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SMT Assembly Technology

SMT Assembly Technology

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Any piece of commercially manufactured electronic equipment these days is packed with tiny electronics. Instead of utilizing conventional components with wire leads, such as those used in home building and kits, these components are placed directly onto the boards’ surface, and many are very small.

What is Surface Mount Technology?

It is also known as SMT, Its a printed circuit board component installation process in which the components are mounted and linked onto the board’s surface utilizing batch solder-reflow procedures. Part leads are placed into plated through-holes and waves connected from the bottom, to fill in the holes and connect the components. Compared with plated through-hole insertion method, SMT offers the benefits of greater packing densities, better reliability, and lower cost. SMT is presently the most popular method for producing low-cost, high-volume consumer electronic assemblies.

Surface-mount technology is the name of the technique used for manufacturing an SMD. Most of the industry has moved away from using the traditional THT construction method of putting wire leads into holes on the circuit board to insert parts. Both surface mounting and through-hole mounting may be utilized on the same board for components that are not appropriate for surface inserting. Parts of SMT are often small than their through-hole frame since they have fewer or no lead.

Surface mount technology is used in almost all commercially produced equipment today since it provides substantial benefits during PCB manufacturing and allows much more electronics to be packed into a much smaller area due to the lower size of SMT components. Aside from the size, surface mount technology enables automated PCB assembly and soldering, resulting in substantial gains in dependability and significant cost reductions.

It is not necessary for component leads to travel through the board during PCB construction. Instead, soldering components directly to the board is quite acceptable. Consequently, surface mount technology was created, and the usage of SMT components grew quickly as the benefits of SMT components became apparent. In today’s electronics manufacturing, surface mount technology is the most often utilized technique for assembly. SMT components may be manufactured highly tiny, and several kinds, especially SMT capacitors and SMT resistors, are used in the billions.

SMT implementation on a PCB

The surface mount technology is used in the production of printed circuit boards. Surface mount technology refers to the assembly of electronic components by automated devices that put them on the board’s surface. In contrast to traditional PCB components, which are welded to the conductor, surface-mount components (SMT) are placed directly on the PCB surface, as is the case with conventional through-hole processing. When it comes to electronic assembly, SMT is the most widely utilized method in the business. In SMT assembly and production, surface mount technology is nearly entirely utilized. Surface mount technology allows more electrical components to be encapsulated in a small area.

Surface mount components are small and often perform well, and may be used with automated machines that select and place components, which removes the need for human involvement during the assembly process in many cases. Also difficult to install automatically, are the wire components since the wires must be pre-formed to ensure that the holes are spaced properly, and though in that case, there may be problems when the components are placed.

The majority of components on the circuit board are automatically positioned during PC Board fabrication. Some may need human intervention on rare occasions, although this is becoming less common. Some connections and other components have traditionally required supplemental installation, although manual placement is becoming less common. In today’s world, PCBs are frequently built to reduce or remove the issue make adjustments to incorporate parts that can be eventually put into the board.  Furthermore, several surface-mounted versions of components have been developed by component manufacturers, allowing for nearly completely automated production of most circuit boards. Technology using surface mounts PCBs must be selected with care, considering factors such as cost, electronic properties, or TGA (thermal expansion coefficient). During the development of a surface mount board (PCB), the kind of SMD element to be utilized dictates the type of PCB material to be used.

Pros and Cons of SMT

Pros

  • Better signal transmission:

The construction frequency may reach up to 5-5-20 solder joints per square centimeter when the PCB is bonded on both sides which are very high. High-speed signal transmission is possible with SMT printed circuit boards because of their short circuits and low delays.

  • Miniaturization:

Surface mount electrical components have a geometric dimension and volume much less than composite parts with through-holes. In general, through-hole interpolation parts may have their size and volume reduced by 60 percent to 70 percent, and few parts could have their size and volume reduced by 90 percent. Meanwhile, the weight of the components may be reduced by 60-90 percent.

Effect of high density:

The circuit’s distribution parameters are reduced because there are no or few leads on the element.

  • Less expensive materials:

Due to the improved efficiency of manufacturing equipment and lower packaging material usage, most SMT components cost less to package than THT components of the same kind and function. As a result, SMT components have a lower selling price than THT components.

  • Production method and cost:

There is no need to bend, shape, or shorten the components’ lead wires when placed on the Printed Circuit Board, which speeds up the process and increases manufacturing efficiency. The processing cost of the same functional circuit is less than that of through-hole interpolation, which may decrease overall manufacturing costs by 30% to 50%.

Cons

  • Repairs may be more challenging in small spaces.
  • It does not ensure that the solder connection will be able to resist the potting chemicals. When thermal cycling is done, connections may or may not be broken.
  • Although solder melts at high temperatures, components that produce much heat or carry many loads should not be surface-mounted.
  • This implies that parts that directly engage with the client should be physically bound to the hole rather than linked via it.
  • Since solder connections in SMT need less solder, the dependability of solder junctions becomes a source of worry. In this case, the development of voids may result in solder joint failure.
  • Surface-mounted components should not be used for components that produce significant quantities of heat or carry heavy loads because solder melts at high temperatures.
  • The majority of SMT component packages cannot be placed in sockets that allow for the simple installation and replacement of defective parts.

Method of surface mounts assembly

When electronic devices are placed to the surface of a printed circuit board using adhesive, surface mount technology is referred to as surface mount technology. It reflow solders the surface-mount assembly to the plate, essentially welding it together. Several components are selected during the design stage, and the printed circuit board (PCB) is produced using software tools, which prepares the ground for the surface mount assembly process to commence.

Preparation and examination of the materials:

Prepare the SMC and PCB and inspect them for faults. PCBs are often equipped with flat brazing pads, which are generally made of tin-lead, silver, or gold-plated copper and are referred to as pads.

Preparation of the template:

In solder paste printing, the steel mesh is utilized to hold the solder paste in a fixed location. It is manufactured in line with the layout position of the plate on the printed circuit board (PCB).

Print of solder paste:

The solder paste printer is the first piece of equipment to be placed throughout the production process. The purpose of this machine is to put solder paste to the suitable solder plate on the printed circuit board with a template and scraper. SMC and PCB solder pads are connected with solder paste using this method, the most widely used method.

Equipment’ locations:

Following confirmation that the PCB has the appropriate amount of solder applications, the board goes on to the next stage of the production method, which is assembling the parts. A vacuum or clamping nozzle is used to extract each component from the packaging. The visual system then checks the component before putting it at high speed in a preset location.

Inspection of the first component:

When it comes to first assembly or first piece inspection (FAI), subcontractors confront various difficulties, one of which is the time-consuming process of verifying client information. This is an important stage of the process since any mistake, if left undiscovered, may result in a significant amount of rework being required.

Soldering with reflow:

The assembled PCB board is subsequently transferred to the reflow welder for further processing, where it is heated to a suitable degree, allowing all of the electrical connections between the component and the PC Board to be established. This is done by bringing the assembly up to a suitable operating temperature.

Cleaning and Inspection:

After welding, thoroughly clean the board and inspect it for flaws. Rework or fix any flaws, then store the finished object. The most common SMT-related equipment and additional optical testing devices are SPI machines that are capable of being linked to the machine’s location to adjust the component position and connectable SPI machines that may be used to modify PCB alignment layouts when the printer is linked to it.

PRINTED CIRCUIT BOARD ASSEMBLY
PRINTED CIRCUIT BOARD ASSEMBLY
ICT Testing VS Flying Probe Testing - PCB Assembly

ICT Testing VS Flying Probe Testing – PCB Assembly

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PCB Assembly
PCB Assembly

Flying Probe testing and In-Circuit Testing (ICT) are excellent choices for testing the quality of circuit board construction. Both tests detect the expected problems before the circuit board gets into mass production and assemblage. Both tests are a fantastic way of assessing your end product.

Testing of Circuit Boards:

PCBs are getting progressively advanced to fulfill the technical requirements of our digital era. Automatized testing of a board before the mass manufacture permits you to find out faults before mass manufacturing. In-Circuit Testing (ICT) and Flying Probe Testing can assist you in finding out these fundamental issues in the examining process:

  • Bonding Problems
  • Lamination
  • Copper Quality
  • Hole Wall Reliability
  • Electric conduction
  • Electrical resistance To Environmental Factors

In-Circuit Testing (ICT):

In-Circuit Testing equipment can find out 98% of PC Board constructing problems and is among the most best-selling options. It functions by placing the electric circuit board on the mend with a series of investigations to examine the different characteristics of the circuit board. It cannot just check for constructing defects but also operation functionality.

In-Circuit Testing is an effective instrument for PCB testing. It applies a bed of nails in-circuit examination equipment to approach the circuit knobs of a circuit board and determine the performance of every part. It can also test a few functionalities of digital laps, though the complexity attached can make it economically preventative.

In-Circuit Testing is most appropriate for testing productions that are more highly developed and high-volume. All the same, the up-front prices and growth lead time with IC testing are more advanced and more durable, respectively, than those of flying probe testing (FPT). This is as your producer must expressly create a customized IC testing fixture for every PCB.

The bang-up thing with IC testing is that after the instrument is formulated, costs per unit incline to be more down than with flying probe testing (FPT) as it entirely takes approximately 1 minute for a single test cycle. Flying probe testing (FPT), it can take up to 15 minutes per circuit board.

Flying Probe Testing (FPT):

Flying Probe tests (FPT) are some of the times known as “fixtureless in-circuit tests.” They yet utilize probes to try out lineaments on the PCB, but rather than a fixture, the investigations run to the test dots thru a programmed software system. Hence the examination “aviates” where it is required. This choice is most beneficial for low-volume and PCBs yet in maturation because of its versatility.

Contrary to an IC Testing machine, Flying Probe Testing (FPT) does not use a bed of nails mend. As an alternative, it utilizes a small quantity of portable and fixed probes to make a well synchronic in-circuit test of the big top and bottommost of your Printed Circuit Board. It is manufactured of high-precision goads — a few machines utilize as a couple of as 4 goads, although others can use as much as 20 per PCB side. They are programmed to adjoin component pins and execute electrical and operational tests to check if the circuit board is sound for the field.

Flying Probe Testing (FPT) is most appropriate for products that are in the immature stages of evolution and are low-volume grades. It needs no traditional tooling, and customization for each PCB is followed through programming utilizing the CAD data files you provided to the maker. With flying probe testing (FPT), costs-per-unit are more advanced equated to in-circuit testing because of more elongated test round periods per board (about 15 minutes)

In-Circuit Testing vs. Flying Probe Testing:

They both are good in their way, but they both have slightly different properties for testing circuit boards. In-circuit testing vs. flying probe testing depends on the following factors.

  1. Product pattern:

An effective quality test program (also recognized as adequate ‘coverage’) will count the choice of your Computer-Aided Design (CAD) data files and schematic drawings.

The CAD information file is utilized to bring forth the standard test program, which assures that data is sourced from the master design instead of any blue-collar interpretation of additional data. Good choice of populated and unpopulated sample PCBAs are essential for calibrating the test programs, ‘debugging,’ and creating any mends, so the assemblages physically accommodate as they were specified. Therefore thinking about product pattern for a bit, what are the main differences between each examination solution you might prefer to keep in mind?

  • In-circuit testing will need at least a 50 thou broad test pad per net, which has been organized into the PCB direct and utilized to aim for the determined test investigation. Double-sided mends can be expensive, so these had better, ideally, be on the same side entirely of the PCB.
  • Like those proposed by some other companies, flying probe testing machines can examine the ends of parts, pads, and exposed vias to get an approach to the electric network mesh.
  1. Coverage:

As we discuss ‘coverage,’ we look up to how much of the electric circuit you are competent to test. Both in-circuit testing and flying probe testing follow out what is known as a ‘manufacturing defects analysis’ or MDA, which permits the absolute majority of the most mutual process defects that are expected to fall out. These can let in: open electric circuit (due to depleted or defective soldering), short electrical circuits, resistless component measurements (resistances and electrical condensers), junction rectifier and electronic transistor orientation, and standard supply electric potential measurements. , given that these components are mutual to both testing programs, what puts them apart?

  • In-circuit testing can also provide restricted analog and digital measuring, which flying probe testing cannot due to the restricted number of investigations.
  • In addition to the vector-less examination, ICs that are integrated circuits can include a few powered (albeit familiar) operational testing to ascertain the soldering of flags to the PCB Assembly by a non-contact capacitive investigating or plate. In many cases, flying probe testing is restricted to just vector-less tests.
  • Almost all flying probe testing systems will propose a few forms of restricted optical inspection, which adds up coverage for those factors that cannot get at electrically. In-circuit testing mends usually will not offer the choice of optic inspection.
  1. Cost:

The programming cost will hinge upon the complexity of the assemblage but is generally as-is for either test result, potentially about £2000 more or less. As it comes to additional charges affiliated with the test, all the same, there are a few significant differences to have in mind:

  • The fixture prices of flying probe testing are typically zero, but in-circuit testing mends, in contrast, can flow to an extra of about £4000.
  • The evolution lead time for the flying probe testing is generally less than 7 days, but in-circuit testing can have up to 6 weeks for mending, construct, and programming.
  • In the consequence that your product pattern alters in any case, it will just need a program alteration. In the case of in-circuit testing, it could quickly require a new mending if any part or examine pads have been affected.
  • The actual machine test time is generally less than 60 seconds, which signifies that it is perfect for working promptly through bigger batches. At the same time, flying probe testing can accept a lot of minutes, which intends that it is often more suitable for little sets.
  • The velocity of in-circuit testing also means that it is comparatively cheap, frequently coming in at lowers than £1 per unit. Whereas flying probe testing is a somewhat more tedious process, and so can cost about £50, or more, per assemblage.

Final Words:

On the whole, the option between In-Circuit Testing and Flying Probe Testing will hinge upon many essential components of your project. Mainly these include:

  • Anticipated masses
  • PCB pattern/complexity
  • Budget
  • Lead evolution times

While making the PCB contract with the manufacturer, you should have a perfect understanding of every test system, which will only be better for your particular needs. For more small-scale circuit boards that do not need a lot of examination or circuit boards acquired in low masses, the flying probe testing system might be the most beneficial option. On the other hand, enormous groups of circuit boards and composite boards will require the velocity and extended capacities of in-circuit testing.

Frequently, printed circuit boards manufacturers will practice a combination of both testing systems to present you with the most effective results. As flying probe testing will be utilized for standard testing during the image stage of the circuit board development, so will transition the volume of the testing system to the In-circuit testing system for the entire production.

Merely by keeping in mind the expected benefits and the basses of the in-circuit testing vs. flying probe testing, is difference between the two programs, you should experience a much better ordered to choose the best testing scheme for your PCBA assemblage and both testing services are available at PNC.

Contact us at sales@pnconline.com to fulfill your customized testing requirements.

Selective Soldering for PCB Assembly

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A selective soldering approach offers PCB connectors the perfect instrument to overcome a few of the challenges. Selective soldering is a robotic device that pushes hot solder from a tank via a nozzle to cover the conduits running from the ground of a circuitry

What is Selective Soldering?

Selective soldering is indeed the method of soldering components selectively onto electronic components and formed modules, damaged in conventional printed circuit board assembly or through-holes technology mounting procedures by heat from the heat exchanger or wavelength soldering. This normally involves an SMT refill operation; selectively soldered components are generally surrounded by elements that have already been supplied in a soldering process and must be accurate enough to prevent damage to them.

Benefits over wave soldering such as no solder pallets are needed:

Wave Soldering is the routine method used for soldering pieces on circuitry for many years. Although originally developed for boards having completely thru-hole parts, some SMT bits will also be soldered.

For TH components to be mounted on circuit boards while PCB manufacturing, selective wave soldering pallets are employed. The pallets are built of an isolated epoxy composites substance. Wave Solder Pallets simplify the production process considerably, removing the need for heavy human work and manual work.

Some situations do not allow wave soldering, and manual soldering is not successful. The only alternative left is to employ the selective solder technique in these circumstances. A few of these requirements include:

  • The high elevation of the component:

The solder wavelength has constraints, and certain components are large enough to obstruct the soldering of the wave.

  • Unanimous heating:

Thick boards, particularly boards with extensive copper layers, might issue manual soldering for power and neutral aircraft. It’s hard to get one molten metal in the board to heat all the electrically coupled metal enough because the solder flows via the holes to make an excellent solder bond.

  • The high-density accumulation of thru-hole connectors:

When big connections with tens of pins are utilized, a soldering iron may hardly be solder efficiently through each pin.

  • Tight spacing of the component:

When thru-holes are too near to SMT components, there may be insufficient space to install a safety fixture around SMT modules to provide efficient wave soldering during smt assembly.

Soldering technology is becoming increasingly 3D, with connections to multiple levels. The maximum temperature is restricted for wave soldering through pallets, and the slurry reflow pin is just a 2D solution with space limits.

PCB Assembly
PCB Assembly

Selective soldering unit with Nitrogen assisted for clean, shiny solder joint:

Introduction

In these technologies, the major objective of using nitrogen is to avoid creating additional oxide on the solder interfaces of the SelectWave and the MultiWave. Furthermore, nitrogen inhibits the creation of extra dross while cleaning the MultiWave nozzles.

The nitrogen supply surrounding the soldering bottle avoids oxide layer development on the wave exterior and supports the flux action during the soldering operation. The cleaning of the nitrogen must rely on the support needed for the procedure.

Naturally, nitrogen with the greatest purity provides the finest support for the lowest use. But on the other side, less pure nitrogen may also complete the task with greater nitrogen utilization and mass flow. Everything relies on the commodity and the flows utilized.

At PNC, our pcb assembly services will include selective soldering as we have an in-house unit that is nitrogen-assisted for clean, shiny solder joints.

Faster than manual human soldering:

The positioning and soldering of electrical equipment onto circuit boards are also largely dependent on robotics in modern circuit board manufacturing factories. Does it suggest they have passed on to qualified manual assembly engineers? Not really.

As with other production processes, selective soldering is the ideal way for reducing costs and speed. Manual installation needs much-experienced personnel to perform what an electronic soldering line can accomplish more quickly.

Large, dense electronics beneath their pins, including Ball Grid Arrays (BGAs), need automatic solder reflow because of the difficulties of soldering the pins beneath them manually.

  • Large quad flat packs featuring fine-width pins are planarity-sensitive when not all wires are on the surface exposed. This makes it hard to manually solder and prefers automated soldering devices.
  • On the opposite end of the size range, tiny chip equipment, such as resistors and condensers, are too hard for hand positioning and soldering in 0201 containers (or smaller).

ERSA Eco Select 2:

ERSA adds a small ECO SELECT 2 to the renowned VERSAFLOW range as a global expert in selective soldering systems.

This system is particularly suited for modular manufacturing lines and is the perfect answer for small and medium enterprises production when flexibility is vital.

The ECO SELECT 2 is fitted with a programmed elevated flux for specific lines or row flux application, as are other ERSA selective soldering solutions. An incorporated spray sensor monitors the location of the flux stream.

Quick-wave IR emitters on the bottom side enable short preheating procedures. The segments of the heating cassette may be triggered depending on the product. The optional top-sided convection preheater allows even complicated components to be homogeneously warmed up.

The soldering process is indeed the backbone of the ECO SELECT 2. ERSA’s ‘pel off’ effect enables 0° soldering without span development and ensures the minimum DPM rates.

At PNC, we have this facility available and you can even get it at very economical rates.

Features autoload and unload:

At PNC, the process work using the Autoload and discharge system quicker. Our automated smt assembly load/unload decreases the human operation of the worksheet by 80% to enable punching processes more efficiently. The material loads & unloads from the same side of the device to save space. Higher manufacturing stability makes production unattended. There are certain important characteristics;

  • Reduce handling periods by more than 80%
  • Full brush board setup
  • Grips of sensitive part nests.
  • Includes the interaction autoload.

The capability of using leaded solder and lead-free (Unit has two different solder pots):

Lead-free solder has a detrimental effect on connection reliability. In terms of mechanical effect, plumbing solder is tougher than plumbing solder. In addition, plumbing-free soil generates surface compounds, flux impurities, and deposits of alloys that may produce poor surface energy. For these reasons, the change from leading to plumbing-free electronic manufacturing is not a comprehensive substitution of electric and hydraulic features:

  • The lead is rather soft. You will discover that solder junctions without lead are tougher than solder junctions produced by lead. This increases the intensity and tiny changes, resulting in excellent dependability.
  • Free lead soldering creates poor weathering, causing other difficulties, such as vacuum and burial.

Leaded solder offers many advantages for electronic production, but the tides of revolution are furious. All sectors using solder in considerable numbers will probably change to plumbing free shortly if they’ve not yet done so.

Engineers at PNC are experts in designing, pcb assembly, and fabricating customized PCB designs with efficient soldering techniques which are pocket-friendly at the same time.

Contact us at sales@pnconline.com to get the customized quote on your requirements.

Beyond PCB Assembly Services, Board Support Package Development

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What is a Board Support Package?

A board support package (BSP) is a collection of essential low level software applications configured for a specific microprocessor and its associated hardware. It supplies the drivers for all the hardware in the system andcontainsa bootloader to initialize the microprocessor and hardware prior to loading the operating system. The package may contain additional low level software to assist the developer in initializing the operating system. The BSP can also include a root file system, and a utility to configure the microprocessor and other hardware.By using PNC to develop the BSP, it will allow them to design around their circuit board fabrication capabilities and process.

Board Support Packages are specific to a family of microprocessors and to a specific operating system.  A typical BSP may contain drivers and initialization code for:

  • Initializing the microprocessor
  • The parallel and serial buses
  • The volatile and nonvolatile memory
  • The display and graphics card,
  • Digital and analog I/O
  • Camera, wireless modules, user input devices etc.

While a BSP for the hardware is the first requirement for developing a product with embedded software, this doesn’t mean that every company developing embedded software needs to develop their own BSP with the drivers for their specific hardware configuration. There are five reasons to let an outside BSP developer like PNC develop the BSP for your embedded application.

1. The BSP supplied by the microprocessor manufacture is an incomplete solution

The microprocessor manufacturer will typically supply a rudimentary BSP with their evaluation board.   This is because manufacturers know that making it easier for the developer to work with the microprocessor is helpful to being selected for the final design and pcb assembly process.   However, the manufacturer’s BSP may not have the drivers for the specific hardware in your design – the only way to ensure a BSP fully supports your hardware design is to have it customized for you.

2. Developing device drivers is a specialized skill

Developing the drivers and initialization code BSP requires detailed knowledge of the microprocessor and its peripheral hardware.  Most developers writing applications running on an OS do not have the requisite expertise to write the hardware driversunderneath that OS.  On the other hand, a group focused only on BSP development like the team at PNC obtains that expertise by working with many hardware platforms every year, and by developing robust tested reference code for common peripherals such as displays and USB ports.

3. A BSP is needed only once for a product

A BSP is needed near the beginning of an embedded software product to allow the developers to work with the target hardware instead of an evaluation PC board or emulation software. Once all drivers are debugged, however, the BSP rarely needs to be touched again except for occasional updates to address hardware end-of-life issues.  This is different than the product’s application, which may see multiple releases over the life of the product.  Since BSP updates are so infrequent it does not make sense for an organization to maintain that highly specialized expertise for the months or years between BSP updates.

4. The BSP and associated drivers are invisible to the customer

Application software that meets customer needs is a close collaboration between developers, product management, marketing, and sales.  Any time spent by the in-house team developing a BSP is time not spent developing features the customer will see and use.  Outsourcing the invisible aspects of the product like the BSP allows the development team to stay focused on the customer.

5. Outsourcing the BSP can accelerate product development

Handing off the BSP to an outside supplier like PNC means that the team’s developers are not tied down developing it internally.  The BSP supplier can develop the BSP incrementally starting with core functionality followed by drivers for some of the less critical hardware once the development team is ready for it.  The outside supplier also brings deep expertise to the driver development, meaning driver development takes less time, and works the first time. The most beneficial reason for PNC to develop your BSP is that they can also fabricate PCB’s as well having in house pcb assembly services.

Talk to the software team at PNC the next time you have a time critical embedded project.  Let PNC help you with your Board Support Package, device drivers, operating systems porting, or protocol stacks development.

PCB assembly Pre-Reflow FAI

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First article inspection (FAI) prior to SMT assembly is a design verification methodology that provides a reported verification and validation of details of a product on the shopfloor per its manufacturing procedure and requirements. There are various ways to perform FAI, from both supplier’s and customer’s side, making it a very dynamic process. This means that each organization can tailor its FAI method to benefit itself and consequently, its customer, yet maintain rigid performance standards at the same time. FAI involves qualitative and quantitative measurement. FAI is also highly effective since it can potentially fulfill process validation requirements of quality management systems like ISO9001 or AS9100.

In the PCBA manufacturing industry, FAI can be effectively employed in validating materials for manufacture, underlying technologies, manufacturing processes used, packaging, and equipment. It can also be applied to a batch of a given sample-size from a mass-production instead of just the first sample, as the name might suggest. At PNC, strict adherence to our manufacturing standards helps in production with better yield but at the same time, facilitating dynamic validation techniques in our manufacturing process allows us to reduce lead time. The focus of FAI in PNC assembly lies in validating the pcb assembly before reflowing so that the SMT team can make necessary adjustments for the next batch, saving time and effort during rework. They are also responsible for validating the correct loading of the right component in its allotted slot per the assembly program. This extra step helps in validating the placements of the components and improves the turnout rate for a successful production.

All aspects of reflow also must be amenable to improve solder performance and the same translates to our guideline where only the most recent batch of solder paste (with most activity) is permitted for use, which is validated by FAI. Apart from pre-reflow FAI, post-reflow X-Ray also helps validate the solder performance based on the reflow profile which can then be adjusted accordingly so that all components are successfully soldered. This can be similarly implemented at the rest of the printed circuit board assembly stages as well up to testing. But there is a necessity to establish a constant groundwork or point of reference in such a dynamic process to give each validation at a particular stage, the perspective of what changes were made before. This is achieved by using a single piece of documentation used to validate at every stage, wherever applicable, and that document reports any changes made to the processes or product, to the next stage.

pcb_assembly
pcb_assembly

PNC employs the use of AEGIS software to combine SMT assembly guidelines and inspection requirements into a single document (internally referred to as AEGIS). The AEGIS is used to report every single FAI validation to different stages of assembly. PNC’s FAI process for SMT starts with thorough solder paste FAI & its validation, which will be detailed in another post. For this post, let us consider pre-reflow FAI and highlight its validation process since it is the most crucial stage. The procedure is as follows:
1. The SMT team confirms the correct allocation of components as given in the assembly program. This is done by comparing each component with its description, measuring component value wherever applicable, and checking for physical marking on ICs. This helps in validating that the right component has been placed in its respective position on the board.
2. The next step involves checking for the polarity of components, wherever applicable. This is a two-step process. First, the supply angle of a component in the reel needs to be checked and second, the placement of that very component on the PCB needs to be verified.
3. Now, once the first board is assembled, the pcb assembly is put through FAI, where the placements of all components on the board are checked, any necessary placements that remain are placed manually and polarities of applicable components are checked and changed as per what is given in the AEGIS. The same changes are made in the assembly program to avoid the same occurrence in the rest of the batch. Components that are designated as DNP (Do Not Place) are also checked and finally, the solder paste information such as solder type, lot number, date of manufacture, and expiry are checked to ensure that the right solder paste has been used.
4. All these checks translate to notes, remarks, and checks on the AEGIS document, which can then be referred at later stages up to final inspection. If the job in consideration is a repeat job, it can be optimized to avoid any errors made in the first batch of production.
5. The board is then sent through reflow. Once reflowed, the board is extensively inspected under high magnification camera for quality of component placement, solder joints etc. yielded by SMT process.
6. Each section in the AEGIS is meant for FAI by a different team performing a different operation.

PNC has been able to reduce its lead time and increase customer satisfaction significantly and our personalized and successful FAI is a big factor contributing towards it. Further development to the FAI process is underway as much as it is needed to achieve better production yield over time for all the different types of PC Board assembly that are assembled at PNC.