There are advantages to both positions in the line. If you place the AOI system before reflow, then you can accurately measure the capability of your pick & place equipment. Since some of the components will self-center during reflow you lose that capability by placing the system after the oven. However, you do gain the ability to look for gross solder defects by placing AOI post-reflow. My opinion is that the very best setup is to have high-speed paste measurement after printing, capable of measuring every pad printed on every board, followed by AOI after pick & place, and then add in a profiler for the oven that gives you a real-time profile for every board, 24 hours/day. That combination covers all of the critical parameters for the line without causing a bottleneck and without resorting to sample inspections. Jon Moore --------------------------------------------------------------------------------- Technet Mail List provided as a free service by IPC using LISTSERV 1.8d To unsubscribe, send a message to [log in to unmask] with following text in the BODY (NOT the subject field): SIGNOFF Technet To temporarily halt delivery of Technet send the following message: SET Technet NOMAIL Search previous postings at: www.ipc.org > On-Line Resources & Databases > E-mail Archives Please visit IPC web site (http://www.ipc.org/html/forum.htm) for additional information, or contact Keach Sasamori at [log in to unmask] or 847-509-9700 ext.5315 ---------------------------------------------------------------------------------