Issued Date: 2021/11/16
Issued By: iST &Dekra iST
Responding to carbon neutrality trend, the major brands have begun to set carbon emission targets in recent years, and required the downstream supply chain to reduce carbon emission jointly in order to meet the issue of environmental sustainability. To assist customers in achieving carbon reduction targets, iST and DEKRA iST today (Nov. 16, 2021) announced the launch of LTS, low temperature soldering verification platform together. Recently, iST and DEKRA iST have received requests one after another from the major technology brands, system assembly plants, PCB manufacturers, and CPU& GPU chip companies for whether they can perform the LTS verification test. The current industry chain from upstream to downstream have already been activated and the introduction of LTS has become a necessary step. The LTS technology is expected to grow substantially in 2022. That the reason why it is necessary for companies to accelerate their adoption.
In the pursuit of carbon neutrality, several global brands including Microsoft, Google and Apple have not only set clear carbon neutrality targets in recent years, but have planned to reduce net carbon emissions to zero from all business, production supply chains and product life cycles. Because of the close inter connectivity of the semiconductor industry chain, global brands’ actions will influence every link of the supply chain. The suppliers who do not comply with such demands will most likely lose orders. Therefore, carbon reductions have transformed from an additional action into a necessary matter for corporate survival.
iST mentioned, the International Standards Organization has also already stipulated standards for carbon reduction, including ISO 14064 for organizations, ISO 14067 for products and ISO 50001 for energy management. The main purpose of these standards is to help corporations set energy reduction performance, and the easier method that provides significant results is to change the assembly process.
Most of the current assembly processes on the market are lead-free (Pb-free) soldering, which requires higher melting temperature (217 to 220℃) to complete assembly. However, the high temperature leads to high energy consumption and can deform the PCB and large components (this deformation is known in the industry as “Warpage”).
To cope with this issue, manufacturers are thinking of lowering process temperatures, Therefore, due to the combination of this need and the aforementioned energy saving trend, Low Temperature Soldering (LTS) technology leapt into the market.
In the iNEMI report, although products using LTS currently account for less than 1%, by 2027, the market share of LTS will reach 20% due to the push for environmental protection in various industries.
DEKRA iST mentioned, there are two main driving forces for companies to introduce LTS. The first one is the aforementioned carbon reduction trend. The low temperature of LTS can improve energy savings in the manufacturing process by 40%. The second one is the improvement of yield and product reliability during the manufacturing process. The high temperature currently required by lead-free (Pb-free) solder pastes may cause cracks in motherboards or breaks in IC circuits during the manufacturing process, which will affect the lifespan of products. The low temperature characteristic of LTS can solve these problems.
However, for many companies, LTS is still a new technology. Both component-level and system-level companies are still unfamiliar with the technology and market regulations. Therefore, iST and DEKRA iST have jointly introduced LTS verification platforms to help Taiwanese companies accelerate their adoption of LTS by providing LTS testing and verification services for different links in the industry chain, such as components, board levels, and motherboards.
iST and DEKRA iST own the largest reliability assurance laboratory in Taiwan. With extensive production capabilities and experience, iST currently leads the world in the reliability verification of components and board levels. DEKRA iST is also one of the leaders in the industry for system verification and testing technologies. iST and DEKRA iST provide professional and objective reports from a third party perspective using their years of experience to implement the ESG goal of energy conservation and carbon reduction for corporations.
About Integrated Service Technology
Founded in 1994, iST began its business from IC circuit debugging and modification and gradually expanded its scope of operations, including Failure Analysis, Reliability Verification, Material Analysis, Automotive Electronic Verification Platforms and Signal Integrity Testing Services. iST has offered full-scope verification and analysis services to the IC engineering industry, its customers cover the whole spectrum of the electronics industry from IC design to end products.
In response to rising Cloud Intelligence, Internet of Things (IoT) and Internet of Vehicles (IoV), iST not only focuses on its core services but is also expanding its service offerings based on international trends, such as automotive electronic verification platforms, signal integrity testing services.http://www.istgroup.com
About Dekra-iST
DEKRA iST was established in 2015, which is jointed by iST Technology, an electronic industry testing and verification company with more than 20 years history, and DEKRA, established in 1925, the world’s largest automotive safety appraisal and testing authority.
DEKRA iST combines the advantages of both companies to provide one-stop service for LED, PCB, PCBA, and system reliability verification and analysis in ICT, automotive, opto-electronics and medical electronics industries. More information: https://www.dekra-ist.com