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1 2 AOI Makes All the Difference Publication Date: 12/11/2008 By Antonio Serra, Engineering Manager, Saki America, Inc., Torrance, CA AOI systems were developed around 1985 to satisfy the need to automate manual (visual) inspection of printed circuit boards. The forces that pushed for automation were familiar: labor costs, smaller boards, smaller... AOI: Getting the Product Right the First Time Publication Date: 6/10/2008 By Lyle Sherwood, Sales and Marketing Manager, Landrex Technologies, Inc., Santa Clara, CA The evaluation of AOI inspection technology falls into two categories: image acquisition and image analysis. Image acquisition comparisons can be simple. Does the AOI system have the ability to acquire images of all of the areas of the PC board assembly where defects might occur? In po ... AOI: Leading the Way to Zero-Defect Production Publication Date: 6/10/2008 By Tim Anderson, Sales Manager, Omron Inspection Systems and Joe McGonagle, Sales Engineer Omron Inspection Systems, Schaumburg, IL The profitability squeeze on domestic PC board assemblers has tightened steadily over the last 10 years through a combination of component and board... Assembling a First Article Test Plan Publication Date: 6/10/2008 Renee Michalkiewicz, Laboratory Director, Trace Laboratories, Inc., Hunt Valley, MD First Article Test (FAT) plans are often required when selling an end product to a branch of the armed services or other industries. For first-timers, it can seem a bit overwhelming. Here we will provide guidance... Atomic Force Microscopes for Advanced IC Testing Publication Date: 6/10/2008 By Brad Rangell, Director of Business Development, Park Systems, Inc., Santa Clara, CA Semiconductor manufacturers rely on a variety of metrological tools to produce images that help them control processes and identify device failures. However, now that many integrated circuits include three-dimensional interconnects or have layers that are only a few atoms wide, traditi ... Changing In-Circuit Testing to Meet Design Changes Publication Date: 6/10/2008 By Olaf Rohrbacher, Digitaltest GmbH In the course of electronics manufacturing, printed circuit boards are exposed to a process of continual change... Combining AOI and X-Ray Inspection Systems Publication Date: 8/23/2008 By Dave Upton, Regional Manager, YESTech Inc. As board densities increase and component sizes decrease, the need for a fast, accurate and more efficient inspection process is critical. A growing number of electronics assemblers have integrated Automated Optical (AOI) and X-Ray (AXI) inspection into their quality control inspection ... Completely Automating PC Board Testing Publication Date: 8/23/2008 By Walter Gaetano Gueli, Product Manager, Seica SpA, Strambino, Italy Automation is king in today's production environment — a fact dictated by the economics of today's manufacturing ethic. Efficiency and productivity levels are dictated by profitability, and that in turn is determined by product reliability. Since test is part of the process, it is only ... Cost-Effective 3D X-Ray Inspection Publication Date: 6/10/2008  By Jason Burger, Metris USA, Inc., Brighton, MI In the fast-moving and highly competitive electronics manufacturing market, long term survival increasingly depends on developing relationships with customers and establishing a basis for repeat business. As a result, the ability to gain a reputation as a reliable and trustworthy supplier ... Dealing With RoHS - Globally Publication Date: 6/10/2008 By Tom Adams July 1, 2006, was a day of reckoning not just for European electronics manufacturers, but for any firm that sells its products in Europe. In the U.K., which probably ... Design for Testability: Simple Solutions Rule Publication Date: 8/23/2008 By Holger Goepel, Chief Executive Director, Goepel electronic, Jena, Germany There is not a single manufacturing technique that will guarantee the 100 percent fault-free circuit board. Each new technology creates new challenges and test methodologies to ensure fault free boards. The increasing density and complexity of the components is a critical factor for producing ... Finding Singulation-Caused Cracks in MLCCs Publication Date: 6/10/2008 By Tom Adams, Consultant, Sonoscan, Inc. Singulation-caused cracks in multi-layer ceramic chip capacitors (MLCCs) are a wonderful demonstration of that fact that a relatively simple failure mechanism may have far-reaching and expensive consequences. What matters for contract manufacturers is... Flexible or Dedicated AOI: Making the Decision Publication Date: 6/10/2008 By Pamela Lipson, Landrex Technologies and Imagen Incorporated, Santa Clara, CA In the search to find what kind of AOI system was really needed by our customers, we had to consider two opposing viewpoints: provide AOI for fixed locations in the assembly process, or provide AOI systems with maximum flexibility, so they can be moved around. But the... Guarding Against Counterfeit Components Publication Date: 12/11/2008 By Dr. David Bernard, Product Manager X-ray Systems, Dage Precision Industries, a Nordson Company, Fremont, CA There are counterfeit components out there — lots of them — and every one of them is booby-trapped to ruin somebody's otherwise well-designed product... Integrating Video Microscopy and Digital Imaging Publication Date: 6/10/2008 By Mark Kanpurwala, National Sales Manager, Aven Inc., 4595 Platt Road, Ann Arbor, MI There has been a major shift in video microscopy over the past decade. Because of advances in imaging technology, video microscopy coupled with digital imaging is moving... Leak Testing Equipment Demystified Publication Date: 8/23/2008 By Arnold Fletcher Must quality engineers and product managers always be at odds with each other? The former seeks perfection while the latter pushes for greater throughput. With the latest improvements in leak detection devices, both agendas can be served, as the best examples of this testing equipment help ... Machine Vision Inspection Boosts Production Accuracy Publication Date: 12/11/2008 By Arnold Fletcher Intended for automobile equipment manufacturers, the parts manufactured by Meister France are subjected to very strict appearance checks with the aim of completely eliminating defective parts before delivery to customers. This is an ambitious gamble when you are... Managing Field Service Effectively Publication Date: 6/10/2008 By Tony Revis, General Manager, Extech Portable Printer Division, Waltham, MA Few companies in any industry would disagree that quality customer service is an essential element of commercial success. Yet on the other side, the expense of providing that service can be extremely cost-prohibitive — so much so that the cost may actually counter the profit gained ... Non-Destructive Cross-Sectioning with Quick Micro-CT Publication Date: 8/23/2008 By Dr. Andreas Lechner, Dr. Jens Peter Steffen, and Thorsten Rother, YXLON International, Feinfocus GmbH, Garbsen, Germany (andreas.lechner@han.yxlon.com, jens-peter.steffen@han.yxlon.com, thorsten.rother@han.yxlon.com) Computed Tomography is technology that allows a sample to be virtually cross-sectioned without harming the sample. Long familiar in the medical world, it is only in the last decade that it has been actively used in the electronics industry. As CT has been adopted for electronics, the industry ... One-Man Continuity Tester: Born from Necessity Publication Date: 6/10/2008 By Art Sesnovich, Extech Instruments, Waltham, MA Continuity testers are simple devices, with the basic model often consisting of a multimeter and an assistant standing at the ready with jumper wires at the other end of whatever needs testing — sometimes with a walkie-talkie. Trying to do this job without an assistant and with...