Issue link: https://iconnect007.uberflip.com/i/304995
May 2014 • SMT Magazine 73 Because of the high throughput capacity of the multisite systems it becomes possible to re- place multiple offline standard ICT systems on the production floor with a single inline multi- site ICT system, thus reducing equipment costs, overall factory floorspace requirements and handling time. Reduced Fixture Costs Standard ICT systems used in high-volume production lines can often not keep up with the beat rate of the assembly equipment. In order to keep up with the volume of PCBs being produced these manufacturers must usually dedicate two or more standard ICT systems to each high-vol- ume assembly line. Each ICT system requires its own test fixture, which can become a significant recurring cost to the manufacturer over time. Since one multisite ICT system can have the test capacity of four standard ICT systems, high-volume manufacturers can deploy a single test system on the production line that only requires a single test fixture—thereby eliminat- ing the purchase costs of duplicate fixtures and lowering the manufacturer's recurring fixture acquisition costs by half or more. Reduced operator Costs The new brand of ICT system removes many of the barriers that were previously in place for automating in-circuit test. With these barriers removed, manufacturers can benefit from mov- ing from an offline ICT operation to an opera- tor-free inline ICT operation. Making this move can significantly reduce labor costs for the manufacturer while simulta- neously reducing handling time and improving test reliability. Figure 7: Screenshot showing two boards being tested in parallel. THE CHaNGING ECoNomICS oF IN-CIRCUIT TEST continues feATuRe