PCBA processing and assembly are two important and common concepts in the electronics manufacturing industry. Although these two terms are often used interchangeably, they actually involve different stages of the electronics manufacturing process.
I. What is PCBA processing?
PCBA processing refers to a series of operations such as placement, soldering and testing of components on a PCB to make it a fully functional circuit board. This process is a core part of electronics manufacturing as it determines whether the board will work properly.
The main steps of PCBA processing
1. Component Mounting: Mounting components onto the PCB using either SMT or THT. SMT is used for small components, while THT is used for larger components.
2. Soldering: Includes reflow soldering machine and wave soldering equipment. Reflow oven is used for SMT components, while wave soldering is used for THT components. The purpose of soldering is to securely fasten the component to the PCB and ensure a reliable electrical connection.
3. Inspection: The quality of soldering and electrical properties are checked by SMT AOI machine, X-Ray Inspection machine and In-Circuit Testing (ICT) to ensure that the boards are free from defects.
II. What is assembly?
Assembly refers to the assembly of circuit boards that have completed PCBA processing with other components (e.g., enclosures, connectors, heat sinks, etc.) to form a complete electronic product. Assembly is the final stage in the production of electronic products and determines the final form and function of the product.
The main steps of assembly
1. Component Assembly: Fix PCBA on the product casing or rack, and install other necessary parts, such as buttons, displays, heat sinks, etc.
2. Connection and testing: Connect all internal cables and interfaces, and conduct whole machine testing to ensure that all components work properly. Including function test and aging test, the former checks whether the product functions normally, the latter verifies the long-term stability of the product.
3. Packaging: Clean, package and prepare for shipment of the tested products.
III. Difference between PCBA processing and assembly
1. Production stage
PCBA processing: focused on the production of circuit boards and functional realization, is the middle of the manufacturing process.
Assembly: focus on the assembly and functional integration of the whole product, is the final part of the manufacturing process.
2. Technical Requirements
PCBA processing: requires precise electronic manufacturing technology and high-precision equipment, such as mounter and reflow soldering machine. Extremely high demands are placed on the process to ensure the quality of soldering and electrical connections.
Assembly: Skilled assembly skills and comprehensive quality control capabilities are required to ensure that each component can be installed correctly and work properly.
3. Quality Control
PCBA Processing: Focuses on the inspection of soldering quality and electrical performance, using high-tech inspection equipment such as AOI, X-Ray and ICT.
Assembly: The focus is on the inspection of the function and appearance quality of the whole machine, ensuring the reliability and user experience of the product through functional and aging tests.
Features of NeoDen SMT AOI Machine
Inspection Items
1) Stencil printing: Solder unavailability, insufficient or excessive solder, solder misalignment, bridging, stain, scratch etc.
2) Component defect: missing or excessive component, misalignment, uneven, edging, opposite mounting, wrong or bad component etc.
3) DIP: Missing parts, damage parts, offset, skew, inversion, etc
4) Soldering defect: excessive or missing solder, empty soldering, bridging, solder ball, IC NG ,copper stain etc.
Calculation Method: Machine learning, color calculation, color extraction, gray scale operation, image contrast.
Inspection mode: PCB fully covered, with array and bad marking function.
SPC statistics function: Fully record the test data and make analysis, with high flexibility to check production and quality status.
Minimum component: 0201 chip, 0.3 pitch IC.
Post time: Jun-04-2024