Issue link: https://iconnect007.uberflip.com/i/564614
18 SMT Magazine • September 2015 test data can be captured electronically and au- tomatically, then associated with the individual PCB. In the case of a test failure, the captured data acts as a paperless repair ticket. Reading the PCB ID at any point can display the history and status of each individual PCB. At the repair station, reading the PCB ID provides not only the repair ticket information, but also the complete manufacturing and his- tory, including any previous failures and repair attempts. Serious quality issues and trends in quality can be identified and highlighted in near real-time, providing the opportunity for active quality management. Should any PCB be routed incorrectly, then the next process with a reader for track- ing will prevent processing of the faulty unit, thereby ensur- ing that no defective PCB as- semblies can get through to the next stage. This tracking facility can also be used to ensure that dur- ing manufacturing all process are completed in the correct sequence and that all process- es are set up correctly before execution can begin. In cases where processes are capable of making different products with the same material setup, the unique PCB ID can also be used to trigger the SMT machine to select the correct machine pro- gram, thus allowing mixed production through SMT machine lines without risk of error. Using the same tracking information, the time taken by each PCB assembly at each process and the time lost between processes can be re- corded, which can then be used in productivity reports and bottleneck analysis. This provides a great deal more depth than only capturing data about the quantities of products produced and stored. All of this information, automatically captured by the tracking system, is then avail- able to be a part of the traceability data. The justification for unique PCB identifica- tion can be made based not only on routing at test and repair, but also for complete material and process traceability where exact trace of FeAture tHe "NeW FACe" OF AutOmOtIve trACeAbILIty continues terial content of a PCB, are essential to have a complete material traceability record and to eliminate operational mistakes, as well as reduc- ing the operational costs. It all sounds too good to be true, but these are firm principles of ad- vanced automation of interconnected processes as suggested by Industry 4.0—applied to trace- ability. benefits extending beyond materials traceability Material traceability is just one part of the overall traceability requirement for automotive. The need for control and tracking of PCB assem- blies through SMT and related op- erations, from a traceability per- spective, is originally centered on the test and repair process. The basic requirement was the assurance that each product had passed every required test. This immediately introduced the requirement that each in- dividual PCB within a work- order needs to be managed separately. In the traditional manufac- turing flow, a failed test would mean that a paper-based repair ticket was issued, which would be physically attached in some way to the failed PCB which was then taken to the repair sta- tion. The critical issue was simply that the repair tickets would fall off, leaving a failed PCB that could mistakenly go forward in production without being repaired. This can be solved by creating a unique identification of each PCB that is associated with a bare PCB as early as possible in the process. The history of labeling PCB IDs has been fraught with issues with little available space for a barcode, especially considering the need for consistent positioning across products. Newer generation scanners, etching machines, and 2D barcode technologies have all combined to ease the cost and improve the reliability. With the unique PCB ID in place, a whole range of potential values are created. At each testing process, the test result and associated Should any pCB be routed incorrectly, then the next process with a reader for tracking will prevent processing of the faulty unit, thereby ensuring that no defective pCB assemblies can get through to the next stage. " "