PCB assembly testing and inspection procedures

Testing is crucial to ensure high quality products are delivered to customers. Few things are more frustrating to a customer than an ‘out-of-box’ or premature failure due to an avoidable fault. Thankfully board assemblers offer multiple layers of testing and inspection to ensure high quality units are produced and delivered to customers. Emphasis is on prevention through rigorous quality management rather than cure by detection and rework. This is an integral part of a board assembler’s Quality Management Principles as it lowers costs and encourages efficient resource utilization. Despite all efforts to prevent errors, board assembly is a complex process and defects occur relating to a variety of issues from incorrect component loading through to failures in SMT equipment. Thorough testing and inspection occurs throughout the production process to ensure problems are captured early on, ensuring high quality and yield.