It’s Only Common Sense: Creativity Is Noisy, Messy, and So Worth It
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Testing Todd
Column from: Todd Kolmodin
Todd Kolmodin is the vice president of quality for Gardien Services USA, and an expert in electrical test and reliability issues. His column, 'Testing Todd', appears monthly in PCB007 Magazine.
March 08, 2024
Testing Todd: Why 4-wire Kelvin?
As William Thomson (Lord Kelvin) once said, “If you cannot measure it, you cannot improve it.” This is truer today than ever before. With the advances in microelectronics and nanoelectronics, HDI, and buried active/passive components, the signature of the printed circuit is critical. High-speed substrates rely on signal transmission to be as pristine as possible. Minor changes can cause impedance changes in standing wave ratio (SWR) elevation, which leads to degraded performance.October 06, 2023
Testing Todd: Why TDR?
Time Domain Reflectometry (TDR) is a measurement of impedance in a transmission line. This becomes very important in high speed or RF printed circuits. As a long-time amateur radio operator, I have had a lot of experience with characteristic impedance regarding power transmission.June 12, 2023
Testing Todd: Positivity Boosts Employee Morale
It’s just another day at the office until you get that call or text from your manager or supervisor: “Hey, can you come to my office?” I can already guess your first thought: “Uh oh, what did I do wrong?” It is unfortunate that this is the standard reaction in today’s workplace. But the fault rests with us, as managers and supervisors. Something has gone wrong and we go into reactionary mode. We need to take a strong, proactive role when working with our employees to solve issues. Yes, we all make mistakes, but we also do great things. Why are we so quick to point out the negative?May 18, 2023
Testing Todd: Preparing Employees for the Long Haul
Rebuilding our workforce after the COVID-19 pandemic has been a challenge. Nationwide, we downsized to combat market conditions and ultimately lost good employees due to either the virus or them finding new work elsewhere. That has left some rather large gaps in our manufacturing workforce. Human resource departments are scrambling to find new employees, while the manufacturing base struggles to educate and bring new employees up to speed. If not handled correctly, this scenario could create even greater problems for manufacturers.April 05, 2023
Testing Todd: Where Can We Improve?
Suppliers and manufacturers alike are struggling to fill spots lost during COVID. Whether it was downsizing due to lower demand or loss due to the pandemic, we are all facing challenges on our return to full strength. Looking at this from a high-altitude level, where can we improve?February 13, 2023
Testing Todd: Turning Into the Wind
The last three years have been a challenge, from the pandemic to the circus of shenanigans in Washington, neither of which have been pleasant. So, it’s not hard to figure out why we are all in this current situation. We’re not quite in a recession but rather a stagnation. The winds of change have come, but many are still Wilson looking over "Tool Time" Tim’s fence to see what he is going to do. It’s time to go back to our sheds and sharpen the saw.December 29, 2022
Testing Todd: Coming Back to Life—Design Recovery
Although iconic, when I say “coming back to life,” I’m not talking about a Pink Floyd song, but rather about printed circuits. Bare boards have been in production for decades—from single- and double-sided breadboards to the impressive multilayer designs of today—and we all agree that the PCB is here to stay. With today’s technology, designs are archived and realistically available forever. However, much of the legacy product of decades past is long forgotten. These rugged PCBs have been in service for years; their spare parts are full of dust on a forgotten shelf, ultimately obsoleted and scrapped.December 13, 2022
Testing Todd: Decision Time—Invest or Delegate?
As they struggle to keep delivery times competitive, manufacturers are faced with a decision: Do I invest, or should I delegate? To stay competitive, a large percentage of capital must be slated for PCB manufacturing equipment. This is understandable as that is where the revenue is generated. Newer equipment begets higher technology builds and thus, more revenue. The drawback is knowing how to get this product out the back door. There are delays in electrical testing due to long test times using equipment that is not best suited for today’s demand.November 07, 2022
Testing Todd: Induction Junction, What’s Your Function?
Historically electrical test has processed product with passive inductor features without really knowing what they were, other than causing continuity threshold violations. This is usually due to the long traces that exhibit higher resistance than the 10- or 20-ohms threshold. Typically, these have been delaying traces or heater traces. Usually, a waiver of allowance is made for these high resistive traces and business carries on as usual.September 07, 2022
Testing Todd: Breaking the Void
Electrical test is best known for identifying routine opens and shorts. But what has plagued ET, and manufacturers in general, is the barrel void. These voids are breaks in the plating of the drilled barrel that result in circuitry “opens” that pass through the stackup from one layer to another. In some cases, the break in plating is severe and results in an immediate open condition that is detected during electrical test. However, certain plating anomalies can be present that will go undetected during standard ET. What we must remember is that electricity must follow Ohm’s Law no matter what conditions exist. That is: V = I x R, where V = Voltage, I = Current, and R = Resistance.July 12, 2022
Testing Todd: ET and the DoD
Building printed circuits can be a tricky business. There are many attributes that go into the production process. Initially the sales interface with the customer, the receipt of the data for the initial quotation. Then there is the procurement process for raw materials. This has to be done to the customer specifications. The list goes on. Now if that isn’t enough, throw in DoD or aerospace specifications. This month lets dive into the DoD and how this effects electrical test.June 13, 2022
Testing Todd: What's in the Electrical Test Crystal Ball?
We live in an everchanging environment of evolution. From analog, carburation-driven automobiles and tube televisions to the fully electronic fly by wire automobiles and UHD televisions of today. We had to evolve. Today you can speak to your car, speak to your home, and even execute commands by just your voice. Not just any voice, but your voice alone. Pretty slick, especially thinking back to the computers of Apollo 13 that now could be powered by your latest generation of cellphone.May 03, 2022
Testing Todd: Optimize Your Training Time
Today’s training has become an essential part of any operation, especially because most Quality Management Systems (QMS) require this. To be compliant with ISO9001 you must maintain a competence and training system. However, there are a few things to keep in mind when taking on the competence and training mission.April 04, 2022
Testing Todd: Has Universal Fixture Testing Gone the Way of the Dodo?
Although flying probe testers have become common place in today’s manufacturing theatre, one must wonder if the fixture tester, specifically the universal grid or “pin in hole” fixture has any valuable use in the electrical test arena? The advancements in flying probe technology are undisputed with the new abilities to do many of the tests that benchtop testing historically required.December 29, 2021
Testing Todd: Why, Why, Why—Never Stop Questioning
If you have been around young children, I’m sure you have fallen into the “Why” game or “Why” loop with the young’un. I’m now a grandfather and the game started again a long time ago. “Grampa? Why is that man limping?” “Well, he has a cast on his foot.” “Why, Grampa?” “Well, it looks like he was injured.” “Why?” And so it goes. These brilliant young children have mastered root cause analysis and they don’t even know it.November 22, 2021
The New Electrical Test—Riding the Wave
Many years ago, when electrical test (ET) was necessary on a bare printed circuit board (PCB) you would build a dedicated fixture with spring pins and mount the box fixture to a machine interface and perform the test. However, back then there were no preconfigured netlists, and the machines were only capable of “learning” the board. This was known as the “self-learn” or “learn comparison” test. At the time, all you could do is prove that all the boards of the test lot were the same. The risk was that if there was a film defect and all boards had the same fault, the test would still pass even though all boards were defective.September 30, 2021
Testing Todd: Is Your Process Cluttered? Supercharge It!
Recently I came across a posting on social media regarding process development in the eyes of Elon Musk. Although there are many philosophies with regard to process development, I found Elon’s insight particularly interesting. Let’s design a process, shall we?September 07, 2021
Testing Todd: Design for Manufacturing? Don't Forget Test!
Design for manufacture (DFM) is a great discipline for creating designs that provide optimum performance while still maintaining affordability. However, what can be, and does get overlooked is the DFT (Design for Test) variable. As greater manufacturing demands are put to the manufacturer it also creates challenges to validate the electrical deliverables that may be required.July 26, 2021
Testing Todd: The PCB Limbo—How Low Can You Go?
Columnist Todd Kolmodin takes a stinging look at the price of printed circuit boards over the past 30 years. What caused this "downward spiral" in the industry?June 18, 2021
Testing Todd: Meet Mr. Henry and Do Not Blow a Fuse
Columnist Todd Kolmodin explains the connection between electrical test and Joseph Henry. Can you figure it out?May 18, 2021
Testing Todd: Keeping the Tools Sharp
Quality is not just an action; it is a way of life. We can say we are quality conscious but as the days pass the discipline can fade. The tools become worn, dull and finally discarded. So, we must revisit the tool shed periodically to make sure our tools are razor sharp and at the ready.April 28, 2021
Testing Todd: A Point of Order—Do Not Just Rearrange the Pencils!
In our concentration on continuous improvement, we should look in to the order of things. Efficiency comes from streamlining processes, effective training, and the ability to monitor success through KPIs and feedback on deliverables.March 30, 2021
Testing Todd: Homing in on the Target
Although electrical testing provides a beneficial safeguard against an electrically inferior product reaching a customer, it does require adherence to critical processes.February 23, 2021
Testing Todd: Owning Your Processes
It’s extremely common to write a process or work instruction and let it loose in the wild to thrive. The problem is, if there is a problem or a glitch it may never get noticed. Why you ask? It’s simple. Humans have an extraordinary ability to adapt.January 26, 2021
Testing Todd: Getting 'Lean' in 2021
Many companies and individuals had to make life-altering adjustments in 2020 because of the pandemic, including reduced hours, telecommuting and examining how we do things in this “new normal.” Although the circumstances causing these changes are tragic, it forced us into becoming lean.December 31, 2020
Testing Todd: Training the Force or the Few
As with any business, the quality of goods and/or services is of the utmost importance. Company reputations are gauged by the success or failure in maintaining high-quality outputs. Todd Kolmodin explains how maintaining high-quality and on-time delivery depends on multiple factors: first, equipment and tools to produce the product or service, and second, the power of the workforce behind the product.November 25, 2020
Testing Todd: Don’t Get Pickled by the Barrel
Whether you have two layers or 50 layers, it all comes down to how the layers communicate. Otherwise, you just have a bunch of two-dimensional layers, and that isn’t practical. Todd Kolmodin describes how the practical magic, of course, is plated drilled holes.October 22, 2020
Testing Todd: Roadmap? First, Find the Road!
Todd Kolmodin originally thought of discussing roadmaps and how they pertain to our industry and analyzing trends. However, it’s difficult to work with the roadmap when you cannot find the road. Todd shares his thoughts and experiences regarding the wildfires in Oregon and the West Coast of the U.S.August 26, 2020
Testing Todd: Don’t Be a Boss—Be a Leader
Leader, boss, follower, collaborator, teammate. These are terms we have heard many times during our travels through this thing called life. Todd Kolmodin explores the difference between a boss and a leader and shares his observations on leadership.August 03, 2020
Testing Todd: Too Much Automation?
The last six months have brought monumental changes to commerce, manufacturing, recreation, and almost every aspect of our daily lives. Todd Kolmodin shares his thoughts on how much automation is enough?December 15, 2019
Testing Todd: Staying in Your Lane
As 2019 comes to a close, Todd Kolmodin addresses the importance of standardization, which comes down to an agreement that we are to perform a task or set of tasks the same way every time. Putting your engineering hat on, this provides predictability with a high degree of accuracy.March 15, 2020
Testing Todd: Waste Not, Want Not
Any time we overestimate our projects, we lose costs. For individuals, it may not be as monumental, but for manufacturing, it can be painful.May 17, 2020
Testing Todd: Down-shifting to the New Normal
Today, we find ourselves in a place none of us even thought could happen due to the global COVID-19 outbreak. Todd Kolmodin encourages readers to be heroes and shift down to the new normal for a bit.April 24, 2020
Testing Todd: It’s Not Easy Being Green (or Is It?)
“It’s not easy being green,” are well-spoken words from our amphibian friend, Kermit the Frog. Now, more than ever, there is a focus on being green. Todd Kolmodin explains how one of the largest—if not the largest—contributor to waste is paper, but the difficulty is letting go of it in the consumer and manufacturing segments. For the workplace, this can be more difficult, or is it?February 12, 2020
Testing Todd: Looking at Digital With 11111100100 Vision
Todd Kolmodin explores how far technology has come, from the challenge to "plug in" in the '80s, to how difficult it can be to "unplug" in this digital age.December 19, 2019
Testing Todd: Go To Bed Hungry
Another decade is coming to an end, so, forward thinkers, let's take this time to review the past, evaluate past decisions, and hopefully make prudent decisions to move forward in the ever-changing marketplace in which we exist. There has never been a Magic 8 Ball to predict what is going to happen, so we all do our best to calculate, look over the fences, and aim to remain in this competitive meat grinder we call “the market.”October 08, 2019
Testing Todd: Understanding the Fine Print
New technologies are emerging each day with more stringent requirements than the past. Also, reversals in obsolescence programs bring products back to the market for which the original documentation and/or requirements are ancient compared to today’s standards; in some cases, this documentation is even lost. Further, it is not uncommon to find that original artwork isn’t available or that the part must be recreated from a finished circuit board sample.August 05, 2019
Testing Todd: What Do You Mean 'Passed' Isn't Enough?
From a reliability standpoint, we need to quickly assess what risk we may have uncovered when faults are detected during electrical test (ET). "Passed" is not always passed. We must be diligent to scrutinize the failures found during routine ET as a high yield may not indicate high reliability.June 26, 2019
Testing Todd: The Evolution of Probers and Fixture Testers: Blinded by Science
The evolution of the PCB has come a long way in the last 30 years. The science of electrical test has had to travel that road as well. It's not just a question of screening for opens and shorts. Today, the library extends to interrogating passive components, efficiently and cost-effectively evaluating dielectrics with multiple planes and pairs involved, and adhering to strict requirements from the military, export regulations, and OEMs alike.April 12, 2019
Confidence in Inspection
The job of third-party inspection is to provide an unbiased review of the customer requirements versus the final product manufactured. This inspection can include both physical and functional criteria. Read on to understand the growing acceptance and requirement of third-party inspection in many areas of the manufacturing industry, including military, aerospace, and medical.July 13, 2018
Testing Todd: What’s in your ET?
With all the buzz around automation, paperless operation, and integrated processes, it’s time to think about how the connected systems work within an electrical test department. We are all familiar with computer-aided design (CAD) and computer-aided manufacturing (CAM), but with electrical test we can also add computer-aided test (CAT) and computer-aided repair (CAR).May 24, 2018
Testing Todd: How are the Ratings?
Hello, readers! Thank you for stopping by again. Let’s talk about ratings. No, I’m not talking about the latest Facebook likes or Twitter retweets, but a topic that confuses many final QA technicians the world over. I’m talking PCB voltage ratings.May 01, 2018
Testing Todd: AVI—Your Tireless Friend in Final Inspection
The “automation vs. human” debate continues. There are experts with many years of experience -performing final inspection with precise detail. This is not debated. However, in the course of human events, circumstances change with unpredictable results. This presents challenges to manufacturers striving to deliver product on-time and within specification guidelines.August 22, 2017
Testing Todd: No Missed Steps—5S Methodology
In today’s work environment, a company should strive to produce quality product, maximize margins and reduce cost as much as possible. At times, this can be very difficult. Work ethics and methodologies of “how to do things” have developed over many years and can be deeply rooted in many manufacturing theatres. We find at times the “way we have always done it” may not be the most practical way today. This is apparent with the advances in automation, labor force reduction and shifting market demands.May 30, 2017
Flying Probe Testing vs IPC-9252B
Flying probe testing is extremely popular in today’s manufacturing theatres. The main factor is cost reduction in contrast to dedicated fixtures and fixture testing. However, there are some limitations in flying probe testing when gauged against industry specifications—specifically, the use of indirect vs direct testing in Test Level C.April 18, 2017
Testing Todd: Go With the Flow
In today’s testing theatre, the flow of information from the OEMs and manufacturers to the independent contractors is mission-critical. Missing information can cause delays, incorrect processing and ultimately scrap or end user rejection of the product. The buzz term being used a lot today is “flow-down.” It pretty much describes itself: It is the flow of information down the supply chain.January 23, 2017
Testing Todd: Plating and Surface Finish—The Challenges to Electrical Test
Plating and surface finish applications are not without their own set of challenges but these manufacturing processes also affect the electrical test theatre. Microvias, high-aspect ratio plate quality, and surface finish all have their own challenges in ET.October 21, 2016
Testing Todd: Are You a Leader or a Manager?
The question can be asked, are you a manager or a leader? Can you be both? Is there even a difference? The answer to this latter question is, yes. In a successful organization there are many people performing different tasks all in harmony to make the business successful. Some individuals can be phenomenal leaders while others can be excellent managers. Some can actually be both. How do we define a leader from a manager?July 15, 2016
Test & Measurement—The Case for Validation
Test and measurement (T&M) are terms that can strike fear into the most robust of minds. Many engineers create designs and products of the future with specific results predicted for performance.May 24, 2016
Testing Todd: Quality Management and the Hidden 'I' in Team
Today, businesses of all types are jumping on the quality bandwagon. The more critical the product, the more the consumer/customer wishes the highest possible quality in the goods or services requested.May 06, 2016
Quality Management and the Hidden 'I' in Team
Today, businesses of all types are jumping on the quality bandwagon. The more critical the product, the more the consumer/customer wishes the highest possible quality in the goods or services requested. Customers send surveys with buzzwords like ISO, QMS, and AVL for their suppliers to complete so they have confidence that what they receive is of the highest quality.April 27, 2016
Testing Todd: Process Management: Doing It Right
Simply put, process management is the idea of figuring out how to do something, documenting it and then monitoring the effectiveness of the steps you created for the end result. Simple, right? Unfortunately, many who take on this endeavor fall short due to missing some key attributes to creating and maintaining a robust process. This article features eight steps in building and maintaining a robust process.June 24, 2015
Flex and Rigid-Flex Circuit Testing: Challenges & Solutions
Although flex circuits are nothing new in today’s technology roadmap, the testing of unpopulated flexible circuits can be challenging. In this article, columnist Todd Kolmodin writes about the different methods available to test these circuits.May 20, 2015
Electrical Test: Surface Finish vs. Water Marks
New finishes have come to market; some allow better conductivity, while others reduce the overall cost of precious materials. Regardless of the finish, electrical test must be performed on these circuits. With that comes the caveat of how much of a witness mark can be left on any given landing pad and still be acceptable to the CM or the final OEM user. Todd Kolmodin explains.January 28, 2015
Challenges of Electrical Test
In our arena today, we can solve pitch and density with flying probe machines, and volume with our grid testers, but the catalyst that is in the mix is that pesky soldermask! Here's why I bring up that necessary process as a problem for electrical test.December 01, 2014
Testing Todd: Where Do We Go From Here?
In this installment of "Testing Todd," Gardien's resident expert Todd Kolmodin answers questions from Dan Beaulieu concerning the future of electrical test. His focus is on the future of testing technologies, testing equipment, and E-test.August 19, 2014
Testing Todd: Flying Probe - Indirect Testing vs. Military
The use of flying probe testers has become increasingly popular in recent times, mainly due to the affordability of the equipment and also the reduced cost of testing, as no dedicated or "bed of nails" fixture is required. When using flying probes to test military product, one must be diligent to make sure the test method is allowable.July 30, 2014
Testing Todd: Everything You Wanted to Know, But Were Afraid to Ask
This month, "Testing Todd" author Todd Kolmodin of Gardien Services USA presents readers' questions about the basics of electrical test, including the different types of testing available today.June 03, 2014
Testing Todd: A Summary of Various Test Requirements
The PCB industry has advanced significantly in the recent millennium. OEM specifications and requirements have also advanced due to the maturing of technologies, which has caused the requirements of electrical test of these higher technology products to advance and increase in intensity.June 03, 2014
A Summary of Various Test Requirements
The PCB industry has advanced significantly in the recent millennium. OEM specifications and requirements have also advanced due to the maturing of technologies, which has caused the requirements of electrical test of these higher technology products to advance and increase in intensity.June 12, 2014
Seven Tips for Choosing the Right Test Service
Do you need to go outside your company for your testing service? Maybe you have capacity issues, maybe your equipment is down, or maybe you just want an established back-up plan? Whatever the reason, it is very important to choose the right outside testing service because, ultimately, you're not just choosing an objective service provider; you're choosing a partner.July 30, 2014
Everything You Wanted to Know, But Were Afraid to Ask
This month, "Testing Todd" author Todd Kolmodin of Gardien Services USA presents readers' questions about the basics of electrical test, including the different types of testing available today.August 19, 2014
Flying Probe - Indirect Testing vs. Military
The use of flying probe testers has become increasingly popular in recent times, mainly due to the affordability of the equipment and also the reduced cost of testing, as no dedicated or "bed of nails" fixture is required. When using flying probes to test military product, one must be diligent to make sure the test method is allowable.December 05, 2014
What is 4-Wire Kelvin?
"I've been asked many times, 'What is 4-Wire Kelvin?' So, this month I will explain the 4-Wire Kelvin Test and how it can help uncover defects that normally would go undetected in standard electrical test methodology," writes Columnist Todd Kolmodin.December 01, 2014
Where Do We Go From Here?
In this installment of "Testing Todd," Gardien's resident expert Todd Kolmodin answers questions from Dan Beaulieu concerning the future of electrical test. His focus is on the future of testing technologies, testing equipment, and E-test.
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