Quality Assurance: A Guide For PCBA Manufacturing in Critical Industries

When choosing a?PCBA fabrication and assembly service provider, there are many important factors to consider. For example, should you go with a single turnkey contract manufacturer (CM), or opt for working with multiple companies and managing those services yourself??Quote delays?and long turnaround times are also major considerations that may affect your ability to meet delivery deadlines. But nothing is more important than the level of quality your CM delivers.

Quality may be an abstract concept, but it has definitive meaning for you and your clients. And if you develop boards for the?aerospace, defense,?medical device, or?emerging advanced automotive?industries, substandard quality PCBAs can have severe consequences, including injury or worse. Therefore, quality assurance in manufacturing circuit boards for critical applications in these industries is of the highest priority.

Importance of Quality Assurance in PCBA Manufacturing

Although the?construction of circuit boards?includes well-defined steps, building boards that meet the regulatory requirements for critical industries can be daunting. It’s common and necessary for these PCBAs to meet?IPC class 2 or 3 standards—the latter of which mandates continuous service and on-demand operation.

Unlike most PCBAs built for commercial applications, critical industries like?aerospace, defense, and?medical devices?have other specific standards. The primary reason for these industry regulations and guidelines is to protect people and (in some cases) the environment from the consequences of system failures. To meet this mandate, CMs institute quality assurance programs to verify that boards meet the standards set forth by critical industry applications.

PCBA Inspection and Quality Control In Manufacturing

The most effective quality control implementation for PCBA development consists of three focus areas:?components, data, and process. For components, it’s important to source them from reputable suppliers that can provide performance validation data. All data created and/or utilized throughout development should be accurate and traceable. Process QC includes the board build and other actions needed to measure or improve quality, such as?PCBA testing, inspection, and rework.

As shown above, quality control consists of rigorous PCBA inspections and testing both during and after the board is built as well as the capability to perform any necessary rework to meet quality assurance criteria. For many testing regimens,?design specifications?are necessary. Manual inspection remains an important part of PCBA inspection; however, critical system precision demands the utilization of?automated visual techniques?such as automated optical inspection (AOI).

The Future of Quality Assurance in Manufacturing Circuit Boards

The ever increasing demand for more functionality, expanded capabilities, and improved reliability will undoubtedly translate to higher quality expectations for electronic systems and the PCBAs that drive them. As components and boards continue to get smaller, inspection equipment will need to improve its precision. These and other catalysts are pointing to the increasing importance of automation, robotics, and software-driven quality assurance in manufacturing.

At Ucreate, we have been keeping progressing in every aspect of PCBA Manufacturing, ever since our founding day. It not only enables us to build boards faster than others in the industry, but also ensures that we achieve the highest levels of quality as mandated by critical industry applications.