100% functional testing wasn’t an option, Saki 3D AOI makes PCBA functional testing practically unnecessary

Since the beginning of 2018 BEA SA produces their own circuit boards, after outsourcing this to China for fifteen years. This was only possible of personnel costs were kept as low as possible. 100% functional testing of the electronics wasn’t possible to close the business case. Smans’ s advice to invest in Saki 3D AOI was an excellent choice. In the first period of production all circuit boards have been functionally tested as well as with the Saki 3D AOI. The functional tests didn’t find any extra mistakes.

2D AOI or 3D AOI

When the production took place in China, every printed circuit board assembly (PCBA) was tested functionally. In the beginning, this was mostly to build trust and later on it was done just to tick them off the to do list. Back then BEA SA was of the opinion that it wasn’t logical to test every board. When the production line was moved back to headquarters, it was decided that 100% functional testing wasn’t an option. In order to make the right choice, Smans was asked for advice. The starting point: the less human action, the better. Using a 2D AOI needs more work, because it returns a lot of false error messages. This is less the case with a 3D AOI machine. Smans took BEA SA to visit two of their customers who work with a Saki 3D AOI Machine. Those satisfied customers were the decisive factor and the choice to use the Saki 3D AOI was made.

The 1 million components test

When a new production line is introduced, you want to make sure that the electronics are well produced. To get a good feeling with the quality, in the first period all circuit boards were tested with the 3D AOI as well as functionally tested. These are the results of the first 1,000,000 components:

115 components rejected by 3D AOI
100 components rejected by the functional test
100 overlap between the functional test and the 3D AOI
15 good components that were rejected by the 3D AOI

The fifteen good components that were rejected by the 3D AOI were taken into evaluation. The cause of the rejection was found in changing a reel. When a new reel was started, the housing of the component may have been divergent from the previous components. By immediately adjusting the software of the 3D AOI, it remained a misjudged component. Although the machine is excellent, it is not that easy to program the software.

Quality guaranteed

The final products are still functionally tested but the intermediate tests on PCBA can be strongly reduced. The Saki 3D AOI makes PCBA functional testing practically unnecessary. With such machine, the only thing that can go wrong is placing a component with the same housing but with a different value. Smans has automated the complete component handling system too. From intake and storage to the communication with the pick & place which reduces the chance of placing a wrong component to almost zero. BEA SA is very satisfied with the advice Smans gave to choose the Saki 3D AOI.