Welcome back Mike Konrad! Aside from being a great person, Mike has mentored us through podcasting, media production on site at trade shows, loaned us equipment and in general, been a great mentor in business and life as well for all of us, including Producer Paul. Thanks for joining us again, ESPECIALLY spending some of your time in Hawaii at PanPac to hang out with us.

You've waited for it, you've begged for it, and the wait is finally over. Rev 3! The D-Code thanks you coming back to us for another season. The first time we "talked" about having the iconic Dr. John W. Mitchell on the podcast, it was a joking matter and we thought "as if that will ever happen". Now, without further preamble, enjoy. Dr. John on The D-Code Podcast.

The D-Code Crew is back for a third season! Catch this quick intro into season 3, including a look back at 2025.

WE'RE BACK!!!!!!

Join us as we speak with Timon Ruban on starting and scaling a tech startup where humans are the highest cost by far. Err, make that investment, because Timon recognizes that true leadership requires training your employees not just on the job, but training them to speak up and be confident in representing ideas and values.

Now that Luminovo has enjoyed success in Europe, they are expanding to North America, and Timon has been spending his time in New York hiring a new team for expansion! New jobs, new tech, and new customers abound!

Rev 2.32 - Sean Vouches For KOKI with Shantanu Joshi & Greg Starrett

Not all endorsements are created equal. Some come from sources like Sean Kincaid, who will proudly explain he's not a customer before going on to describe excellent service he received without pursuing next steps (cough cough Metal Etch Services cough).

You don't have to take Sean's word for it! Watch yourself to hear Shantanu Joshi and Greg Starrett demonstrate their extensive knowledge about solder paste advancements, formic acid reflow, customer collaboration, and more. As stencil men, Elias and Greg commiserate regarding the valuable knowledge they would love to share earlier in the process - especially since Daniel will inevitably blame the stencil...

00:00 Producer Paul's Pick 00:39 Meet Shantanu and Greg 03:07 Understanding Customer Collaboration in Engineering 09:09 Industry Challenges - Mil/Aero & ADS 13:44 Not All Type 5 Pastes Are Created Equal 16:03 Trading Stencils for Paste 18:24 Formic Acid Reflow and Zero Residue Paste 29:24 Sean & Nano Don't Mix

Some people are just wired to share knowledge, and if you've ever encountered Bob Willis on LinkedIn, YouTube, or in person, you likely learned something valuable. Bob is someone who recognizes the value of getting in and playing with something to learn it, whether it is in your job description or not. Get over there, manipulate it, and understand it! Aside from picking his brain about training, lead-free solder testing, causes and mitigation of tombstoning... well, watch for yourself! See chapters below for additional details. Chapters 00:00 Producer Paul's Pick 00:41 Introduction to Bob Willis 11:03 Cross Training And Communication 18:11 Lead-Free Solder: Challenges and Insights 24:31 Stencil Design for Mitigating Tombstoning 33:10 Flux Dipping 37:00 The Value of Training 44:11 Challenges in Reflow and Wave Soldering 49:13 Bob's Semi-Retirement and Future Plans 54:08 Assembly Challenges with Smaller Components linkedin.com/in/bob-willis-47514a35/ www.bobwillis.co.uk

THE FINAL BOSS - Mike Konrad, Author, Podcaster, Narrator, Business Owner, SMTA Talking Head... Final as in, last SMTA International 2025 Interview, folks! Thank you for tuning in to each one along the way. 😀 Mike Konrad has been one of our largest supporters and we are not exaggerating when we say that we are only here because of him. We are here because of many reasons, but one will always be Mike. From guiding us through the initial decision to even start a podcast to loaning us the entire recording setup we used for Apex, he's been instrumental. He was @thereluctantentrepreneur once upon a time, but he's excited enough about the topic to have his own podcast on the topic... so... perhaps he's Enthusiastically Reluctant, or something. Best known in our industry for @AqueousTechnologies and his knowledge about cleaning, he is perhaps most recognized online for his @ReliabilityMatters podcast - reliable enough to be at over 180 episodes released!!! We appreciate you, Podfather.

If you've ever heard of Zestron, then you know they are pretty serious about cleaning. But among the more technical discussion you'll find here, John Neiderman also shares that Zestron has as highly decorated Reliability & Solutions (R&S) Team that consults on projects, including root cause and failure analyses. By analyzing the full process, including printing, placement, profiling and more, they often uncover process improvements to benefit you that have nothing to do with changing or investing in your cleaning processes or chemistry choices.

This service isn't just available to OEMs and the large outfits - part of becoming a customer of Zestron is gaining access to education, support, and a partner when you need to up your reliability game or make process changes to level up your capabilities.