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The Future of Test
June 4, 2014 | Richard Ayes, I-Connect007Estimated reading time: 1 minute
In an interview with I-Connect007, Editor Richard Ayes and Steve Brown, vice president of quality and engineering for SMTC Corporation, discuss the issues surrounding testing and inspection of electronics assemblies--from technologies and challenges, to cost--from the perspective of an EMS company. Brown also sounds off on the future of the EMS industry. Here is an excerpt of that interview:
Richard Ayes: When it comes to SMT assembly inspection and testing, what are the biggest challenges being faced by a company like SMTC?
Steve Brown: The primary SMT inspection and test challenges can be grouped into three major categories: design, process, and cost.
Design ultimately dictates the access and coverage that can be achieved, whereas the technology drives the type of test that can be applied. Process can dictate the number of opportunities for error where increased manual operations can drive increased inspection and test to maintain quality, whereas a more automated solution provides a lower defect per million opportunity output.
Cost is always a challenge. Some customers perceive test as a cost rather than a value driver. A cost-effective test/inspection strategy is fluid during the product lifecycle and can change significantly given volumes, product price challenges and value associated with test/inspection. At SMTC, we look at the entire test chain from PCBA all the way through to the product level functional test when developing a test strategy. SMT assembly inspection and testing is an important part of any test plan as it identifies defects upstream in the process where the feedback loops are real time and repair costs are the lowest. We use a comprehensive approach that considers all test sectors, from automated optical inspection (AOI) to functional test, and put together a plan that is product-specific and removes the redundancy of testing the same characteristic multiple times. In this way, we maximize the effectiveness of the test suite while minimizing the cost of quality across the supply chain.Read the full article here.Editor's Note: This article originally appeared in the May 2014 issue of SMT Magazine.