How do you calculate solder paste usage?

Multiply the boards or panels by the paste each deposits, then divide by the usage efficiency. 1,800 boards at 0.42 g is 756 g on the boards; at 82% efficiency you need 922 g, of which 166 g is waste, the Solder Paste Usage calculator's own example.

How much paste does one board use?

The wet deposit: the total volume of the stencil apertures times the paste density, or weigh a board before and after printing. Enter it per print, so for a panel enter the paste for the whole panel.

What is usage efficiency?

The share of paste loaded on the printer that ends up on boards. The rest is wiped off the stencil underside, skimmed, left in the squeegee roll or scrapped at the end of its open life. Short runs and fine-pitch stencils usually run lower.

How are jars needed worked out?

Each paste's required grams over every job in the plan, divided by the jar size and rounded up. Jars to order is that less the jars in stock. Partly used jars are not carried from one job to the next.

Does it track shelf life?

No. Jars in stock should be unopened and in date; order to the paste's shelf and refrigeration life, and record open-jar losses in the usage efficiency.

Does the workbook use macros?

No. It is a plain .xlsx with ordinary formulas, tables and native charts. The Verify sheet re-checks the formulas against fixed test jobs and shows Self-check: PASS.

Industry Cost Kits

Solder Paste Usage Excel Template

Solder paste required = boards or panels × paste per board ÷ usage efficiency, and the waste allowance is the difference from the theoretical deposit. Plan every SMT job's paste with its cost, and see the jars each paste needs against the jars in stock.

Free, and a plain .xlsx with no macros to enable. A CSV with live formulas and a printed how-to guide come with it.

Overview

This solder paste usage template is a working Excel workbook for SMT process engineers, production planners and materials buyers. Each SMT job in the plan is one row with its paste, the boards or panels to print, the wet paste each print deposits, and the usage efficiency: the share of paste loaded on the printer that ends up on boards after underwipe, skim-off, the squeegee roll and paste scrapped past its open life. The workbook gives each job's required paste, waste allowance and cost, and adds the jobs up by paste into whole jars against the jars in stock. It ships with a week of ten jobs on five pastes at a fictional contract manufacturer, so every tile and chart is filled in when you open it.

In the example a run of 1,800 controller boards at 0.42 g a board deposits 756 g of paste; at 82% usage efficiency the printer needs 922 g, 166 g of it waste. Across the week the main SAC305 Type 4 no-clean paste needs 2,937 g, six 500 g jars against five in stock, so one jar has to be ordered; three more pastes need every jar in stock. A short wearable panel run at 75% efficiency wastes a quarter of its paste. The whole plan needs 5.2 kg of paste costing 1,034.

Jars needed round each paste's plan up to whole jars; partly used jars are not carried between jobs. The download is a plain .xlsx with no macros. A CSV with live formulas is also included for other tools; the paste stock check, dashboard, charts, dropdowns and self-check are in the .xlsx.

What this template includes

Setup sheet with your site, plan period, currency and near-stock threshold, and the pastes with their alloy, jar size, price per jar and jars in stock
Jobs table, one row per SMT job: board, line, paste, boards or panels to print, paste per board and usage efficiency, with a Check column
Per job: theoretical deposit, required paste, waste allowance, paste cost and cost per board
Per paste: jobs, grams required, jars needed, jars in stock, jars to order, paste cost and a stock status in words
Dashboard with four tiles (jobs, paste required, paste cost, pastes short of stock), paste deposited and wasted by job, jars needed against in stock by paste, and the paste and job tables
Method sheet with every formula, and a Verify sheet that re-checks the formulas against an independent reference and the Solder Paste Usage calculator (Self-check: PASS)
CSV with live formulas for the Jobs table; the paste stock check, dashboard, charts, dropdowns and self-check are in the .xlsx

Suggested use case

Use it to order solder paste for a week's SMT plan, to put paste cost per board into a quote, or to see which jobs waste most paste on the printer.

How to use it

On Setup, type your site and plan period, and list your pastes with their alloy, jar size, price per jar and jars in stock.
On Jobs, give each SMT job a row: board, line, paste, boards or panels to print, paste per board and usage efficiency.
Fix anything the Check column names.
Open the Dashboard: paste required by job, jars needed against stock by paste, and the cost.

Frequently Asked Questions

How do you calculate solder paste usage?: Multiply the boards or panels by the paste each deposits, then divide by the usage efficiency. 1,800 boards at 0.42 g is 756 g on the boards; at 82% efficiency you need 922 g, of which 166 g is waste, the Solder Paste Usage calculator's own example.
How much paste does one board use?: The wet deposit: the total volume of the stencil apertures times the paste density, or weigh a board before and after printing. Enter it per print, so for a panel enter the paste for the whole panel.
What is usage efficiency?: The share of paste loaded on the printer that ends up on boards. The rest is wiped off the stencil underside, skimmed, left in the squeegee roll or scrapped at the end of its open life. Short runs and fine-pitch stencils usually run lower.
How are jars needed worked out?: Each paste's required grams over every job in the plan, divided by the jar size and rounded up. Jars to order is that less the jars in stock. Partly used jars are not carried from one job to the next.
Does it track shelf life?: No. Jars in stock should be unopened and in date; order to the paste's shelf and refrigeration life, and record open-jar losses in the usage efficiency.
Does the workbook use macros?: No. It is a plain .xlsx with ordinary formulas, tables and native charts. The Verify sheet re-checks the formulas against fixed test jobs and shows Self-check: PASS.