Filling a Special Niche: Low-Volume, High-Quality

 My partner and I saw a need, recognized a market,
and started a company that would fill that need.
The result has been growth and satisfaction ever
since. We started BSU in May of 1989. Chris (Christine
Houseworth, BSU President) and I had been working
together at another small company, when they decided to sell
the product line, and the product line was going out of the
area. We discussed all of our options, and then decided to
go this route. Both of us have a manufacturing background
and work together well, so the choice to start a manufacturing
concern was a natural one. 

 In our previous jobs, we had been responsible for
developing new product lines (including a surface mount 
product), and seeking out contract assemblers and service
providers to assist our company in that implementation.
But in doing so, we had also found that many companies
were either not interested -- or not capable -- of handling
short-run, low-volume production with the kind of quality
that the product demanded. We found companies that had
the engineers, QC people, etc., but who were unwilling to
work with us in the small quantities that we were doing.
Conversely, those small contractors that could or would
handle the quantities we needed didn't seem to have a good
handle on what they were doing.

Low- Volume, High-Quality Goals

 When we went into business, we felt that there was a
good market already established for our service -- a small
contract assembly facility, capable of handling prototyping,
low- and medium-volume builds, but with a commitment to
high quality. We wanted to be able to provide the customer
with more than just a build. We wanted to be able to look
at the product and, if necessary, say "Gee, there are some
problems here" and be able to get back to the customer
and either save them money or save them headaches later
on. That's when we co-founded BSU Inc., a full service 
organization offering complete turnkey manufacturing from
design through ICT and functional test, and set up shop in
Ithaca, NY, where we operate now.

 The company focuses primarily on commercial products
segregated into two categories: prototypes and pre-production 
runs where experience, innovation and flexibility are needed to 
meet the requirements of a new design or product; and standard
production runs where experience is the key to consistent quality.

 Fully 75 percent of BSU's products are surface mount,
and that is a percentage that has risen dramatically over
the past three years. We attribute this increased volume to
the growing acceptance of SMT and industry comfort level
with the technology, in a geographic area that has tradi-
tionally been a through-hole stronghold. We build just
about everything. Our assemblies run the full range from
single-sided boards with 5 or 6 parts on them, up to 12 layers 
or so, with 2500 or more parts. The largest board we
have had to build has been 24 x 24-in. Our volume varies
dramatically. For some types of simple products, we'll build
from 500 to 1000 boards a week. Yet there are others that
call for us to build only a couple per week, and they are 
extremely complex. We may do only one board for a company;
that's all they need to verify their design.

 At the same time, though, we try to stay away from
manual builds. We try to run everything in a "production"
mode, because we want to duplicate production manufacturing 
conditions. We can't always, though. When prototyping, 
the pressure is really on to get that first build out
there; engineering people are against the wall. They don't
have any time left. They've got to get going on troubleshooting 
and verifying their design, and so we pull out all the stops, 
as opposed to a normal production run, or when we are trying 
to evaluate the manufacturability of the product.

Flexibility is Key

 BSU has one primary assembly line, and several vari-
ations of that. The line is equipped with a convection oven,
automatic pick-and-place machines, manual and semi-automatic
stencil printers, aqueous cleaner, wave soldering machine, 
ICT, and a range of other equipment. When looking
at equipment purchases, flexibility is indeed a major factor
in the decision. Although we have a fair amount of hand
soldering, we also have automatic pick-and-place. It de-
pends on volume and production needs. We must have both
manual and production capabilities. For example, we have
manual stencil printers for small lots, and semi-automatic 
printers for larger volumes, but we use the semi-automatic 
for small volumes when we have a fine pitch or a BGA application, 
to ensure quality and absolute consistency.

 Sometimes it becomes necessary to juggle the low-volume
jobs so as not to disturb higher-volume jobs and impact pro-
duction. If a certain job requires that we must change the
profile of our convection oven, for example, we try to schedule
that job so it doesn't affect a production run.

Getting The Best Deal

  When buying machinery, we look at both new and used
equipment. Our philosophy is to buy used equipment only
if it can do what we need or want it to do. If the cost of the
used machine is close to that of the new machine, we'll look
at the issue of warranty. We have found that used equip-
ment has little or no warranty, and available service is
usually negligible. Although the cost of new equipment can
be difficult to justify, versatility, long-term reliability and
usefulness are the primary factors in the decision of what
to buy.

 Although the incidence of Ball Grid Array (BGA) prod-
ucts is still low -- only about 5 to 10 percent of BSU prod-
ucts -- this has increased recently. BGAs are found mostly
on high-end products, where adherence to quality and care
in rework are essential to getting the job done right and
protecting an expensive assembly.

 Rework of BGA products is inescapable. You run into
this sort of thing all the time in prototyping and initial runs. 
For example, you've just placed and soldered 100 BGAs -- 
100 assemblies -- and then you find out oh, guess what, 
there's a newer version (BGA component) required.
The problem associated with BGAs had been the stigma at-
tached -- you can't rework it, you can't inspect it, but that
isn't the case at BSU. We've dispelled some of that think-
ing. We can rework it, we can reasonably inspect it, and if
need be, we can go outside and get X-rays done for the cus-
tomer.

 Key to giving BSU this necessary capability is the new
SS-BGA rework system from Austin-American Technology.
We've had this machine for several months. We needed the
flexibility and tight thermal control that this machine
gives us, but equally important was the viewing system
that gives us the ability to view the balls under the BGA on
the horizontal as they are reflowing. Being able to see
what's going on as it happens aids process development
considerably. All of these packages, and the boards that
they are on are very different, with varying thermal re-
quirements.

 When it comes to solder paste, flux, and cleaning, we are
primarily a water-wash (water-soluble paste and flux) com-
pany. We want to make the transition to no-clean, but ha-
ven't yet found the product that is just right for us. At the
same time, it is getting very difficult for people using RMAs
to justify that usage because of the cleaning requirements
and regulatory issues. The industry is changing, and people
are trying to move on to new products to keep up. Our con-
cern is that all the background information may not yet be
available to help people stay clear of potential contamina-
tion, environmental, and health problems.

For more information contact: 
BSU Inc., 445 East State Street, Ithaca, NY 14850 
(607)272-8100; fax: (607)272-8197