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Scaled Flow Testing has been developed as a practical method to characterise the flow and thickness properties of epoxy B‐stage prepreg. This technique evolved from an analytical model of lamination flow based on parallel plate plastometer concepts modified to account for glass fabric effects. Scaled Flow Testing is designed to measure flow comparable to actual MLB lamination flow, thus it provides beneficial B‐stage theology, encapsulating, and pressed thickness data.

In microfluidic channel fabrication in low temperature co‐fired ceramics (LTCC), one of the biggest challenges is the elimination of channel deformation during lamination. The purpose of this paper is to describe the expected deformation of the substrate and the sacrificial layer (starch powder and 3D printed UV polymerized material) during the lamination process of microfluidic structure fabrication.

Uniaxial compression and Jenike shear test were used to obtain the mechanical parameters of starch sacrificial volume material (SVM). To determine the stress‐strain characteristics of LTCC a uniaxial compression experiment was conducted. The shape of the laminated LTCC containing embedded channel was modeled by finite element method using the mechanical parameters obtained by the measurements.

It was found that the choice of SVM plays an important role in channel deformation. A design rule is given considering the channel width and the choice of SVM based on the simulation results.

Until now the lamination step of LTCC technology was only optimized in an empirical way.

The low-temperature co-fired ceramics (LTCC) microfluidic-microwave devices fabrication requires careful consideration of two main factors: the accuracy of deposition of conductive paths and the modification needed to the standard process of the LTCC technology. Neither of them are well-described in the literature.

The first part of this paper deals with the individual impact of screen parameters such as aperture, photosensitive emulsion thickness and mounting angle on the precision of the screen-printed conductive paths fabrication. For the quantitative analysis purposes, the design of experiment method with Taguchi orthogonal array and analysis of variance was used. The second part contains the characterization of the complex permittivity measured for different values of LTCC substrates lamination pressure.

It can be concluded, that the combination of aperture, equal to 24 µm, emulsion thickness 20 µm and mounting angle 22.5° ensures the highest quality of printed conductive metallization. Furthermore, the obtained results indicate, that the modification of the lamination pressure does not affect significantly the dielectric parameters of the LTCC substrates.

This paper shows two aspects of the fabrication of the microfluidic-microwave LTCC devices. First, the resolution of the applied metallization is critical in manufacturing high-frequency structures. The obtained experimental results have shown that optimal screen parameters, in terms of conductive pattern quality, can be found. Second, the received outcomes indicate that the changes in the lamination pressure do not affect significantly the electrical parameters of the substrate. Hence, this effect does not need to be taken into account.

The purpose of this paper is to guide companies in conducting benchmarking studies of their manufacturing processes by viewing across industries, locations and products. In particular, the proposed framework can help corporate decision makers in terms of production footprint and site location studies. The level of benchmarking performance can be measured by evaluating defined benchmarking evaluation profiles.

This paper develops a tool to operationalize value-added manufacturing processes for benchmarking evaluations. In this context, an object-oriented database structure has been developed for the business areas such as product development, manufacturing and assembly. This paper focuses on manufacturing processes. Furthermore, a framework for applying high-performance benchmarking has been developed and applied in a case study.

This paper shows that object class-oriented modeling approach can be applied to manufacturing processes. The higher the degree of independence in terms of locations, industry sectors and products, the more powerful thus a higher performance of benchmarking is achieved. The performance level of benchmarking has been defined by proving and demonstrating higher and lower performance levels. The high-performance benchmarking tool has been successfully applied to a production footprint case study.

This paper takes up the superiority of process benchmarking that has been the focus of numerous research papers on benchmarking techniques in the past. The potential of process benchmarking has been enhanced and operationalized as a tool. A classification logic for benchmarking evaluation profiles has been developed and integrated in the overall tool set. The model helps decision makers to configure their benchmarking studies tailored to their strategic entrepreneurial questions and to guide them to achieve a higher benchmarking performance level.

Electrical leakage beyond control levels did not occur in high temperature and humidity stressing of surface insulation resistance patterns when the relatively high contamination levels of 5 and 10 µg LiBr/cm were laminated into a simple test multilayer board structure. When sputtered layers of LiF, LiBr and NaCl were covered by a thin 0·002 in. lamination layer, generally similar results were obtained at 35°C/90% relative humidity and even at 85°C/85% relative humidity. Biasing of some samples at 85°C/85% relative humidity out to 400 hours did cause leakages which vary from one to three decades above the controls, but drifting with time beyond 96 hours towards a shorting condition, or to the level of unlaminated samples, on a leakage per square basis was not observed. Because the surface insulation resistance per square concept did not hold in these experiments, the surface leakage mechanism is apparently overridden by bulk leakages which occur in parallel in the laminations.

The purpose of this paper is to present the utilities of packaging and PCB fabrication processes for manufacturing micro electromechanical systems (MEMS) and its package for sensing and actuation applications.

A broad array of manufacturing approaches available in the packaging industry, including lamination, lithography, etching, electroforming, machining, bonding, etc. and a large number of available functional materials such as polymers, ceramics, metals, etc. were explored for producing functional microdevices with greater design freedom.

Good quality MEMS devices can be manufactured using packaging style fabrication, particularly using stacks of laminates. Furthermore, such microdevices can be built with a high degree of integration, pre‐packaged, and at low cost.

Further manufacturing research work should be undertaken in collaboration with the PCB and packaging industries, which stand to benefit greatly by expanding their offerings beyond serving the semiconductor industry and developing their own integrated MEMS products.

The paper presents examples of basic packaging fabrication processes for producing 3‐D structures and free‐standing structures, and a new MEMS manufacturing paradigm to build micro‐electromechanical (MEMS) for biomedical, optical, and RF communication applications.

This paper presents possibility of laser application for fabrication of 3D elements and structures. The Aurel NAVS‐30 Laser Trimming and Cutting System with special software was used. It was applied successfully for fabrication of vias (minimum diameter – 50 μm) in fired and unfired LTCC ceramics and channels with width between 100 μm and 5 mm. The achievements and problems are presented and discussed. The influence of lamination process on quality of vias and channels as well as the problems connected with interaction of laser beam with ceramic tapes are shown. Three‐dimensional resistors and microfluidic system were successfully designed and fabricated based on our investigations. Chosen electrical and thermal parameters of constructed devices are shown, too.

The usage of additive manufacturing (AM) technology in industries has reached up to 50 per cent as prototype or end-product. However, for AM products to be directly used as final products, AM product should be produced through advanced quality control process, which has a capability to be able to prove and reach their desire repeatability, reproducibility, reliability and preciseness. Therefore, there is a need to review quality-related research in terms of AM technology and guide AM industry in the future direction of AM development.

This paper overviews research progress regarding the QC in AM technology. The focus of the study is on manufacturing quality issues and needs that are to be developed and optimized, and further suggests ideas and directions toward the quality improvement for future AM technology. This paper is organized as follows. Section 2 starts by conducting a comprehensive review of the literature studies on progress of quality control, issues and challenges regarding quality improvement in seven different AM techniques. Next, Section 3 provides classification of the research findings, and lastly, Section 4 discusses the challenges and future trends.

This paper presents a review on quality control in seven different techniques in AM technology and provides detailed discussions in each quality process stage. Most of the AM techniques have a trend using in-situ sensors and cameras to acquire process data for real-time monitoring and quality analysis. Procedures such as extrusion-based processes (EBP) have further advanced in data analytics and predictive algorithms-based research regarding mechanical properties and optimal printing parameters. Moreover, compared to others, the material jetting progresses technique has advanced in a system integrated with closed-feedback loop, machine vision and image processing to minimize quality issues during printing process.

This paper is limited to reviewing of only seven techniques of AM technology, which includes photopolymer vat processes, material jetting processes, binder jetting processes, extrusion-based processes, powder bed fusion processes, directed energy deposition processes and sheet lamination processes. This paper would impact on the improvement of quality control in AM industries such as industrial, automotive, medical, aerospace and military production.

Additive manufacturing technology, in terms of quality control has yet to be reviewed.

This paper attempts to explore the green-lean-six sigma (GLSS) practices in the continuous process industry particularly in the flexible packaging (FP) industry in an emerging economy for addressing environmental sustainability issues.

The authors have employed a qualitative multiple-case approach to examine managerial perspectives on GLSS adoption in the flexible packaging industry. Semi-structured interviews with senior corporate managers in two large FP organizations in Pakistan were conducted as the primary source of data collection.

Drawing on the natural resource-based view (NRBV), the analysis revealed that organizations are implementing key GLSS practices such as environmental management system (ISO 14001), cause–effect analysis, renewable energy sources, total productive maintenance, and statistical process control to effectively manage waste, conserve resources, control air emissions, and improve environmental and workplace safety.

The authors argue that this is one of the first research studies that has utilized NRBV to investigate the application of the GLSS approach in the process industry, specifically in the FP industry in an emerging economy.

This study describes a peel test to quantitatively measure the adhesion of dry film photoresist on copper. Using this peeling method, the adhesion effects of: (a) the copper surface treatments, (b) the UV radiation of a laminated resist, and (c) the baking of a resist laminated coupon were measured. Adhesive tape with rectangular or wedge‐shaped openings was placed between the photoresist and copper surfaces with the adhesive side facing the resist. The openings in the tape allowed for contact between the copper surface and the resist, and the opening dimensions determined the width and length of contact. With the aid of the adhesive tape, a better grip of the resist was obtained during the peeling. The results of this study led to the following conclusions: A tin‐silane (SNS) treated copper surface with a peeling strength of 4–7 lbs/in. was the most effective surface treatment. A UV radiation dose below or equal to 32 mJ/cm2 produces an adhesion of the resist with micro‐etched copper of 38±03 lbs/in; above this dose, adhesion increases. Thermal baking improves adhesion; the calculated activation energy of a micro‐etched copper surface with the resist is 65 kcal/mole.