I polled some of our field sales force to find out what common questions customers ask them. You (the reader) probably have similar questions. We’re always available to ask, but it’s nice to see the Q/A that others have been through.
According to Jeff Anweiler, the North-East US had these questions:
Q1) Do you have local service and stock?
A1) In most cases we can make it convenient for the customer to do business with us whether it be through distribution, rep managed stock or another plan.
Q2) How will you make sure I don’t run out of material?
A2) Once we establish a system we don’t let the customer down.
Q3) What’s the price? (and can you do better!)
A3) You get what you pay for [expediting, higher solder quality, tighter tolerances, field support]. That’s where the customer needs to determine if the value we provide (quality and tech) is worth a bit more.
Here are some questions that our South-East US customers had:
Q4) How long will the solder paste last on my stencil?
A4) Solder paste is designed to be used for at least one 8 hour shift (some are specified for at least 12 hours). Of course, there are customers out there who go well beyond that, but only after evaluating their process.
Q5) We use a ramp to spike profile and I don’t want to change that. Can your paste operate with my profile?
A5) Assuming the alloy is the same in the new paste, yes – although it may be optimized further if you can adjust the profile.
If you have questions you'd like answered on the Indium Corporation blog, send them to jhisert@indium.com and mention this post.