Inspection is a must for SMT assembly requirements. At present, the commonly used inspections include naked eye inspection, AOI (Automated Optical Inspection), and X-ray inspection. In order to prevent improper solder paste printing from degrading the performance of the final product, solder paste inspection (SPI) should be performed after solder paste printing during SMT assembly.
SPI usually occurs after solder paste printing in order to detect printing defects in time so that they can be corrected or eliminated before placement. Or, there may be more defects or even disasters at a later stage.
Advantages of SPI
1. Defect reduction SPI is first used to reduce defects caused by improper solder paste printing. Therefore, the primary advantage of SPI is its ability to reduce defects. Defects have always been a major problem when it comes to SMT assembly. And the reduction of their number will lay a solid foundation for the high reliability of the product.
Second, high efficiency Think about the traditional SMT assembly process rework mode. Defects will not be exposed unless inspection is performed, usually after reflow soldering. Typically, AOI or X-ray inspection is used to find defects and then rework. If SPI is used, defects can be found at the beginning of the SMT assembly process after the solder paste has been printed. As soon as incorrect solder paste printing is found, rework can be performed immediately to obtain high-quality solder paste printing. More time will be saved and manufacturing efficiency will be improved.
3. Low cost For the application of SPI machine, low cost has two meanings. On the one hand, time costs will be reduced as defects can be found early in the SMT assembly process and rework can be done in time. On the other hand, funding is also reduced because defects can be stopped earlier to avoid delaying early defects into later stages of manufacturing, leading to threatening defects.
4. High Reliability As discussed at the beginning of this article, most defects in SMT assembled products originate from low-quality solder paste printing. Now that SPI is good for reducing defects, it will help improve product reliability through tight control over the source of defects.
