BOARD TALKPrincipal SMT Consultant
Bob Klenke is a consultant to the printed circuit board assembly Industry and a staff member of ITM Consulting (Springfield, TN). His area of responsibility includes working with OEM’s and Contract Electronic Manufacturers (CEMs) to solve assembly problems and optimize facility operations. Bob also holds the position of Managing Director with ITM Marketing, a full-service technical marketing and market research firm. Mr. Klenke is the former vice president of sales and marketing for Ersa, with a career in the electronics assembly industry spanning more than 30 years in process engineering and marketing with Siemens, Plexus and Philips. His extensive knowledge allows him to provide valued assistance to clients in the areas of strategic planning, engineering management and process refinement.
Bob’s service with Plexus and Philips has given him a wealth of firsthand experience in surface mount assembly and through-hole production line and operations management. His employment with Ersa and Siemens gave him the opportunity to open new markets, introduce new products and the ability to train operational and maintenance personnel using his engineering and operations management skills.
Mr. Klenke has direct engineering expertise working with several automotive electronics OEM and CEM companies both as an equipment supply partner and in a contract electronics manufacturer supplier relationship. He has direct experience working with esteemed automotive electronics OEM, ODM and EMS companies. The combination of hands-on experience in managing the engineering and operational aspects of contract electronics manufacturing facilities, to direct capital equipment support, allows Bob to provide a unique perspective of a client’s operational challenges.
Since joining ITM in 2003, Bob Klenke has helped numerous clients in such areas as:
- SMT and TH implementation and assembly facility set-up
- Manufacturing yield improvement
- Equipment evaluation and selection protocols
- Lead-free road-mapping and equipment and process implementation
- SMT and TH manufacturing process audits and process improvement
- On-site training for all levels of personnel
- Design for Manufacturability (DFM) specification development
- Selective soldering and wave soldering feasibility, development and implementation
- Solder process deployment assessment and optimization
- Selective soldering and wave soldering process audits and process optimization
- SMT process equipment benchmark testing and evaluation
- X-ray and AOI inspection technical evaluation and implementation
- Technical assistance in legal disputes
Bob is ITM’s resident selective soldering, wave soldering and X-ray inspection expert. His expertise includes process optimization, process troubleshooting and value-added defect resolution strategies. Bob is an accomplished author who has published numerous technical articles and is a workshop instructor for selective soldering, wave soldering and X-ray inspection workshops at APEX, NEPCON and SMTA International conferences. He is an active member of SMTA and IPC/SMEMA (Surface Mount Equipment Manufacturers Association).
