Jim Hall

Principal SMT Consultant &

Lean Six Sigma Master Black Belt

Jim Hall is a principal consultant and resident Lean Six Sigma Master Black Belt with ITM Consulting (Durham, New Hampshire). His area of responsibility includes working with OEMs, contract assemblers, and equipment manufacturers to solve design and assembly problems, optimize facility operations, and teach basic and new technologies in private and public forums throughout the industry, worldwide.

Since joining ITM Consulting in 2000, Mr. Hall has helped numerous clients in the following areas:

• Counterfeit Component Avoidance and Mitigation
• Design for Manufacturability (DFM) Specification Development
• Equipment Evaluation and Selection
• Implementation of BGA, CSP, and Flip-Chip
• Lead-Free Road-Mapping and Implementation
• Manufacturing Yield Improvement
• On-Site Training for All Levels of Personnel
• Process Structure and Documentation Development
• SMT Implementation and Assembly Facility Set-Up
• SMT Manufacturing Process Audits and Process Improvement
• SMT Process Equipment Benchmark Testing and Evaluation
• SMT Product Development

Jim is one of the authors of the highly acclaimed SMTA Process Certification Course, along with Dr. Ron Lasky and Phil Zarrow. From its introduction in September 2002, he has served as the program’s principal instructor, certifying over 200 engineers in the US, Canada, Mexico, Hong Kong, and China. Mr. Hall coordinates and implements all updates and improvements to the exams and course materials.

As ITM Consulting’s resident Lean Six Sigma Master Black Belt, Jim is a strong proponent of in-process data capture and analysis for all assembly and related operations and other continuous improvement techniques. He participates as an instructor in the Lean Six Sigma programs offered at Dartmouth College, presenting units on subjects including:

• Cost Estimating
• DFM
• Failure Analysis
• FMEA
• LEAN
• Tear-Down Analysis
• TRIZ

Mr. Hall, one of the pioneers of reflow technology, has been actively involved in electronic assembly technology for more than 26 years. Jim’s expertise lies in process development and integration, fluid and thermodynamics, and computer control systems. He has delivered numerous papers and workshops on surface mount technology at technical seminars around the world, including those for NEPCON, IMAPS, and SMTA. Jim is also the co-host of Circuitnet/Circuitmart’s “BoardTalk” audio program.