Athlone-based, Manufacturers' Services and the University of Limerick have embarked on a two-year co-operative research project. The project, which will be sponsored by the EU and valued at £630,000, will target strategies and methods for increasing wave-solder-process yields by up to 50 per cent in an electronics manufacturing environment.

A team from Manufacturers' Services and the university's engineering research students will evaluate the impact of key variables on wave-solder-process quality, including temperature, wave profile, belt speed, solder and flux. Once a baseline is established, a model will be developed for predicting the impact of changes and identifying methods for preventing defects. Manufacturers' Services employs over 300 people at its Athlone facility.