TopoQC

First and Only Electronic Measles Chart

Reach effective defect prevention through better utilization and analysis of existing defect data from all stages of production

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Increasingly complex PCBs drive production costs up while manufacturers are facing constant price pressures. In this environment it is critical to increase yields and reduce costs. Identification and elimination of defect root-causes early in the production process cycle can have tremendous impact on costs and productivity.

TopoQC enables effective defect prevention in PCB production lines. It illuminates root-causes of defects by providing a powerful graphical analysis tool.

Instant
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QA Inefficiencies

In most operations today, the collected defect information is used solely for repair purposes i.e.: manually fixing specific defects on specific PCBs or rejecting the PCB’s altogether depending on the defect.

Obviously, locating malfunctions retrospectively is inefficient and costly both in labor and material.

Defect Prevention

Many of the defects are caused by fixable failures in planning (i.e. wrong shape) and technology (i.e. bad mask or SMT). Early identification is imperative so that problems can be eliminated and defects can be prevented. Preventing defects before the PCBs are actually assembled saves time, material and labor costs.

Effective prevention is hardly achieved today because the analysis of the defects is difficult. Most companies use reports and charts to analyze the data but these methods are too simplistic and limited for unraveling
many of the causes.

Effective Defect Data Analysis

TopoQC maps defect data to the PCBs components creating a color-coded, thermal-like, map of defects on the PCBs geography.

This form of presentation unravels patterns in the defect spread that are otherwise invisible. For example, defects can be concentrated in certain geographic areas on the PCB due to a damaged mask, inaccurate SMT arm or temperature spread problems. The color scheme highlights concentrations of defects. Thicker concentrations appear as darker orange/red. Extreme defect concentrations passing a definable threshold (e.g. 15%) appear in a different color (Pink in the picture above). It’s easy to see how this patent pending presentation method emphasizes problems immediately starting from the most trivial (defective component) to the more complex ones. TopoQC analyses the complete defect picture (as opposed to identifying specific defects on specific boards), leading to a better understanding of the failures causing these defects and thus enables effective defect prevention.

Figure 1

Immediate and Accessible

TopoQC uses two kinds of data sources as its input; defect data (Machines such as AOI, ICT, VMI, JTAG and other; Quality Systems such as QMS, Siemens and other) and PCB design (such as Mentor, Cadence, Fabmaster, PCAD, Veribest, CADStar, ODB++, IPC and more). Since both types of data are readily available at any manufacturing operation, the analysis can be done whenever it is required and at very short intervals. After loading the data to the TopoQC application, the map appears immediately, no work or processing is required. The analysis is therefore immediate and accessible.

Defect Data

PCB Design

TopoQC

TopoQC generates a Dynamic Measles Chart with raw and statistical details.

Simple To Use

As can be seen from the screenshot above, using TopoQC does not require any special skills or training and the product can be used by production floor or QA workers as well as managers.

Easy to deploy

Apart from the fact that it relies on highly available data inputs, TopoQC requires no special infrastructure. No dedicated databases, software or hardware. A simple standalone off-the-shelf PC station is all that is required.

Immediate Results

Since TopoQC utilizes highly available data, requires very little skills or training to operate and needs virtually no infrastructure, it can be up and running in no time. This means that existing defect data from all sources can be analyzed promptly and the positive effect on production is instantaneous.

Applicability

The following types of organizations can benefit from using TopoQC:

OEMs with in-house production
Electronic contract manufacturers (sub contractors)
OEMs who outsource production (monitor & control)

TopoQC can be used by small as well as large operations. It is applicable and effective for small batches starting with prototypes as well as for mass production. The effort to increase yield is ongoing. It starts with proper planning and prototyping but even deep into production, lessons can be learned and process and design can be improved to eliminate problems that appear along the way. TopoQC can assist in any of these stages by drawing attention to problems earlier.

Summary