Product/Service

PCBA-Quality Assurance

Source: Abante Services
Abante offers a full spectrum of PCBA services, including related turnkey offerings.

PCBA-Quality Assurance

An effective Quality Assurance program, integrated throughout the assembly process, is vital as PCB designs become increasingly more complex with smaller layouts.  The quality system for our PCB Assembly services is registered to ISO 9001:2000 and ISO/TS 16949:2002 and includes the following facets:

Quality Assurance Equipment Listing
Click on the links above for more details regarding equipment we employ in those specific functional areas.  In addition to this specific-use equipment, Abante uses the following general-purpose equipment and instruments throughout the QA process.
  • Sony Technolook TWU-TL1Z Video Microscope
    • 40x to 100x magnification
    • Super HAD CCD
    • Rotating camera head for stereoscopic observation
    • Power LEDs to enhance brightness and maintain natural color
    • Video capture and file sharing
  • Various digital microscopes
  • Oscilloscopes
  • Logic Analyzers
  • Temperature/Voltage Test Chambers

 

PCBA- In-circuit Testing

In-Circuit Testing (ICT)

ICT, the standard electrical test for the industry, verifies the electrical integrity of the components of an assembled PCB.  The test uses electrical probes to check for shorts, opens, resistance, capacitance, and other basic measures which will verify if the board was correctly assembled. It may be performed with a bed-of-nails type test fixture, or with a fixtureless setup, such as with Flying Probe Test (FPT). 
 
Fixtures can be expensive and typically take four to six weeks for manufacture and programming, whereas FPT can be developed from existing CAD files in a few days.  Bed-of-nails is usually reserved for high volume applications.  Conversely, the slower flying probe method is less appropriate for higher volume applications, but is ideal for prototyping and pilot runs.


ICT and FPT Equipment Listing

For Bed-of-Nails

  • Genrad 2272

For FPT

  • Hioki's Flying Probe 1240-02

PCBA- X-ray Inspection

Automated X-ray Inspection (AXI)

Automated X-ray inspection is a technology based on the same principles as automated optical inspection (AOI).  It uses X-ray technology instead of visible light, to automatically inspect features which are typically hidden from view.
 
The increasing usage of ICs with packages such as BGAs, for which the connections are underneath the chip and not visible, means that ordinary optical inspection is impossible.  AXI is able to find faults such as opens, shorts, insufficient solder, excessive solder, missing electrical parts, and mis-aligned components. These inspection systems are more costly than ordinary optical systems, but they are able to verify all the connections.

 

PCBA- Optical Inspection

Automated Optical Inspection (AOI)

During AOI, a camera autonomously scans the PCB for a variety of surface feature defects such as scratches and stains, open circuits, short circuits, and thinning of the solder, as well as missing components, incorrect components, and incorrectly-placed components. It is commonly used during the manufacturing process due to the fact that it is a non-contact test method. AOI is able to perform all the visual checks performed previously by manual operators, but far more swiftly and accurately.
 
AOI can be used to catch problems early in the production process. With faults costing more to fix the further along the production process they are found, it is essential to detect any problems soon after they occur.
 
Low costs and programming efforts make AOI a practical and powerful quality tool for both prototypes and high-volume assembles. It is often paired with the testing provided by boundary scan, in-cicuit, and functional test.