Knocking Down the Bone Pile: Gold Mitigation for Class 2 Electronics
Punching Out: Your Financial Preparation for a Sale
Nolan's Notes: The Next Killer App in Component Manufacturing
Hunting for Clues: Feng Xue Solving Circuit Board 'Crimes' With AOI Standard
May 8, 2025 | Linda Stepanich, IPCEstimated reading time: 1 minute
When residents in sleepy English villages needed a top-tier detective to solve a murder, they called on Belgian super-sleuth Hercule Poirot, author Agatha Christie’s fictional detective famous for using his “little grey cells” to solve crimes. In the same way, IPC standards development committees, when creating a standard to detect defects in circuit boards using Automated Optical Inspection (AOI), call on IPC A-Team, Hercule.
AOI is an automated visual inspection of a printed circuit board in which a camera scans the device to test for failures and defects. IPC-9716, Requirements for Automated Optical Inspection (AOI) Process Control for Printed Board Assemblies, released in January 2025, is the first automated inspection standard in a series.
The subject matter expert leading A-Team Hercule hails from Singapore, not Belgium, and is well known for working late into the night to help detect circuit board mysteries with his fellow committee members around the globe. Meet Feng Xue, IBM, chair of 7-25A, the Automated Optical Inspection Process Control Standard Task Group, A-Team Hercule, and 7-25B, AOI Process Control for IC Substrates Standard Task Group.
When Feng started working at IBM, he worked closely with Matt Kelly, who also worked at IBM and is now IPC’s CTO/VP of Technology Solutions, on cloud applications in IoT and AI, “on all the smart manufacturing stuff,” Feng says. The two stayed in touch after Matt left IBM.
“I still had frequent conversations with Matt, and he asked me to work with him on the factory of the future issues, including issues like AOI,” Feng says. “We realized there were no active specifications for this type of inspection and no committee working on one until Matt recruited me. He thought I had the right expertise and asked me to chair a new committee, and I was happy to do it.” Feng’s background is in microelectronics, making him ideal for the role of committee chair. “I worked in a wafer fab before joining IBM. So, basically, I’m a wafer guy. When you’re dealing with wafers, you’re dealing with packaging.”
Continue reading this article in the spring 2025 issue of IPC Community.
Share on:
Suggested Items
Koh Young Invites You to the 2025 IEEE Electronic Components and Technology Conference
05/06/2025 | Koh YoungKoh Young, the industry leader in True3D™ measurement-based inspection solutions, invites you to join us at the 2025 IEEE Electronic Components and Technology Conference (ECTC), taking place May 27–30, 2025, at the Gaylord Texan Resort & Convention Center in Grapevine, Texas
LG Innotek to Build FC-BGA into 700 Million USD Business with State-of-the-art Dream Factory
05/01/2025 | PR NewswireLG unveiled the Dream Factory, a hub for the production of FC-BGAs (Flip Chip Ball Grid Arrays), the company's next-generation growth engine, to the media for the first time and announced it on the 30th April.
Nolan's Notes: The Next Killer App in Component Manufacturing
05/02/2025 | Nolan Johnson -- Column: Nolan's NotesFor quite a while, I’ve been wondering what the next “killer app” will be in electronics manufacturing and why it has been so long since the last disruptive change in EMS. I believe the answer lies in artificial intelligence, which has exploded as the next disruptor.
The Knowledge Base: Unlocking the Invisible—The Critical Role of X-ray Technology
04/29/2025 | Mike Konrad -- Column: The Knowledge BaseFrom detecting voids under BGAs to solder defects in high-reliability applications, X-ray inspection has become an indispensable tool in modern manufacturing. But how is the technology evolving? What challenges do experts face in deploying X-ray inspection effectively and what does the future hold for this critical quality assurance method?
OSI Systems Receives Orders for $50 Million to Support the Deployment of Cargo and Vehicle Inspection Solutions
04/29/2025 | BUSINESS WIREOSI Systems, Inc. announced that its Security division received multiple awards totaling approximately $50 million from an existing U.S. customer to support the ongoing deployment of its industry leading Rapiscan Cargo and Vehicle Non-Intrusive Inspection technology.