Publication date: 28 February 2008
Nihon Superior, the Global Company that developed and holds the patents for SN100C Lead Free solder alloy, have been working in the US Market for around four years now. This has primarily been done through their licensees; FCTAssembly, based in Greeley, CO and since 2006 through AIM Solder, based in Montreal, Canada.
Nihon Superior works closely with licensees and distributors around the whole world. They currently have Balver Zinn working with them in continental Europe, DKL in the UK and Ireland, and also working closely with other companies manufacturing in Asia. In addition they have FCTA, currently in North America, and looking to open offices in China, and AIM Solder, who are headquartered in Canada and work with Nihon Superior in both North America and in China.
As the market for lead-free has grown, Nihon Superior felt the need to open a US based office, which they headed up by Japanese born Masato Nakamura. According to Masato, “The US market is a couple of years behind Asia and Europe in their adoption of lead-free technology, but they’re catching up fast. As such it’s important for Nihon Superior to support their licensees and distributors not just in Asia and Europe, but also in the US.”
Masato himself started with Nihon Superior in Domestic Sales with responsibility for Osaka. He came to the company straight from University, where he’d graduated with a B.A. in English & British Studies – a course he’s finding useful in his current career path. In 2005, with the help of his language skills, he moved into Overseas Marketing, and then in 2006 was charged with coming to the US and opening the US Branch of Nihon Superior.
The US office also includes Nihon Superior’s Technical Director, Keith Howell. Keith is well known within the soldering community and is considered to be an excellent technical resource, whose expertise is always available for clients looking to transition to a lead-free manufacturing process.
When asked why Nihon Superior felt it necessary to have a Japanese National working in the US, Masato explained that many of their Japanese customers who are currently manufacturing in the US feel the need for local support. By having an office staffed with a native Japanese speaker (who just happens to be totally fluent in English), it avoids misunderstandings, and supports the distributors in servicing these companies directly.
This approach by Nihon Superior to the market seems to be working. They estimate that between direct sales and distribution, they already have more than a 30% share of the Lead-Free market within North America. Masato puts this down to a truly innovative product, coupled with “best of class” distribution partners.
The SN100C product itself, explains Masato, has several properties that differentiate it from the SAC alloys that are also prevalent in Lead Free. These would include higher ductility which means it can better accommodate the strains to which solder joints are subjects in service. This means that the alloy is closer in performance to the tin-lead solder that has served the electronics industry so well for so many years. It is the compliance of tin-lead solder that has been a major factor in its reliability and with its ductility of SN100C can match that compliance.
Masato cites their involvement with a project that requires high-reliability as a prime indicator of this. As this project has primarily an aerospace focus, there is no legislative requirement to go lead-free. However, with many suppliers stopping production of components tailored for a leaded environment, even products currently exempt from the RoHS Directive might have to use lead-free solders .
The results from stage one of this project were truly astounding. Stage one involved wave soldering the test vehicle with various solders, and then subjecting them to accelerated life testing under conditions of thermal cycling and vibration. SN100C at least equalled the reliability of tin-silver-copper (SAC) alloy in most cases and greatly outperformed the SAC (and tin-lead) in vibration testing.
Stage two of the project is still underway, and all Masato would say about it is that the SN100C alloy is now included as a reflow as well as wave solder alloy.
When asked his plans going forward for Nihon Superior USA, all Masato would say was that it involved establishing a stronger brand awareness for SN100C, increasing the visibility of Nihon Superior as a partner to companies transitioning to lead-free manufacturing, and working closely through their distributors with existing customers to optimise their processes.
