DirEKt Ball Placement™ uses DEK’s patented ProFlow® DirEKt Imaging technology to bring significant advantages to semiconductor packaging techniques. Now component manufacturers can benefit from gentle handling and accurate solder ball placement, enabled by ProFlow, to achieve first pass yield consistently above 99%.


DirEKt Ball Placement is a development of ProFlow®, which has revolutionised materials transfer for advanced SMT manufacturing. The system features a ball transfer head, developed specifically to enhance processes for grid array packaging. Traversing the stencil, the head actively positions a solder ball at each pad location; cycle time is fast, consistent and independent of I/O count. Components may be processed in boats, strips, trays or boards.

Larger substrates, up to 500mm x 400mm, can be processed using DirEKt Ball Placement™, compared with traditional ball placement techniques. The ball reservoir is easily interchanged in situ, and the 2-stage hopper design holds up to 50 million solder balls to extend intervals between assists. Product changeover time is under 10 minutes.



Handling of solder balls is greatly improved over conventional techniques. DirEKt Ball Attach gently feeds the spheres to the surface of the stencil, preventing knocking and excessive friction inherent in gravity placement methods. Solder balls are transferred to the grid array in perfect condition. The transfer force exerted during placement is sufficient to push the ball down into the flux at each pad location, to enhance the integrity of the assembly during downstream handling and reflow soldering.

Flux deposition is also enhanced; DEK is the world leader in materials transfer technology for the electronics industry, supplying high performance systems for printing solder paste, flux, adhesive, polymers and alloys to the world’s most influential equipment manufacturers. DEK now brings flux deposition in component packaging to new levels of accuracy, repeatability and throughput




DirEKt Ball Placement™ offers immediate and calculable benefits in grid array packaging; a breakthrough technology with emphatic advantages for the end user.

Populate grid array substrates using stencil printing technique

Actively places solder balls throughout grid array

Low friction handling eliminates damage to solder balls

Cycle time predictable and repeatable

Fast product changeover, less than 10 minutes

High reservoir capacity and 2-stage hopper

Primary reservoir capacity 600,000 balls at 0.030"; 2,000,000 balls at 0.012"

2nd stage hopper: 150% additional capacity

Mean time between assists > 5 hours, 0.030" balls at 1280 balls per cycle

Solder ball diameter range: 0.030" – 0.012" (0.75mm – 0.3mm)

Maximum processing area 500mm x 400mm

Consistent, controllable transfer force pushes balls down into flux

Fully adjustable tooling bed accepts carrier boats, fixed tooling, vacuum tooling

3 sigma alignment accuracy at ± 25µ

Flexible platform quickly reconfigures for the imaging of other materials

Tooling options accept singulated substrates, strips, panels or boats

Standard machine tooling bed compatible with Virtual Panel Tooling

Wafer level processing can be offered with fully automated wafer handling