Mentor Blogs

Hi there We released our Valor MSS Stencil Design module a few months ago and have received positive feedback which resulted in a number of major enhancements that will be part of our up-coming release. However, a topic that I have discussed with a number of our users involves the use of a stepped stencil. Standard stencils have a single thickness across them meaning that paste volume can only be controlled … Read More

stencil, programming, vPlan, data preparation

Hi there I spent last week in the wonderful town of Zug about 45 minutes from Zurich in Switzerland. My European colleagues organized a two day seminar for over 60 of our Valor MSS Process Preparation customers at the Siemens facility in Zug. The agenda consisted of some Valor presentations, Valor demostrations of the upcoming software, presentations by actual users of the Process Preparation software … Read More

programming, AVL, process, AOI, data preparation, documentation, Flying Probe, bill of materials, ICT, BOM, Design For Test, vPlan, testability, VPL, stencil

Hi there I have covered a number of areas of process engineering in this blog over the past few months and there is now an opportunity to see how these areas all come together next week in our Webinar titled “World Class Process Preparation”. We will be discussing a number of ways that the users of Valor MSS can streamline their process preparation tasks to make them more efficient and … Read More

Planning, AOI, mixed vendor, BOM, data preparation, documentation, AVL, Flying Probe, bill of materials, ICT, Design For Test, process preparation, vPlan, Webinar, testability, stencil, programming, Sequence

Hi there One of the least efficient areas in PCB assembly concerns the creation and management of package data that will be consumed across the shop-floor. For example DFM processes rely on accurate package data to determine component to component spacing issues or using accurate pin terminus contact data to ensure that solder joints will form correctly. Accurate package data is critical for DFT analysis … Read More

programming, AOI, bill of materials, mixed vendor, process, documentation, data preparation, Design For Test, Flying Probe, ICT, BOM, VPL, vPlan, stencil, testability

Dear all It has been a few months but this week I am out at the Mentor Graphics office in Yavne, Israel. I have been working with the R&D team out here on the upcoming versions of our Process Engineering solutions. I certainly appreciate people taking the time to respond to my blog last week on stencil apertures. The new area ratio report as discussed in last week’s blog will be part of the … Read More

VPL, BOM, programming, stencil, AOI, data preparation, Planning, Design For Test, Enhancement, documentation, Flying Probe, vPlan

Dear all I am requesting your input on a hot topic within the Valor Process Engineering team this week. Namely how to calculate the aspect ratio and area ratio for stencil apertures. Now from my research so far, the most common measure of whether the aperture will release correctly has typically been the aspect ratio, however this seems to be calculated easily in simple cases of rectangles and circles. … Read More

stencil, data preparation, aperture

The Valor MSS Suite is now part of Mentor Ideas. I have started this collaborative activity by posting a number of the existing suggestions our customers have provided to give visibility to others to review, provide feedback on as well as to promote and demote. You are also invited to add your own ideas and allow others to comment on those too. As the Product Manager for the Valor MSS Engineering applications … Read More

suggestion, stencil, documentation, Enhancement, process, idea