Even Cause BGA Shorts!

post on September 30, 2025

Over the past few days, Workingbear came across an issue I hadn’t really considered before. Here’s the story: an EMS (electronics manufacturing service) factory reported that during SMT production, they were seeing solder shorts under BGA components. After digging into … Continue reading →

PCB/FPC/PTF, Quality, SMT, Soldering     WorkingBear    Views (2,905)     comment (0)
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Aug25
Introduction to Process Capability ─ How to Evaluate and Improve It

post on August 25, 2025

In earlier articles, we talked about three statistical indicators for process capability: Cp, Ck, and Cpk. But some people may still feel unclear about what these really mean. Let’s use normal distribution charts to explain them in a simpler way.

Process, Quality, SPC     WorkingBear    Views (4,147)     comment (0)
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