What is Component Baking and Why is it Important in 2025?

In today’s complex semiconductor supply chain landscape, electronics manufacturers frequently face situations where they must utilize components that have been in extended storage or source from diverse supply channels outside their traditional partnerships. This is particularly relevant as the industry continues to navigate supply chain diversification efforts following the lessons learned from previous shortages.

We first witnessed a steep increase in enquiries for component baking back in 2021 during the global chip shortage when we were grappling with factory shutdowns during the Covid-19 pandemic, combined with several other critical factors: a surge in demand for consumer electronics as remote work became prevalent, severe weather events affecting semiconductor plants in Texas, a major factory fire at Japan’s Renesas Electronics facility, and unprecedented demand from the automotive sector as car manufacturers rushed to secure components after initially canceling their orders early in the pandemic.

The situation was further complicated by geopolitical tensions affecting semiconductor supply chains, particularly between the US and China, leading many manufacturers to stockpile components whenever they became available – often without proper moisture-sensitive storage facilities.

Why do Components need to be baked?

All integrated circuits (ICs) are subject to moisture ingress if left in an ambient environment. You may wonder why this is an issue… how bad can it be if a component takes on a little moisture and how could this affect the functionality of the device? In fact, before we even consider the effect on how an exposed device functions inside a finished product, we need to step back and look at the serious problems absorbed moisture can cause during a process called reflow in printed circuit board assembly (PCBA).

What is Reflow?

Reflow is a soldering process during which components are placed onto the PCB with a thin layer of solder paste between them and the board. The entire unit is heated quickly so that the solder will melt and form acceptable solder joints between the components and the board.

It’s a very efficient way of attaching components to a PCB, but there are many variables that require complex calculation including: line speed; oven size; thickness of PCB; and number of layers. These steps are vital in ensuring that both the chips and the PCB are not exposed to excessive temperatures which will cause problems that aren’t noticed until much later in the manufacturing process when it might be too late to rectify.

What happens to a circuit when it contains an exposed component at Reflow?

As the mounted components are pre-heated leading up to the reflow process, the temperature rises at a rate of about 2°C per second. Soak and reflow temperatures occur around 220°C (430°F), with a max temperature of between 240 – 250°C (460 – 480°F) being reached for periods of between 40 to 80 seconds.

During this process, any moisture contained in a component will quickly convert to steam and literally blow up the component. Sometimes the damage is visible as cracks and broken packages, but in some cases x-ray inspection is required to inspect the components for damage as it’s not so obvious.

This effect is often called “Popcorning”, and it is not always detectable during the assembly process.

How do you prevent Popcorning?

Moisture barrier bag with humidity indicators and desiccant included.

What if my Components are reeled?

No problem. Using our automatic handlers we can de-reel your devices and place them in trays prior to the baking process, and then tape and reel them when complete. With the global chip shortage impacting everyone from PC manufacturers to the automotive industry, we are experiencing a very high demand for baking, and also reprogramming many components as PCBA companies struggle to meet their build commitments.

Breathing Life Back into Components

The global chip crisis has come about for various reasons, many of which were exacerbated by the Covid-19 pandemic as factories had to shut their doors during lockdowns along with the rising demand for tech as people worked, shopped, were educated and entertained from home, causing a chip crunch.

Unfortunately resolving any of these issues with a quick fix is outside of your control. But what can you do to get your line moving again? Contact us today – we can breathe life back into components outside 24-month date codes or those you’ve sourced from an alternative distributor. By baking them in our strictly controlled ovens (and reprogramming the devices if required) we can enable you to avoid some of the line stoppages that may be impacting your business.

*In this article we’ll be using the terms chip, component, IC and device interchangeably as we’re prone to do!