The beginnings and the basics
Establishment of highly automated production:
When the live labor used is pushed into the background, in places where labor costs (EU) are high, this raises the need to automate as much as possible, SMT manufacturing is a great example of this. Thanks to technological advances over the last 20 years, when even one production line required 2-3 operators, today 1 (or even 1 operator handles two lines at the same time) operators can see the same thing.
The surface mounted technology was developed in the 1960s and is still widely used today. SMT lines look pretty much uniform because the required (mandatory) process steps are the same.
Production steps (mandatory + optional steps) + illustration:
1. Loader – Printed Circuit Board (PCB) feed – optional
2. Laser marking – unique identification – optional
3. Application of solder paste (Paste printing) – mandatory
4. Solder Paste Inspection (SPI) – optional
5. Placement – implantation of parts – mandatory
6. Implantation inspection (PreAOI – Pre – soldering status – Automated Optical Inspection) – optional
7. Reflow Soldering – re-soldering – mandatory
8. Buffer – Reflow emptying section – mandatory
9. Post Automated Optical Inspection (PostAOI) – optional
10. XRay automated inspection – optional
11. Process Quality Inspection (PQI) – optional
