Consultancy in the electronics industry
PIEK has been active as a consultant for years when it comes to solving or preventing quality problems of its customers in particular. But the customers also know how to find PIEK as a sparring partner when it comes to new developments in the market. “We support companies working in the world of circuit board development, circuit board manufacturing, circuit board assembly, box building and repair. Usually, it is asking with regard to quality, whether the products meet the required quality requirements, the IPC standards. More often we write the specifications for printed circuit boards or assemblies for large companies. The IPC standards are tightened for the various applications such as high temperatures, huge temperature fluctuations, vibrations or other environmental conditions to which the final product may be subject.
Or are you looking for independent and well-founded advice during a discussion with your customer or supplier?
Furthermore, the customers now know how to find PIEK when it comes to:
- Audits
- Qualification and validation of subcontractors
- PB & PBA Reliability & Error Analysis
- Specifications for PB & PBA
- Supply chain analyses
- ESD Audit, PB and PBA process audits
- Technical analysis of a product.
- Assessment of the quality of a product etc.
- COP & COC
PIEK also has a test center where you can have your products and the products of your supplier tested to see if they meet the agreed standards. Tests that PIEK can perform for you are:
- Surfaces Characterization
- Chemical Laboratory
- Compliance with RoHS Directive and Environmental Analysis
- Shock and Vibration
- Electrostatic Discharge (ESD Measures)
- Rework and Repair Processes for Microelectronics
- Qualification / Validation of Materials and Processes
- Failure Analysis
- Statistical Analysis of Product Design, Process and Reliability
- Dimensional Analysis
- Reliability Analysis for Processes and Products Counterfeiting of Electronic Components
Examples from practice
These days damage claims are becoming increasingly common in business. Damage claims are basically a logical and justifiable phenomenon, as manufacturers guarantee the products that they supply. Slack quality checks may be costly and even fatal, and observing IPC standards prevents manufacturers from learning the hard way. PIEK has been a sparring partner for years and is at the heart of claims disputes as an expert assessor of the validity of buyers’ claims.
The claims state of affairs is best explained with an example from the automotive industry. A producer of electronic controls for the automotive industry asked PIEK for advice in the matter of a damage claim of a German car producer.
What had happened? The manufacturer had supplied 15,000 electronic controls to a German car manufacturer. The production of these electronic controls had taken place in accordance with IPC standard IPC-A-610E class 2, with only exceptions in class 3. Furthermore, the manufacturer had also done a final quality check himself in accordance with the IPC standard mentioned above.
Upon receipt of the electronic controls the German car producer took a number of samples for pre-production spot checks. While testing the samples electrical, mechanical and temperature aspects were assessed. Even a number of critical soldered connections were checked by X-ray.
However, at the same time the rest of the batch was distributed to the production companies, and the electronic controls were fitted into the cars.
The results of the tests only became available after all the electronic controls had been fitted into the cars. The X-ray inspections of a few conventional plugs revealed that there were air pockets in a few soldered connections in the plated-through holes.
The German car producer doubted the reliability of these soldered connections and assumed that they would affect the reliability of the product, as the electronic controls were expected to default during the 15-year life span of the car.
This led to the German car producer submitting a multi-million-euro damage claim with the electronics supplier. This supplier immediately contacted PIEK, because he knew that PIEK could give an authoritative second opinion being an independent expert.
PIEK explained to the electronics supplier to what extent the checks executed by the German car producer matched the requirements he had made of the products, namely IPC-A-610E class 2, with only exceptions in class 3.
After this explanation by PIEK the electronics supplier was well-prepared for the talk with the car producer, and thanks to PIEK’s second opinion the end result was that the car producer dropped his claim.
Bow & twist are subject to various criteria. These are established in IPC-A-610. It may be necessary to test the bow & twist to prove that there is no tension being created in the print board which could cause soldered connections to crack or damage components. PIEK advised the technological company to always establish the maximum bow & twist in the purchase order.
The investigation PIEK carried out revealed that a number of things during the production process were not being carried out based on the IEC standards. PIEK told them what measures needed to be taken to satisfy the IEC-61340 5-1 standard. The producer adopted the measures and there were no defects caused by ESD in the ICs anymore.