Reduction of solder paste usage

2/26/2017 11:19:01 PM

We are exploring ways to reduce the waste of solder paste. Here are some of the ideas I have in mind:

1) To use paste supplied in Syringe instead of jar. Paste that are opened more than 8 hours will normally be discarded, so we are looking for ways to eliminate this waste. 2) To order the paste in the smaller jar i.e. 125 gm instead of 500g or even 250 gram. 3) to move the balance paste from the line that only runs 8 hours a day to the line that runs 3 shifts.

The other idea that we came out with is to melt the expired paste to be a solid solder bar by heating the solder paste and form an ingot solder. The problem with this is, how to eliminate massive smoke that comes out from the burning flux in the solder paste during the process.

All please share your thought if any i.e.in the idea to save the solder paste usage, or reduce the amount of discarded paste or even prolong the shelf life of the opened solder paste.

Inputs are very much appreciated.