Book Excerpt: The Printed Circuit Assembler’s Guide to... Factory Analytics, Chapter 4

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Excerpt from: The Printed Circuit Assembler’s Guide to... Factory Analytics, by Julie Cliche-Dubois, Cogiscan

Chapter 4: Data Analytics: Beyond SMT

Let’s dive into what matters post-SMT: test, rework, and other back-end processes required to complete product assembly.

The less rework performed, the better. The rework process ranges in the type of work needed, but usually consists of hand and manual operations to rework PCBA defects. Whether manually placing components or resoldering poor quality connections, rework always eats into resources (materials and time), so these processes require extra attention to be fully optimized. 

Rework
REWORK TECHNICIAN: The rework technician does the actual rework tasks. In order to do so correctly, the technician needs clear instructions and visual documentation guides. Ideally, a user-friendly interface covers the required steps, as well as all defect details with visual support of the affected PCBA.

Having access to rework-related KPIs helps to ensure this process is done both correctly and efficiently. Key analytics to monitor during this process include:

Time to perform rework

• Whether for the rework technician or for management, the amount of time the work requires is important to measure. This is not only important to better understand the true cost of rework, but also to help improve the process itself.
• Setting benchmarks with this information, the technician has a better understanding of how much time will be needed for various types of rework tasks. 

First pass yield after rework

• This KPI measures how many good units are coming out of the rework process versus the total number of units. Indicating the quality of work, it can quickly illustrate when improvements are necessary.

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