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Optimization Project for Reflow Systems
July 15, 2014 |Estimated reading time: 3 minutes
With a sales figure of $33,300 million in 2012, Continental AG is a leading supplier to the automobile industry. Within the Continental group the company’s location in Villingen-Schwenningen, Germany, is responsible for the development and production of electronic components for commercial vehicles (CVs). In a continuous effort to optimize processes and assure the required quality, the company has been optimizing its production.
The level of vertical integration in the tachograph manufacturing department is high. This of course places great demands on logistics and production. The old chart recorders had a total of roughly 130 electronic components, but today’s strictly digital recorders include 850.
The size of the vehicle’s radio compartment modules dictates the dimensions of the PCBs. The boards measure 170 x 150 mm and have two to 20 layers. The components are soldered to the PCBs in reflow soldering systems at the company’s own facility.
The old reflow systems were too slow, thus necessitating a change here as well. After reviewing current market developments, a clear-cut, strategic goal was set to double the piece count per unit of time with low cost and the same number of employees.
Rehm Thermal Systems got intensively involved with the requirements and developed an extended cooling tract for Continental with six zones instead of the conventional four. This made it possible to reduce the outlet temperature to the desired minimal level.
The low outlet temperature is decisive for automated optical inspection (AOI). If temperatures are too high, emissions from the PCB and shimmering in the air may distort the test evaluation and result in pseudo errors or prevent existing errors from being detected. If the PCBs are too hot, outgassing may cause the lenses to fog over or become in need of readjustment. The reference board is currently covered by the conceptualized systems.
Replacing these systems was a major project. The goal was to improve quality and reduce costs. For systems that run nearly 24 hours a day, only a narrow window remains for maintenance. And this makes it all the more important to assure that the time and effort required for servicing are extremely minimal. Maintenance time for the new systems can be kept correspondingly short--a considerable improvement as compared with systems commonly available from the market. This translates into significant time and cost savings, and thus process optimization for the system.
Overall yield was decisively increased by using the new machines and the new ovens. A further point in favor of cost efficiency is the dynamically controlled nitrogen consumption. This type of control made it possible to lastingly reduce nitrogen consumption. This alone results in considerable savings.
A further bonus was the ability to makes use of a software controller thanks to the KIC module. The profiling module from KIC makes it possible for the system operator to create a profile for new products without being a soldering expert. In just a few steps, the operator can create the necessary profile for the PCB to be soldered. The solder paste is selected and a measurement is performed with the board and the KIC profiler. Finally, the ideal temperature is determined and is transferred directly from the software to the oven controller. These temperature values are stored as reference values for later use. If the same product is produced again at a later time, the operator only needs to initiate the corresponding profile to assure correct production.
Detailed traceability of production sequences is an additional factor. In this regard, transparent production sequences are just as important as information about when and where which component was used. In the past, demands for consistent traceability have been specified above all by the customer, but, in the meantime, it’s being stipulated by law in more and more industry sectors.
Beyond this, the reflow soldering system was thoroughly tested from a process engineering standpoint during a test phase. It was possible to reduce cycle times with the new systems, and production reliability was significantly increased thanks to stable temperature performance with constant oven loading by means of a software controller.