ELECTRICAL & ELECTRONICS ON CLOSER INSPECTION
INSPEKTO
Challenges manufacturers can face in PCB inspection
The ever-increasing development pace and diversity of electronic appliances means increasing production challenges in printed circuit board assembly ( PCBA ), a complex process that involves numerous component suppliers , sophisticated assembly machines and manual labour . In addition , the miniaturisation and growing complexity of printed circuit boards ( PCBs ) and the derived assembly work add to the complexity of this phase . This makes quality assurance ( QA ) of the PCBA an invaluable , yet challenging step of the manufacturing process . Here Ofer Nir , VP of Products & Marketing at autonomous visual inspection specialist Inspekto , explores the challenges faced in PCB inspections .
To quote Leonardo da Vinci , “ Details make perfection , and perfection is not a detail .” This is certainly true for the manufacturing and quality inspection of PCBs , the basic assembly unit of any electronic device , where a slight deviation in assembly can produce a significant performance problem in the final product .
Growing demand for consumer electronics and smart connected devices in industry 4.0 is leading to considerable growth in the global PCB market , which is expected to reach USD 86.17 billion by 2026 . The market has also become more demanding , requiring boards with higher accuracy and precision during the manufacturing process .
The quality and reliability of PCBA directly impacts the efficiency and cost
The quality and reliability of PCBA directly impacts the efficiency and cost of production , as well as the functionality and reliability of end devices . of production , as well as the functionality and reliability of end devices . In the highly competitive consumer electronics sector , production margins are key for survival ; any variation in production efficiency and cost has significant implications for the manufacturers . Reliability and performance are especially important in safety-critical sectors such as aerospace , automotive , defence and med-tech . For example , PCBs are a key component in producing cochlear implants , pacemakers and medical imaging equipment — where precision could be a matter of life or death .
Over the past decades , PCB manufacturers have also striven to produce smaller , increasingly complex boards . The higherdensity placement of smaller components makes the design , manufacturing and assembly processes even more challenging . For these reasons , quality assurance ( QA ) is essential to ensuring that the transition from PCB design to manufacturing is mistake-free .
THE NEED FOR INSPECTION RELIABILITY AND AGILITY
Because of the high complexity of modern PCBs , which incorporate a huge number of hardly-visible elements , manual inspection is not a reliable nor scalable QA method . Defects on tiny sub-components are difficult to see and can become almost impossible to spot after an eight-hour shift . Moreover , even if inspectors manage to keep their focus unaltered throughout an entire shift , the amount of time needed to examine a PCB makes this method unviable .
For these reasons , automated visual quality inspection has long been sought-after to inspect PCBs . Machine vision ( MV ) solutions have mitigated the core challenges of human inspectors — they are accurate , do not tire , and analyse huge amounts of small details . MV seems ideal for detecting common defects such as soldering errors , a warped board , surface finishing mistakes and more .
However , traditional MV solutions struggle to keep up with a PCB manufacturer ’ s need for flexible yet accurate QA . These conventional solutions generally involve
the commissioning , design and integration of a customised project that relies on the constant services of a systems integrator or MV expert . The whole process can be expensive and time-consuming , and the final solution will be fit to inspect only a specific type of PCB . At best , these solutions can be a good fit for highly engineered , rigid assembly lines with large production batches .
Moreover , another common attribute of PCBA lines is the constant change of the assembled module . In the current global supply-chain reality , component suppliers constantly change , also inevitably changing the appearance of the PCBA .
Given the dynamicity of the PCBA market — and its need for customisation , smallbatch manufacturing and how frequently PCBs change — it ’ s easy to see why the fixity of traditional MV discourages many manufacturers from transitioning to automated QA .
However , to compete on a global scale , PCB manufacturers need to aim for nothing less than perfection . Autonomous QA can give manufacturers the competitive edge they need and ensure that PCBs leave their facilities mistake-free — after all , as Leonardo da Vinci said , “ Details make perfection .”
For more information on automating your QA or to book a free , personalised demo of the INSPEKTO S70 , contact Inspekto at www . inspekto . com .
For further information , please visit www . inspekto . com
56 PECM Issue 59