Media Release high reliability

Press Release

October 11, 2022

The minimalist Occam Process, targeted for use with high reliability electronics

EL DORADO HILLS, CALIFORNIA --The Occam Group’s (TOG) game-changing solderless assembly technology will reorder the way electronic  components are assembled, greatly improving reliability and performance, while significantly reducing product size and cost.

Occam inventor Joe Fjelstad commented: “Occam isn’t just a new process but a reordering of current methods. It is an enabling technology allowing the industry to move toward a future where higher reliability, lower costs and less environmental impact are the norm. Occam will transform the industry into something substantially simpler and better.”

The company is now seeking partners to help bring the Occam process to the market, and believes that EMS providers desiring to build highly reliable electronics are best positioned to take full advantage of this revolutionary technology. EMS companies play a central role as providers of the types of services Occam will affect most: the pcb and assemblies. “EMS companies are in a perfect position to exploit the Occam opportunities for their businesses,” said Fjelstad. “We believe Occam is the most significant advance in electronics manufacturing since the wholesale introduction of surface mount technology in the 1980s. The Occam Process will help circumvent the myriad of daily challenges the industry faces in trying to make SMT defect free using solder which has proven to be a Sysiphen task for the EMS industry.” 

The weakest link

Some of the most common manufacturing defects and failures in electronic products are related to the older process  and the solder joints formed, especially in high reliability applications.

Most electronic manufacturing defects are related to the soldering process and most field  failures occur as a result of solder weaknesses, such as fatigue due to shock and vibration and/or repeated thermal excursions in operations or rework. Since Occam is solderless, solder related failures are eliminated. Occam bypasses the weakest link, inherently driving up product reliability while opening the door to a host of new capabilities and benefits for product designers. 

Eliminating the limiting

Think about all the added costs, performance compromises, the risks and non-value effort related to the limitations of solder in the assembly process. It’s a pretty long list. With Occam, instead of focusing on all of the workarounds and compromises, the sky’s the limit!

Benefits to an exclusive EMS partner

The Occam opportunity will allow for: significantly higher reliability assemblies (no solder defects or failures); lower cost of operation—fewer process steps; low capex—uses existing equipment mostly; low risk—gradual uptake as industry transitions; cycle time reduction; strategic market advantage—unique and exclusive partners; on-shoring opportunity; more reliable, lower cost; environmental plus. There are a huge number of Occam possibilities yet to be discovered. EMS partners will have a front row seat and opportunity to help direct and grow Occam as the industry transitions to this significantly better design and manufacturing technology.

To learn more about The Occam Process download the ebook, SAFE, Solderless Assembly for Electronics

For more information on how to join the Occam revolution, visit the Occam website: theoccamgroup.com or contact managing partner, Ray Rasmussen at: ray@theoccamgroup.com, 916-337-4402

About The Occam Group

This group’s sole purpose is to find committed partners desiring to adopt and integrate the Occam Process into their businesses. The Occam team is composed of three seasoned electronics industry veterans from the US and Germany: Joe Fjelstad, Ray Rasmussen and Silvio Bertling. Collectively they have over a century of relevant experience.  

Joe Fjelstad is the inventor of the Occam Process and has been active in electronics manufacturing since 1972 in various roles, including chemist, process engineer, and R&D manager. He holds nearly 190 U.S. Patents and numerous foreign ones. One of his patents for a low profile bottom leaded IC package presaged the QFN and is today cited in more than 550 other patents.  He is an internationally recognized book and column author, electronics interconnection technology expert, inventor and lecturer in the field of interconnection technology and is as well a veteran of several startup companies beyond Verdant Electronics, including: Beta Phase, ELF Technologies, MetaRAM, Silicon Pipe, and Tessera  (now the public company, Xperi) where he was the first appointed company fellow

Ray Rasmussen is a widely respected veteran PCB industry watcher, reporter and analyst and trusted source and sounding board for numerous industry executives. He was co-founder, editor and publisher of CircuiTree magazine, publisher of SMT Magazine and iConnect007. 

Silvio Berling is an electronics engineer with over 30 years of experience in the field specializing in printed circuit board materials, leading teams for major materials suppliers in the U.S. and Europe.

The Occam Process, is aptly named in honor of 14th Century English Philosopher William of Occam, who taught his followers, “It is vanity to do with more, that which could be done with less,” an idea which was inspirational to the process as conceived.

*****