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Advancing SMT Assembly Solution: Navigating the Landscape of Modern PCB Production

Advancing SMT Assembly Solution: Navigating the Landscape of Modern PCB Production

In the pursuit of not just creating modernized printed circuit board (PCB) manufacturing but also establishing world-class production, it becomes imperative to consider myriad nuances and implement a set of SMT assembly solutions. The outcome is influenced by hundreds of factors: from the design of the products being manufactured, the technologies employed, logistics, equipment utilized, qualifications of personnel, to the preparation of facilities and utilities.
 

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Constructing a World-Class PCB Assembly Production Facility

What does it take to build a highly efficient world-class operation? What challenges are encountered, and what considerations are necessary? We delve into this with Andy, an overseas project engineer at I.C.T. company.
 

Andy, could you enlighten us on how you entered this industry?

 
My journey into the PCB assembly industry has been quite extensive. My initial higher education and work experiences were devoted to information technology and everything related to the development and implementation of complex information systems involving computer equipment, software, and intricate information systems. It wasn’t until several years into my career that I transitioned into professions related to Surface Mount Technology (SMT).
 
Creating a modernized production facility has always been a complex endeavor, where experiences from different fields and specialties are paramount. It’s essential to unite people with diverse mindsets and amalgamate production technology, construction, engineering, and information technology into a cohesive whole.
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Defining Modern World-Class Manufacturing

The primary criterion for judging whether production is efficient enough to be considered world-class lies in the competitiveness of the product in the global market.
 
To achieve this, it’s crucial to ensure the quality and reliability of manufactured products, low failure rates within the warranty period, and the repeatability of process parameters. Additionally, the product price should not exceed market rates, costs should be minimized, but at the same time, the efficiency of production investments should be realized. The success of a project is also influenced by manufacturability of the product, thoughtfulness of production solutions, and readiness of the site, including construction issues for future products and consumer attributes.
OEE-equation

Imagine you and I wanted to establish our own product. Is it possible to measure its effectiveness in some way?

 
The efficiency of the entire production process directly depends on the efficiency of the equipment used therein. To ascertain this, the Overall Equipment Effectiveness (OEE) metric is employed in global practices. OEE measures the percentage of truly efficient production time and provides insight into the reasons for inefficiency.
 
To identify and eliminate losses in a timely manner, conduct comparative analysis of progress, and enhance equipment productivity, this metric must be measured. Thus, if the efficiency index is at 100%, it signifies that the equipment produces only defect-free, high-quality products, with the highest productivity and without interruption. Unfortunately, such a scenario rarely occurs in the real world.
 
The OEE equipment efficiency index comprises three criteria:
  • A – Availability
  • P – Performance
  • Q – Quality
By multiplying the results of each criterion’s calculation, the OEE value is determined: A x P x Q = OEE.
 
The possible losses listed here are comprehensive. The global best practice OEE value reaches 85%, while the OEE levels for many enterprises in Europe and Asia stand at 70%. Efficiency in Russian enterprises seldom exceeds 50%.
 

How can we increase the parameter values that influence this coefficient to reach the level of top works?

 
The world continuously seeks to improve the availability, productivity, and quality of production. Sometimes, transformations occur smoothly, but at other times, innovations in technology and engineering bring about significant leaps in productivity.
The First Industrial Revolution witnessed the mechanization of manual labor, greatly enhancing productivity. Mechanized factories and plants began to proliferate, accelerating the migration of populations from rural to urban areas.
 
During the Second Industrial Revolution, production achieved electrification, and conveyor belts began to be used for mass production.
Characterized by automation, improvements in logic controllers and their programming, and the creation of industrial robots, the Third Industrial Revolution occurred.
 
The Fourth Industrial Revolution (or Industry 4.0) is underway. In addition to enhancing productivity, it also emphasizes flexibility and quality. Part of this stage of industrial revolution is the integration of technologies like artificial intelligence and robotics. Essentially, Industry 4.0 is the trend of automation and data exchange in manufacturing technologies and processes, involving heterogeneous systems and handling vast amounts of data. Sensors at various stages of the production process collect information, providing comprehensive data for production analysis and decision-making. By introducing self-optimization, self-adjustment, and self-diagnosis methods, necessary automation technologies are improved. Artificial intelligence and machine learning enable intelligent systems to respond to various external factors, adjusting their operating modes to current conditions.
 
The construction of information systems has various types of hierarchical structures. The most common is built in the form of a pyramid, where process control systems are at the bottom and BPM or OLAP are at the top.
 
With the development of Industry 4.0 technologies, the quality assurance policies of modern enterprises are shifting from seeking, eliminating, and identifying defects due to technical reasons to predicting the occurrence of defects and proactively devising preventive measures. Certainly, preventing defects from occurring is far more effective than subsequently seeking and fixing them.
 
Industry 4.0 establishes one of the most important trends in the global manufacturing industry – shortening time to market for products.
If previously it took years to develop a new product, now even in the field of special equipment, no one waits. If you don’t introduce new products to the market quickly, your competitors will surpass you.
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Therefore, key factors for efficient world-class production include:
  • Shortest changeover time for producing different types of products
  • Minimizing maintenance downtime
  • Maximizing production per unit area
  • Lowest power consumption
  • Minimal development investment
  • Minimum number of service personnel
  • High reliability
By improving these points, we can hope to enhance our efficiency.
 

What does the ideal assembly process look like for printed circuit boards?

Every production primarily focuses on the product, as it’s what the creation is made for. This affects the technical solutions implemented during production. The manufacturing process consists of many stages, and digital manufacturing methods cover all these stages. In brief, the primary stages for creating high-quality products are as follows:
  • Inventory Warehouse automation can significantly increase productivity and reduce storage space. The warehouse exchanges information with production line equipment — ensuring traceability from finished boards to component suppliers.
When speaking about mass production, the speed of the warehouse is also included in the traceability requirements. The less waiting there is for processed components, the faster products are released to the market. Automated registration stations can help achieve this by providing high-speed acceptance of components through machine-readable factory markings.
Furthermore, intelligent warehouses can organize internal storage automatically. The control system independently determines the optimal position of pallets. Workers only load and unload them through appropriate windows. All internal movements occur without human intervention. An interesting feature of such a system is the ability to manage additional warehouse space, such as honeycomb storage cabinets.
 
Automatic component storage allows production to quickly access information about current balances, store them under conditions recommended by manufacturers, including requirements for temperature and humidity, monitor whether the entire set of equipment is sufficient to fulfill orders, and, if necessary, generate reports for procurement or delivery of components from central warehouses. All accounting of components in automated storage systems is integrated with the enterprise’s ERP system.
  • Incoming Inspection Before production begins, components (printed circuit boards and materials received from the warehouse) undergo incoming inspection. This is typically carried out through quality service.
Upon receipt of printed circuit boards, a visual inspection is first conducted, followed by monitoring the thickness and composition of coatings using specialized tools, checking circuit integrity with electrical control units, and evaluating solderability using special testers.
 
The resulting components and materials also undergo visual inspection and are checked for compliance with parameters and absence of defects. The scope and type of control depend on the type of finished product: it can be selective, or, for example, if it’s a product for space use, the control can be close to 100%.
  • Marking The digital transformation of production is no longer just a fashion trend. It’s now an urgent necessity, imposing stringent requirements on the collection, storage, and use of information processes. One of these requirements is machine-readable markings on every component involved in assembly and installation production. Components, printed circuit boards, equipment, tools, and machines themselves all need to be marked. Every element subject to accounting and control has its own unique code or label.
 
Each printed circuit board has its own code (QR code or another code), which is applied through laser engraving. This is a prerequisite for the factory’s traceability system — the code allows you to trace the entire life history of the product through the technological stages of production.
  • Solder Paste Printing Post-marking, all boards enter the stencil printer. This is a critical step in the process. The printer uses prepared templates and squeegees to apply solder paste. Solder paste is a grease-like mixture of powdered metal solder and a viscous flux. The flux serves as a temporary adhesive, used to temporarily fix surface mount components in place and remove contaminants and oxides from the solder surface. It’s crucial that each area is covered with the correct amount of paste. Otherwise, connections will not be made properly when the solder melts in the reflow oven.
High-quality stencil printers ensure high repeatability of the process by controlling paste application parameters: squeegee pressure, angle, movement speed, and air humidity in the printing area (controlled by sensors in the device).
  • Control of Solder Paste Application The quality of solder paste application is controlled by SPI. If defects in solder paste application are detected on SPI, the circuit board will enter a buffer, then proceed to cleaning. Subsequently, the board will enter the component installation process.
  • Component Placement pick and place machine are used to place components onto the printed circuit board. Each component is retrieved from its packaging using vacuum or clamping attachments, then placed by the mounting machine at the designated position on the board. The circuit board moves along a conveyor belt, while electronic components are rapidly and precisely placed on it by machines, some of which can place 80,000 to 100,000 individual components per hour. Aside from high productivity, modern component placement machines offer another advantage – they allow for rapid changeovers (typically within half an hour).
This process requires precision, as any misplacement of components results in costly and time-consuming rework.
  • Reflow Soldering After component placement, the PCB is conveyed to the reflow soldering oven according to the configured temperature profile. Soldering occurs in a nitrogen environment, enabling higher-quality soldering of circuit boards with miniature components and high packing density. Inert gas is generated by a nitrogen generator. It’s advisable to provide two independent generators as redundancy in case one fails. During soldering, components pass through:
  • Preheat zone
  • Soak zone
  • Reflow zone
  • Cooling zone If the PCB is double-sided, this process may be repeated.
  • Automated Optical Inspection Post-soldering, an AOI system specifically designed to check for defects on printed circuit boards is employed. One of the primary advantages of using AOI is the ability to identify systemic errors. This system allows you to collect defect statistics, analyze such data long-term, and adjust assembly processes accordingly. Based on the results of automated inspection, boards are sorted. If defects are detected, the circuit board enters the BAD buffer; if there are no defects, it enters the GOOD buffer. Boards with defects are transferred to the repair area.
  • Cleaning: The company’s cleaning area is typically arranged in a separate room adjacent to the assembly room. If solder paste that does not require cleaning is used during product assembly, the circuit boards will proceed immediately to final assembly stage.
  • Final Assembly Here, the circuit boards are assembled into boxes and sent for final testing, where all product functions are checked in semi-automatic mode with operator assistance. Serial numbers are then printed, products are packaged, and sent to the finished goods warehouse.
I.C.T SMT Production Line Solution

Andy, how do you view the development of methods for creating production facilities? What trends do you think are emerging?

From what I’ve observed, further developments in the field of printed circuit board assembly manufacturing are twofold: adapting to new technologies on one hand, and optimizing and improving the efficiency of existing solutions on the other. The following trends have emerged:
  • Maximum automation of all intraworkshop logistics, without manual movement of circuit boards and components from one area to another. Consequently, all materials, once entered into the warehouse, undergo 100% quality control automatically, then are conveyed to production using conveyors and robots, passing through all necessary stages of assembly, adjustment, and performance testing, before finally being packaged.
  • These devices will be as universal and fast as possible and will be customized for various production choices.
  • The number of manual operations will be reduced to a minimum. Currently, mechanical arms are extensively used in production worldwide. Their massive use in Russia still remains largely a financial efficiency issue.
  • Application of BIM technology in manufacturing. Essentially, this entails the establishment of an information model and interconnection of many different systems. It’s a virtual simulation of a structure, allowing all project participants to use it in one information space. One of the main advantages of using this technology is that if someone (e.g., a technical expert) makes changes to the information model, all project participants will know immediately. They will be able to work correctly and prevent potential errors, reducing project implementation time and construction costs.
  • Views on Industry 4.0 are becoming increasingly integrated into normal production. These methods will be as widespread in mass production today as the mandatory use of electricity and conveyor belts.

Comprehensive SMT Solutions with Global Reach

I.C.T offers adaptable SMT solutions for diverse needs. Our top-notch service, online support, and cutting edge engineering ensure high quality processes. Committed to excellent service, we maximize production line productivity with outstanding quality driven by lean processes, employee integration, proactive planning, and continuous improvement.

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