PCB TESTING AND QUALITY ASSURANCE SERVICES
Many electronics manufacturing companies are undergoing a revolution by strategically focusing on a few top priorities like doing what they do best – staying aligned with their customers over the lives of multiple products. Hence freeing up these manufacturers from handling the entire value chain of products, the era of outsourcing certain processes has arrived.
EmblePCB provides a flexible combination of inspection, test and calibration services delivering reliable defect-free results to your product quality. Calibration services are executed according to the nature of the assembly and its technology.
Let’s understand what PCB testing and quality assurance services are and how we inculcate them in our services family.
INSPECTION - THE FIRST STAGE OF EMS TESTING
Before testing of the circuits and components can begin, a visual inspection is necessary to determine whether the components are correctly aligned and soldered, and that the PCBs have been manufactured to the required standards.
At EmblePCB, we use standard inspection equipments for our visual checks and it is often carried out alongside Automated Optical Inspection (AOI), which can speed up the inspection process, but also allows your engineers to check boards directly against the manufacturing information. Computer vision is much more accurate and can detect tiny imperfections that may be invisible to the naked eye. This is another method that we utilise to excellent effect.
TESTING PROCESSES
There are many EMS testing processes available:
In-circuit test (ICT) and flying probe – These are the two most common testing processes, and they generally cover the same issues (short circuits, open circuits, etc), so one or the other is generally sufficient – although we actually use neither of these, as we’ve found other methods to be better!
System functional testing – This is often the last test performed because it’s essentially a ‘Does the board do what it says on the tin?’ test. It should always be performed in conjunction with other tests because a PCB could, theoretically, pass this test and still contain faults.
Boundary scan – A reliable and speedy scan that takes advantage of the test logic already present in your digital integrated circuits to check the larger connections on your PCBs. It’s a relatively expensive but elegant scan that only needs a 4-pin Test Access Port wired into your PCBA to perform the same job as an ICT and flying probe, but in much less time.
Electrical safety testing – An essential test for any product that uses electricity and one that should always be carried out. A simple portable appliance test will apply a much higher voltage than the PCB is designed to withstand, in order to determine if it can handle the stress – a well designed board should pass this easily.
Other tests such as accelerated life and environmental stress tests are also carried out that can be helpful to determine a PCB’s life expectancy and ability to withstand extremes of temperature and weather (tend to be board-specific).
Our PCB Testing and Quality inspection services follow IPC standards, and customer requirements, when providing inspection services during your build. Inspection points are outlined in our process flow and performed by both automated and manual means. Our rigorous inspection execution ensures your assembly has the correct components, correct placement and orientation, security and tightness of parts (solder joints) and hardware, and that any customer specified requirements are met.
EmblePCB provides a range of automated PCB test solutions either as part of a whole product assembly or as a standalone service. We provide test solutions for:
- PCB Assemblies
- Wire and cable assemblies
- Final product testing
Our engineers can systematically examine your electronic product’s functions compared to their costs, giving you clear recommendations for both potential cost reductions and performance improvements.
It’s important that you understand the importance of bespoke product/PCB testing for each of your products. We always open up a dialogue with our clients to ensure that we fully understand their product and tailor our testing accordingly.
We have controls in place to detect any issues arising from material discrepancies, manufacturing/tooling defects, equipment failures, or packaging issues. Our Product/PCB testing and final inspection ensure that all products meet the highest levels of compliance requested by our customers.