June, 2018 Continued from previous page
www.us-tech.com STI Meets Next-Gen Assembly Needs
window, purchasing consults with the Triad to ex- plore other options.
Processing and Procurement
Once all of the options and prices have been researched, they are presented to the sales and lo- gistics team, and relayed in turn to the customer. The customer then decides which option is the best fit. The plan is finalized and a formal quote is pro- vided to the customer.
Upon receipt of the customer’s purchase or- der, the purchasing team begins to procure the parts. In certain economic situations or at various times of the year, some parts are readily available one moment and long-lead the next. This can re- sult in repeating or revising the production sched- ule and options for the customer. Once that hurdle is finally overcome, STI’s logistics team finalizes requirements for ac- quisition and production and hands them off to the Triad.
Logistics’ first point of contact in the Triad is front-end engineering, whose first task in the production cy- cle is to develop a job package. The job package guides machine opera- tors precisely through each step re- quired during production. These in- clude setting up machinery, ensuring all materials are readily available, sending data to pick-and-place ma- chines, inspection, packaging, and machine operation.
Manufacturing engineering also reviews the job package and ensures that all materials, processes and pa- rameters are properly selected and implemented. Manufacturing also places a strong emphasis on defect prevention and non-value-added process step elimination by analyzing the job package for common errors re- lating to the bill of materials (BOM) selection, PCB design and manufac- turing materials and processes. STI’s design for manufacturing (DFM) and design for test (DFT) serv- ices ensure quality of the final prod- uct and facilitate an efficient manu- facturing cycle from fabrication, as- sembly and testing to delivery. En- suring that the customer’s design aligns with the latest manufacturing processes and materials results in higher yields and fewer design itera- tions.
The company is also staffed with systems and design engineers. These engineers are available to create spe- cial tooling and custom fixtures. This is to be sure that the customer’s final product meets form, fit and function requirements. STI’s engineers are available to troubleshoot at the sys- tem and component levels of the product, during manufacturing.
On to Production
When the package officially goes to production, the Triad begins to track and monitor the production process. This ensures that it meets both STI’s quality requirements and the customer’s specifications. The Triad makes sure that a variety of goals are accomplished prior to and during production, such as:
The schedule is maintained and met.
The budget is met, and if possible, improved.
DFM is accomplished. This allows potential problems to be fixed before production.
If complex problems arise, the part is sent to STI’s analytical materials lab.
Issues are discovered in a timely manner and relayed to the customer quickly.
If necessary, rework and repair is performed.
The job package is properly completed.
All production processes are reviewed for accuracy.
When the production cycle is complete, quali- ty inspects the final product. QA uses a range of methods to verify the product’s quality. Visual in- spection is a critical part of checking for quality, since the assembler is the first person to see the completed product. Microscopy is used to reduce eye strain and to get a larger view of the board’s components. X-rays offer a noninvasive way to vi- sually inspect the PCB assembly.
In-circuit test (ICT), including fixture-less or flying probe testing, sends machine-operated probes across the PCB to test checkpoints at breakneck speeds. AOI uses high-quality cameras and RGB LEDs to reflect light and check for con- nection faults and solder quality. Finally, function-
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al testing is basically a full test run of the CCA once it has been manufactured. This consists of powering on the PCB and performing a series of self tests.
STI also offers other advanced capabilities and services, in addition to manufacturing and as- sembly, including:
Material Failure Analysis. This includes IPC compliance testing, scanning electron microscopy (SEM), energy dispersive spectroscopy (EDS), ion chromatography, transmission X-ray evaluation, micro-sectional analysis, wetting balance testing, organic contamination testing with Fourier trans- form infrared spectroscopy (FTIR), and dye-and- pry testing.
Engineering. STI offers analog and digital de- sign, prototyping, development, and assembly of
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