Issue link: https://iconnect007.uberflip.com/i/579391
72 SMT Magazine • October 2015 boards, they are really big boards, so usually the production process or pick-and-place pro- cesses are longer, and therefore the inspection process. Las Marias: Can you tell us about some of the ad- vances in aoi technology that can help users re- duce the cycle times in their processes? Bornemann: One of the important things we are doing is taking top-down testing and angu- lar testing, which is really needed in the auto- motive industry to find every defect. Before, we had to do it one after the other. So we did a run for the top view, and we did a run for the angu- lar view. The latest technology is the top view and angular view in one camera module, which means a savings of 50% of your cycle time, be- cause at one shot you can take the top view and the angular pictures. And I think that's one of the biggest advantages. Nowadays, cameras are really fast, so the cycle-time-defining aspect is movement of the sensor. If you're inspecting 10 positions, for example, now you will need only five positions because the machine is twice as fast. Las Marias: You mentioned automotive, and that you cannot sacrifice the reliability of automotive electronics against throughput. Can you tell me more about that? Bornemann: That is always, from our point of view, the top priority. You can make fast ma- chines, but if you only find 80% of the defects, it really doesn't help. Las Marias: automating production lines, such as implementing automated testing, for instance, helps to significantly reducing cycle time. Please give your comments. Bornemann: There is no doubt about that. If you ever really automate your process, it's easier to calculate because the machine is always giv- ing you the same cycle time. If you have manu- al inspection, it really depends on the operator. Automation definitely helps you to get a really stable cycle time, and therefore stable produc- tion planning. Las Marias: one of the trends right now is iot/ smarter Factory. in an end-to-end line, is there a technology now that will help provide the data in these different inspection equipment/nodes that will provide operators actionable intelli- gence so that they know how to respond to any issue in the line? Bornemann: Indeed, that's one of the things we did in the last two years—communications along the process. If you have separate ma- chines and you have all the information, but you don't connect it somewhere, the customer really doesn't benefit from it. But we are now connecting all the machines; we are working FeATure inTerview InSPectIon InnoVAtIonS to reduce cycLe tIMe guido bornemann, head of sales for asia, viscom ag.