The introduction of needle dispensing, which can be done manually or robotically,was a marked improvement for conformal coating. The coating material is forced through a needle and is dispensed as a bead.Beads of material are placed in different locations on the board and through capillary action produce the desired coverage. The manual needle dispensing equipment cost is low, but is operator-dependent and not highly repeatable. Automated needles dispense
systems increase repeatability, but fast coverage and dispenser robustness are difficult to achieve. Table 1 summarizes the
advantages and disadvantages of various systems.