Development Trend of Solder Paste Printing Equipment Technology

Nowadays electronic processing technology is becoming more and more mature. In order to adapt to the trend of fine pitch and high density electronic packaging technology such as QFP, SOP, BGA, CSP, 01005, POP, etc., the future trend of SMT automatic paste printing equipment technology can be summarized as follows:

1、Cycle Time requirements

With the development of PCBA industry, the demand of SMT electronic processing is increasingly high. With the emergence of modular high-speed placement machine, we put forward higher to the press Cycle Time requirements, how to shorten the Cycle Time will be a problem that the brand manufacturers of automatic printing press have to solve.

2、Accuracy requirements

The chip pieces of 0201, 01005 or even 03015 are large-scale using, the previous printing presses can not fully meet the accuracy requirements, high-precision models will re-compete for the market.

3、Cleaning effect

With the development of SMT, the improve of cleaning function can achieve the speed and production efficiency. Artificial cleaning is a large printing equipment manufacturers are considering and research direction.

4、Cost - effective

Facing of the overall unit price of OEM decline, the company chooses the requirements of the printing equipment will according to their products, printing equipment can fully meet the production needs of the premise, that is a cost-effective products.

5、Printing plate bottom support tool

With the wide application of the PCB, the bottom support tool of the PCB has been paid more and more attention. Nowadays, the general printing equipment adopts multiple thimbles with a certain length to carry on the multi-point support, but there will still be bad printing. To achieve high-quality printing, the latest adjustable board support is now available with a retractable flat support that is fixed to the mold and flexibly adapts to the shape of the bottom of the circuit board.

6、Stable pressure control

Printed on the PCB board when the pressure on the impact of printing quality is very large, in the existing equipment in the printing process often deviation. The new solder paste printing equipment using closed-loop control technology, you can control the printing process in the scraper pressure, the pressure is stable.

What are the Challenges of Wave Soldering in Electronic Processing?

In the electronic processing plants, SMT processing and DIP processing technology has become mature and widely used, and are relatively high efficiency of the welding process. However, with the increasing pursuit of electronic products, more and more, how to produce more finished products at the same time become the most difficult problem.

Although the wave soldering technology is mature, but its control parameters are discrete and complex, the wave soldering process in the transmission speed, preheating temperature, component soldering reliability are uncertain. People in wave soldering process for some electronic components designed a lot of test vehicle, which also shows the wave soldering process variability and complexity.

From the technical developing, although the narrow pitch QFP, array package BGA and other electronic components are widely applying, making reflow soldering technology in the device and PCB interconnect have increasingly leading, but this does not mean that wave soldering technology disappeared, but it is undeniable that it does withdraw from its original dominant position.

From the current situation, the through-hole plug in some relatively low-level electronic products still occupy a certain proportion, because there are many occasions do not need the SMT technology, through-hole assembly is a low-cost processing program. But with the miniaturization of electronic components, the application of this technology will become smaller and smaller.

Wave soldering technology continues to progress and improve，in the future，with the emergence of new processing technology it may be out of PCB manufacturing and PCB assembly stage, but now it is still in electronic processing play a major role.

Comparison of lead and lead-free processes in Electronic Processing Plants

Now, there are two kinds of processing technology in the PCB assembly plant. According to the customer's demand, there are lead-free processing technology and lead processing technology. In fact a lot of customers do not understand the difference between them,  they only know that lead-free processing is more expensive, lead process is more cheaper. Solder used in the lead-free process is not 100% lead-free, but compared to lead process, solder contains lower lead content. Then compare them based on my own experience.

1.Cost

In the lead-free process, it needs some auxiliary materials for welding due to the characteristics of the solder itself. And the use of lead-free solder paste in the reflow soldering make the cost increased by 2 times, so does the use of tin line. So that the cost of lead-free processing is higher.

2.Firmness

The melting temperature of lead-free solder used in the lead-free solder is while the melting temperature of lead solder is 183 ℃, because the melting point of lead solder is low, it does less damage to the electronic components. After processing the solder joint is more bright and more hard.

3.Reliability

Lead containing solders have great harm to human body, and long-term exposure has a great impact on human health. At the same time, it is widely used in the international market lead-free processing technology, it can also protect the environment. After all, people have been aware of the increasingly serious environmental pollution problems, which will be harmful for them.

Related PCB manufacturing plants in the electronic assembly process or PCBA processing can choose corresponding technology according to the three differences. Meanwhile, they shouldn’t only pursue the lead-free technology and reject the advantages of lead process.

How to Control Temperature and Humidity in the Process of PCB Assembly

In the PCB assembly plant, processing plants generally control the entire production environment to manufacture better PCB products and prevent defective products, then the customers will be satisfied. So the electronic factory has more requirements on the production plant. And sometimes PCB processing process will be very expensive and easy to loss of electronic components or modules. It’s easy to cause bad materials if the processing environment temperature and humidity and processing technology did not control well. So how should electronic processing plant control the temperature and humidity of production?

First of all, inside the PCB manufacturing workshop, we should have a special temperature and humidity detector on the workshop for temperature and humidity monitoring, under normal circumstances, the temperature is 24 ℃, humidity 60RH, which can ensure the most basic production environment. At the same time do a good job of daily temperature and humidity records, and clean the reflow and wave soldering and other equipment required in the processing.

Then it’s better for workshop to own conditioning and heating equipment to ensure the workshop drying, moisture sensitive components are quite sensitive to the environment, high humidity can make the components produce solder in the welding process, or it can cause bridging problems.

Finally, in fact, our temperature and humidity control is to a large extent ensures the processing quality of sensitive devices to ensure product reliability and through rate, so we must be very aware of these wet sensitive devices, but we should also ensure the quality of wet sensitive devices. It is best to use a lead-free process during soldering, which can at least reduce the sensitivity of wet-sensitive devices by one or two grades. 

The above summary for our NOD Electronics experience, if you have better suggestions, welcome to share!

How to Ensure BOM is Correct and Avoid the Risk of PCBA Production

We need a lot of production documents before the production of PCB, including BOM list. BOM list contains the number of materials needed for production, it’s the unique management document during production and PCB assembly, which ensures the assembly sequence when it comes to actual processing. In the electronic assembly plant, BOM should be confirmed before production according to customers’ orders. Though there are still some problems about such as production errors and wrong material reverse. Now we provide some suggestions based on their own factory production experience, so that you can maximize avoid PCBA production risk.

1.First of all, you can develop a material coding system, the coding should own the uniqueness of identification, the functions of classification and sorting. In the BOM sheet, check whether the component coding is consistent and also should join a clear and concise description. Descriptions should include part type, size, SMT and vias, and so on. So that people can understand the material at a glance.

2.Responsibility to the people. The company should clearly proofread BOM and clear the responsibilities of corresponding staffs. They should be responsible for all mistakes. Responsible person can set a layer of security to BOM list, it can also effectively reduce BOM mistake using of employee psychological responsibility.

3.Now many companies now have ERP system, we can establish a single link between BOM and ERP and store data in database. Data entry should come from easy to difficult and from the whole to the bulk. We firstly store high-volume orders, followed by the relevant data of small quantities production. You can adjust the entry order according to management needs. 

4.Of course, you also need to make sure your BOM is available on the purchase of the material, then we can ensure the production. 

Above, we summarize the relevant experience, you can use according to your own situation. You are also welcome to make better suggestions.

How should China's Semiconductor Industry Develop? --Fujian Hongxin Failed To Acquire Aixtron

Well-known enterprise Fujian Hongxin failed to acquire Aixtron AG, which is blocked by the U.S. Ban. In fact, many Chinese companies are in the acquisition of foreign capital companies, which can help them to market. These companies will learn from foreign companies’ mature technology to promote their own development, it is more convenient. This acquisition failed, many people applauded, they think this can promote the development of China's own technology rather than rely on foreign technical support. For this acquisition, we should think about the future of China's semiconductor industry.

1. Can the acquisition of foreign loss-making enterprises really help us to carry out technological transformation?

How can the enterprises deal with their own business after the International mergers and acquisitions? Are these enterprises willing to come with the core technology to transform us? Also, the cultural differences between the two sides led to more difficult communication. It’s not convenient to manage the enterprises after acquisition because of different language and cultures. Our own technical problems are difficult to change if we only depend on the enterprises acquired. So we need to own the core technology, rather than rely on others.

2. How to solve the short-sighted phenomenon of China's semiconductor industry?

For China's semiconductor industry, we should clearly know that the core technology of strategic industries can not buy from others. We should focus on independent research and development and have our own core technology. We shouldn't take the shortcut to climb. Semiconductors are important in PCB assembly and PCB manufacturing.The current situation of China's semiconductor industry is more impetuous, which has a bad influence on our own development, we should have a long-term point of view.

We hope that the development of semiconductor industry can return to the right way after this failure case of acquisition. We should depend on ourselves and improve our own technology.

Is it Reliable to Reduce PCB Cost

The total cost of the production of PCB has advanced with the the growth of the cost of circuit board materials and labor costs and so on. Manufactures have to consider how to ensure quality while reducing production costs in order to occupy the PCB market. PCBA main costs include PCB board costs, component procurement costs and SMT costs, if we want to analyze how to reduce the cost of PCB, we need to consider these several aspects.

Reduce the cost of the circuit board

First of all we should take the size of PCB design issue into consideration, the circuit board is cut from a piece of plate material. Within a reasonable range, the more PCB we cut from the plate material,the lower the price of every single PCB, which requires designers to carefully consider how to process the large copper clad laminate into a number pieces of CCL with the vertical or horizontal cutting method. In the design of multi-layer circuit board, you can consider the HDI process.Especially in PCB manufacturing and PCB assembly process, can save a lot of cost.At the same time, we can use CEM-3 material to replace the the widely used double-sided epoxy resin glass cloth CCL,but there is a significant lack of strength shortcomings. In addition we should minimize the number of  through-holes and don't arbitrarily reduce the hole diameter. Copper is replaced with silver paste to fill via holes during copper deposition, but the resulting circuit board is not suitable for highly reliable circuits.

Reduce component procurement costs

Manufacturers should pay attention to the combination of customer and market during procurement and try to establish good relationship with suppliers, share the risk and profits with them, only in this way can ensure the quality of components.

Reduce SMT costs

We usually use SMT process to reduce the production cost, while the entire production cost can be reduced according to one-time mass production.

 All of these can be done to reduce the cost of circuit board production, while achieving a certain quality assurance, but reduce the cost of the circuit board at the same time means that the quality of the circuit board will inevitably become worse, because manufacturers will tend to use more poor production materials and more rough production steps. So in the face of cost and quality , manufacturers still need to consider and catch their own point.

How to choose a suitable solder paste in electronic manufacturing process?

In the electronic processing industry, paste is widely used in PCB assembly, PCB manufacturing and other process, which plays a decisive role in PCB quality. Its function is to make all kinds of electronic components welded to the PCB panel as a kind of welding material. How to choose a suitable solder paste in the face of various processing technology is a cliche. I put forward the following views on my own experience as below.

 

1.Lead free & Lead Paste

Choose lead free paste or lead paste according to customer requirements and market demand. With the enhancement of people's awareness of environmental protection, now the market generally accept free products, but it does not mean there is no market for lead solder paste. You'd better choose lead free solder paste according to the world.

2.Washing & Disposable

Concerning washing or disposable paste, decided according to the PCBA processing process after reflow soldering process and PCB cleanliness. Tin residues on the PCB panel may melt during the use of the product due to heat generated by large components, causing a short circuit and reducing the service life of the product..

3.The proportion of solder alloy components

The proportion of alloy paste process determines the melting point of tin, directly affects the degree of oxidation of the surface and paste fluidity in the SMT process. What kind of alloy ratio of solder paste should you choose?  What alloy ratio of solder paste  is suitable for PCB processing in the welding and operating temperature? Need you consider the ductility and adhesion of different metal components? Considering the above problems, you can choose a suitable solder paste.

In the selection process, you may not only consider the above issues but also choose according to the most important process requirements.

NOD electronics

How to Introduce Lean Production Principle in Electronic Assembly

Lean production is a new high efficiency, high efficiency and low cost production principle in recent years. It came from Japan’s Toyota and is widely used in the manufacturing industry. Compared to other production methods, it promotes that cost, time and labor investment can be halved but to obtain the required results.Lean production is also widely used in electronic assembly manufacturing, but there are some differences in the implementation of lean production in the current PCB manufacturingenterprises, then how should the management ideas of lean production be applied to the production management of the enterprise and reduce the enterprise’s production operating costs and improve production efficiency?

The main principle of lean production is on-time production, elimination of waste, paying attention to process and innovation, in the PCB assemblymanufacturing factory, the most important is the implementation of JIT production,  from the purchase of materials to production and delivery, which means the production of standardization. To achieve standardization, the factory to do the following:

1. On-time procurement

In an electronic assembly plant for the production of a product, the production materials need to undergo ordering, receiving, quality inspection, warehousing, deployment and other processes, these processes waste of time and can’t increase the value of the product. We need to select qualified quality assurance suppliers from the supply to eliminate these wastes. These companies should establish a long term cooperative relationship with suppliers. As a cooperative partner you will be able to get better preferential prices.

2. Reduce production preparation time

Only by reducing the adjustment and preparation time of production by electronic assembly manufacturers can the entire production process become initiative. We should reduce the adjustment time and make preparations for the adjustment when the machine is still running from one product to another product and from one product ion part to another.At the same time we should train the processing and production specialist and improve the equipment and process assembly.

3.Establish JIT unit

We should also strengthen product quality control between the establishment of JIT units, the appearance of defective products in the chain of production will affect the next link production. The core of the JIT unit is to move the warehouse into the plant, set up storage in the plant, adjust the layout of the workshop with the material storage place.The establishment of JIT unit also need to minimize the number of workers in the workshop, while eliminating all unnecessary things to ensure that the workshop clean and tidy.

We are familiar with the electronic processing enterprises Flextronics has been the first to introduce this production model, leading the industry’s enterprises. Their annual profit output are far ahead. There is already the first person to try tomato, you have to hesitate?

NOD-electronics

Impact of gray market on electronic processing market

Some time ago the semiconductor company Xilinx sued Flextronics processors, Flextronics  raised the commodity prices of the Xilinx  semiconductor and sold them to another electronic processors and obtained a certain profit in the absence of Xilinx licensing. This is clearly the gray market we have often heard, which refers to the market channels that sell the branded goods without the authorization of the trademark owner. The gray market goods are genuine goods with brand, but the sales channel of them are "informal" channels without the trademark owner's authorization and consent.

In fact, the gray market has caused some impact on our normal electronic trading market. Brand Company has been affected, so many small brands under the gray transaction processors will only become more rampant.  As manyelectronics manufacturers  defects in the technical and equipment, looking for the reliable OEM or EMS electronic processors has became their most convenient and direct production path. These OEM or EMS electronic processors in the production of electronic components and so have some of the production of excess inventory, they can not withstand the temptation of gray market sales.

Impact of gray market on electronic processing market

1.The impact on the sale of original brand supplier

When many electronic processors have other more convenient and more favorable purchase channels to obtain the required production material, they will not find the original supplier, causing their decline in sales and material backlog.At the same time, it will also cause the loss of the potential market of the original brand suppliers, if not controlled, there will be more companies to drill the gap in the market.

2. The impact on the original brand image and intellectual property rights

Gray market sales will make the original brand supplier's brand image damage, cost difference or the difference between the price of same product is easy to make the person who is not clear have bad impression about the product. The original brand supplier's intellectual property rights can not be protected.

3. Can't create a good and fair trading environment

Market transactions must be based on the basic moral norms and the highest laws and regulations, if the gray market transactions more prevalent, then the fair trade environment we have been pursuing all the time will be destroyed by our own. 

We should ensure that the quality of the production of products, adhere to the rules of market transactions, thereby improving customer satisfaction. And to enhance their own quality, and enhance the protection of intellectual property rights.

What are the advantages of China's electronics processors?

With the rapid development of electronic processing industry, processing technology in the machining process continues to improve. Although China started relatively late in electronic processing, the depth of technical research of relevant researchers and the support of national policy make our electronic industry is advancing by leaps and rounds, which has also entered the international perspective. Although China's electronic processing has suffered a a lot of trade imbalance from international pressure, more and more international electronic manufacturers are still looking for Chinese processors because of its own advantages.

1. Strong production capacity & Complete supporting facilities

China has a strong manufacturing market and a good environment for development, attracting a lot of international electronic processing industry traders to invest. From 90s to the present, China's electronic processing industry has developed for many years with a a strong technical foundation and a more perfect infrastructure. China's small and medium-sized electronic processing business model can be very good to meet the needs of the international market, which is also a huge advantage.

2. Cheap labor and government technology policy support

Manufacturing and processing industries have a strong stimulating effect on the economy of a country. It’s a good signal that the Chinese government support the the development of the electronic processing industry, which also provides a better environment to develop our electronic processing industry. At the same time China as a populous country, cheap labor has attracted a lot of foreign electronics manufacturers, which saves a lot of their production costs.

3. Put forward some constructive opinions

Many foreign electronic manufacturers relatively scarce related technology and production expertise, therefore, there will be a lot of problems in the design of PCB, which requires the ability of electronic engineers to help to solve it, but it also means that need to pay more costs. Looking for Chinese electronics processors can solve this problem. China electronic processors will give suggestions for PCB design such as reduction of material or components when they receive the cooperation contract, it has constructive significance for the design and appearance of the product itself, which also saves a lot of cost. For example, the Guangzhou NOD is such an electronic processor. 

Looking for China electronic processors is the international trend, you will find that the choice of Chinese processors is a correct choice compared to many electronic processors. In addition to the above we explained, China has a lot of advantages in electronic processing, welcome to put forward your views.

A few simple steps to identify the circuit board

In most people's view, regardless of the quality of the circuit board, the surface looks almost the same, but we have to identify the quality of them through the similar appearance. We only need a few simple steps of judge to analyze its durability and the corresponding function after we get a piece of PCB.

Meet the standard

Standard PCB panels generally have a wall thickness of 25 micron, which can enhance the reliability. While the perfect circuit is generally not through the welding repair and short circuit repair. Generally, manufacturers will choose the international well-known substrate rather than the unknown brand to ensure the reliability of the production process.We should ensure the high quality of the plug hole, we can reduce the risk of failure of assembly process according to the high-quality plug. It is not acceptable to have scrapped units, and not to use partial assembly to improve the efficiency.

Stick to norms

PCB generally need to meet the cleanliness requirements of the IPC specification, but when the PCB beyond the requirements, PCB cleanliness will be greatly improved. At the same time, we should pay attention to the control of the life of each surface treatment to avoid the problem of surface treatment of aging circuit board. CCL tolerances comply with IPC4101ClassB/L requirements, we should strictly control the electrical properties of dielectric thickness to reduce the expected deviation.We should also note that the definition of shape, tolerances for holes and other mechanical features. We should also pay attention to define the shape and hole and the tolerance of other mechanical characteristics to improve the quality of the product, improve the coordination, shape and function.

Whether in the assembly manufacturing process of circuit board or in actual use, the reliability of the PCB is one of our characteristics that must be identified, We should pay attention to the defects in the assembly process may finally affluence the quality of the final product  on the basis of cost control, so good PCB should have above characteristics.  Manufacturers should consider how to reduce cost effectively after ensuring these characteristics.

NOD-electronics

HDI PCB, opportunity or challenge?

With the rapid development of electronic technology, intelligent mobile phone, tablet computer and other wearable devices are toward multifunctional and functional direction. And high density interconnect PCB technology is rising, referred to as the HDI technology.The rapid development of HDI technology means that the number of layers and the components accommodated on the PCB increase in case that there is no change in size,weight and volume of PCB, which improves the electrical properties of the PCB. So HDI technology has become a mainstream direction in the development of the electronic industry.

Challenges from HDI technology

The high degree of integration of communication products makes the trend of integration of PCB design and PCB manufacturing more and more obvious. Manufacturer left less manufacturing margin with HDI veneer.This design and manufacturing constraints, which is likely to increase the complexity of the design, on the other hand, such technology would undermine the time needed for the veneer jointing. This will directly affect the time of production.In terms of PCB Assembly, high density Assembly package will cause solider bridge, shift, tomb bump and so on. The existing detection methods have some shortcomings, it's difficult to do high-density test. At the same time the device pin spacing is small, which will also increase the difficulty of repair.

Benefits from HDI technology

HDI board can significantly reduce the cost of PCB, while increasing the density of the circuit, which is more conducive to the use of advanced packaging technology to ensure that the product has better electrical properties and signal accuracy. It can both have high reliability and improve the electromagnetic interference. HDI technology is better in line with the current trend of the development of the electronics industry.

HDI production process generally requires more expensive equipment support, but many small-medium enterprises can not afford it. It will inevitably lead to the loss of some customers and lose considerable orders if these companies give up the HDI market. On the other hand, HDI technology is more profitable than ordinary circuit board.This requires manufacturers to identify their own direction in the HDI technology opportunities and challenges.

NOD-electronics

How to make the PCB quickly and well

With the development of the electronic industry, the production of electronic products is increasing, and the demand for the production of electronic products is also increasing.How to make the PCB quickly and well has become an important issue for many PCB designers.Only the rapid production of PCB with high precision, high performance and cost savings  can have a stronger competitive strength.

Rapid production of circuit boards

Mainly divided into physical methods and chemical methods. The physical method is to manually cut out unwanted copper on the board by means of cutting tools and power tools. Chemical method is to cover the blank with the CCL protective layer. The corrosion solution will remove the unnecessary copper. These layers are mainly covered by hand-painted paint method, adhesive method, film photographic method and the thermal transfer printing method.

The advantages and disadvantages of the two methods

Physical method is obviously more difficult and time-consuming, so the method is only suitable for a relatively simple circuit, and the operator's requirements are very high,so the method can not be applied to the mass production of the information age.Chemical process is relatively complex, but we can artificially control the accuracy of the final product, which is a more rapid plate-making method.But there are still some problems: the printing accuracy depends on the accuracy of printer cartridges used, the exposure plate And the development time is not easy to control, corrosion control process is difficult, photosensitive board on the environmental requirements are higher, it's difficult to control accuracy after the manual punching.

So it is obvious that the chemical method is superior to other methods. In contrast, it is more time saving and labor saving, and can control the accuracy better. But these two methods can only achieve a certain degree of the requirements of PCB rapid manufacturing.But it can't achieve the high speed and high accuracy of the PCB. So we need to be on the road in PCB manufacturing to continue to explore and discover a more appropriate approach.

NOD-electronics

How can PCB board repair save you money in a crisis?

A PCB assembly company may produce a variety of circuit board failure. You may have to spend a lot of money to design your board, and you can not give it up so you can only repair it. Of course, this also takes some money, so how to save more money from it, then we have to narrate from three aspects.

PCB Board Repair Scenarios

Repair

This is the most common reason you might need to utilize such services: a part which was working has failed, and you don't know why. Luckily, electronics experts can analyze both the original schematics and the resulting board to discover the underlying problem. Often, it's something as simple as a single broken bit of circuit wiring or a single failed component that can be fixed for far less than it would cost to recreate the board.

Rework

Sometimes, it's the initial design that's flawed. A capacitor cannot handle the charge it needs, or a particular computer chip proves to be incompatible with the board. In this case, PCB board repair services can take a look at the original design specs, compare them to the finished product, and uncover which component(s) are causing the issue.
From there, it's a relatively simple matter to find suitable replacements which can meet your original specifications.

Modification

Or, perhaps your PCB works, but just not quite up to par. Perhaps it fails to meet a necessary requirement, such as FCC feedback shielding standards. If this is the problem, much as with rework efforts, your PCB repair service can take the working design and improve on it so it meets your needs.

What To Look For In PCB Board Repair Services

When you're looking for a repair service, there are a few important matters to consider.

Standards and Certifications. There are numerous global standards agencies, such as the IPC Association, that maintain industry-specific standards for electronics work. Of these, the IPC-7711 / 7721 standard is the most important, relating directly to electronics repair and rework. While certification is not a guaranteeof quality work, it can give you a lot of assurance when you deal with a company that's certified in your area of need.

Supply chain expertise. A repair service that cannot guarantee quality components won't be able to guarantee their repairs will hold. Pick a firm which specializes in supply chain management, so you can know your PCB will be repaired using nothing but genuine components and materials.

Testimonials and case studies. The proof is in the pudding, as they say. If you're in doubt about a repair service, ask them for referrals or case studies demonstrating their expertise. After all, there's no surer sign of good work than a happy customer.

If you have a mission-critical PCB that isn't working as it should, don't toss it out and incur huge losses in trying to replace it. Simply hire a PCB board repair service to make the necessary adjustments at a much lower price.

PCB Prototype Assembly Shows How To Improve Quality

Before ordering a high volume of PCBs for your next new design, it is always good to first assemble a prototype or order a low volume batch that all can be tested for any errors. PCB prototype assembly can help exactly with such testing to make sure you aren't out thousands of dollars should anything go wrong during the final production phase, and the assembly doesn't have to cost you even more money by being in-house. All of it can be outsourced to an assembly company easily.But, what exactly are the other benefits of a PCB prototype besides the financial budgeting? There are several and most of them have been outlined below.

1. Design Changes

Prototypes have a huge benefit of being a tangible product that can show you how your product is going to look in its final stage. If the design or layout isn't something that seems like it is going to be the most efficient, both for your company and your clients, then you can take the time to make any final design changes. And with a low volume assembly of prototypes, or just one altogether, you aren't spending hundreds of dollars on simple changes for an improvement on your PCB assembly.

2. Troubleshooting

Worst case scenario is that you put in a high volume order, take all of that time and money to have everything assembled, and then realize after the fact everything has been shipped out to you ready to be sent off to clients that the PCBs aren't working up to spec. Sure, they went through testing, but sometimes a little error can still slip through. With a prototype, the PCB can undergo very rigorous testing to make sure that it is going to work and won't fail early in its life span.

3. Quality Assurance

A PCB prototype assembly not only helps with design and troubleshooting, but, it also helps to ensure what kind of components are working and which ones might need to be updated or replaced. PCBs are constantly changing with the advances of technology and sometimes certain components are outdated, and a prototype is there to help what can work to keep your PCBs efficient and only the highest quality available.

4. New Products

Of course you will want to create a prototype before implementing a brand new product for your clients. Whether you need a low volume batch of orders or a PCB prototype assembly done quickly, new products need to be tested and revised with any changes before going on to the final stage of assembly--and even then, more testing will occur on the assembly side.

5. Testing Assemblies

If you're in the market of looking for a new PCB assembly manufacturers company, then one of the best ways to do so is requesting an PCB prototype assembly job to be done according to your design and specs. You can test out how well they listen to your requests, how much they are going to cost, and then assess the quality of the PCB prototype to see just how well they can fit with your business.

All in all, PCB prototype assembly is a very important part of the entire assembling process to make sure that you save money, have the most efficient components, and maintain a very reliable professional relationship with your assembly company.

PCB Design

NOD Electronics can help you to transit concept or brain image into product as long as you send us PCB designrequirements. We can offer PCB design and layout services. In order to shorten your timeline, we comply with strict standards to handle PCB design phases, such as from requirement draft, alpha & beta review to volume production. In this case, your PCB design tasks go smoothly under our project management team.

Nowadays, engineers usually use Electronic Design Automation (EDA) software to complete PCB design. Although there are functional softwares such as Protel, Power PCB which can directly convert schematic diagram to layouts and call components in standard dimension from CAD library, we should analyze and adjust timely according to different assembly density, engineering, equipments and special components.

In many cases of startup companies, the design for manufacturability (DFM) was usually ignored or not emphasized, which caused a lot of defects and project delay during PCB manufacturing and PCB assembly phases, because EMS supplier could not resolve problem due to original PCB design.

DFM is the most effective method of ensuring PCB design quality, which matches the project requirements and global abilities of electronics manufacturing to lower down the cost, enhance volume production and expedite time-to-market. DFM starts product design phase, focusing on manufacturability and test plan, creating a close connection with design and manufacturing and realizing an one-time success from design to manufacturing. DFM is featured in short development period, low cost, high quality and popular with current enterprises.

PCB Manufacturing

PCB Experts offer inexpensive PCBs for quantities as little as 1 piece to as high as 5,000 pieces. In addition, our PCB designers look over every design for potential mistakes. This service can’t be found at most PCB fabrication houses. Also, we follow very strict PCB manufacturing workflow to ensure the high quality delivery. NOD Electronics customers come from a large variety of industries and business segments, such as semiconductor, enterprise computing, networking and telecommunications, wireless markets, medical and biological, industrial and embedded systems, network storage, automotive electronics, digital toys, laboratory instruments, etc. That is why you can rely on our PCB manufacturing andPCB assembly services. As herein, we place PART of our customer cases for your reference. We can do than you imagine. In general, our global customers have following impressions of our services: quick response, reasonable price level, top customer perspective, quality commitment.

NOD Electronics invested over 10 million USD for factory facilities, including PCB and PCBA equipments (Acid Copper Through-hole Plating, CNC Drilling, PCB Etching Machine, PCB Milling Machine, Surface Mount Machine, Reflow Oven, Automated Optical Inspection (AOI), Wave Soldering) and a scientific system of management, through which your PCB and PCB assembly requirements can be fulfilled in high quality and accordance of international standards.

We choose A+ grade copperplate to ensure stable performance (general FR-4) of PCB fabrication. During the manufacturing process, automatic copper plating lines and high-speed drilling machines (brand:TMAX) to make accuracy and fast delivery guaranteed. All printed circuit board will be detected by advanced automatic flying probe machines (or test frame ) at subsequent stages to make sure each PCB is OK from inner circuits to outside shape. With the initial stage of PCB design, timing is always very crucial. Our quick-turn for PCB assembly prototyping, ECO (Engineering change orders) and BGA reballing/rework services brings your lead time with the highest regard, no matter order volume (as little as one piece). Our 20 hours PCB sample express service has already been a life saver for huge many product design teams facing strict deadlines. Our engineer will follow strict and refined pcba workflow to perform the process of pcb manufacturing and pcb assembly. Our PCBA boards are widely served for customers of a variety of industries, such as automobile, medical & health, system card, and consumer electronics. Generally, we fulfill standards of ISO quality management and IPC-A-610E throughout phases of incoming materials, screen printing, smt, aoi, ipqc, dip and PCBA test. In general, your PCB prototype can be well served by us. Since we receive your product drafted solution, all subsequent process will be controlled by our strict PDCA management workflow. Our dedicated engineers will communicate timely with you and resolve any problem. Moreover, our global manufacturing capabilities can reduce your cost beyond expectations and without any hassle. We will be your best PCB manufacturer and PCB assembly partner.

PCB Manufacturing Machines

We invested over 10 million USD on PCB equipments including electroplate lines, drilling machines, flying probe, text screener etc. All of these are for offering you capability of monthly 15,000 square meters PCB manufacturing, which is applicable for small-medium-large business orders.

Once you have completed PCB manufacturing course, now it’s time to prepare incoming materials according to BOM list and start up the PCB assembly phase or check back the PCB design. Also for more details, you can review more our services.

How to do a good job of lead - free assembly electronics

Transitioning to lead-free assembly electronics requires not only product reliability, but also the ability for an optimizedPCB assembly process. Additionally, material selection, component changes, and handling potential testing failures are integral to a successful transition. 

Choosing Materials

Surface finish is one of the key material choices impacting the entire assembly electronics process. The assembly process itself, plus the complexity of the board and its use environment, all make an impact on this decision. Typical options include lead-free HASL or ENIG, OSP, ImAg, and ImSN, with new innovations becoming market-ready all the time. Different laminates are often under-specified due to underestimating their quality during the assembly process. Alternatively, laminates may be over-specified, which commands a higher cost.

Solder alloys are another important decision: wave solder, surface mount, and solder for BGA balls all have to be considered. Typ[ically, SAC305 is the surface-mount alloy of choice, and it performs acceptably under most circumstances. Depending on the complexity required for your wave solder alloys, the most cost effective solution is SnCU, especially if you have thin boards with low-aspect holes that need to be filled. SnAgCuNi is preferable for more challenging holes, although this may depend on the surface finish and choice of flux as well. For board flexing capabilities, or withstanding shock events, a variety of lower modulus alloys like SAC105 are becoming more prevalent.

Component Qualifications and Testing

Early adopters of lead-free assembly electronics discovered frequent occurrences of melted plastic components on wave solder connectors. This lead to a switch away from nylon 66 toward the more appropriate nylon 46, or sometimes LCP. These meet the requirements of moisture and temperature sensitivity, a must-have in surface-mount LF components. 

Other components that need to withstand heat damage may be more difficult to detect, which makes preventing that damage a greater challenge. Electrolytes within electrolytic capacitors may boil if time limits and safety temperatures are exceeded, yet these limits are not always outlined in sufficient detail.

Common specs may offer some suggestions, yet without the necessary variables to predict possible behavior. Component engineers end up guessing at preheat durations and total peak heat, while attempts are made with lead-free alloys to properly fill holes under various conditions.

Testing the strain capability of separate components following lead-free assembly is another blind spot. For example, it’s commonly known that SAC alloys have a reduced tolerance for strain, yet their assembly manufacturing people rarely offer specific limits for these devices. If suppliers could record results of four-point bend testing for their components in order to determine an objective maximum strain capability, the user could know if problems are more likely to arise during component stuffing, performing ICT, or attaching their boards to the chassis.

Reworking

All too often, lead-free reworks are overlooked in favor or meeting tight manufacturing schedules. However, records indicate that reworking is one of the greatest challenges involved with making the transition to lead-free assembly. A Lead-free assembly electronic has a more difficult window lying between the cold solder on one end and heat damage at the other.

Reworking can bring operator-to-operator benefits to the mix, optimizing equipment process that was probably originally designed for Sn-Pb rework. Every critical component requires a strict rework process which must be rigidly adhered to. Extensive failure analysis has to be undertaken before a determination regarding appropriate rework procedure can be made. Damage to the PCB, the component itself, or any neighboring components must be prevented. New rework equipment may be necessary, as well as the employment of new shielding techniques. 

Implement Auditing

Despite the growing experience with assemblage of lead-free PCBs, high quality is not always maintained after high-volume production begins. A comprehensive audit plan should be in place to address with the supplier in order to ensure accountability.  Making the change to lead-free assembly electronics provides an excellent opportunity to review your supplier’s typical process, and make any necessary adjustments for optimum quality control.