PCBA Value Chain Tech Assessment
You are developing, launching or maintaining a product that is composed of numerous parts, such as printed circuit boards (PCBs). Errors in PCB design and PCB assembly will drive waste in the printed circuit board assembly (PCBA) value chain. But worse still, it effects your system’s first-pass yield, service calls or even field recall actions. Two-cent parts that come off a PCBA result in high cost of poor quality and customer dissatisfaction.
Maybe you do ad hoc or post hoc problem solving. A root cause analysis. A corrective and preventive action. And maybe even fix the issue. But still, you lose…
What if you could reduce the cost of poor quality (COPQ) and improve the PCBA value chain as a whole? This would result in fewer design iterations, less PCBA swapping, less fault forward, less slip through of faulty PCBAs, and fewer field repairs. With a PCBA value chain analysis, you will reduce cost over the entire value chain.
Your benefit of getting a PCBA value chain analysis
The PCBA value chain tech assessment helps you signal technical problems early on and avoid the cost of poor quality (COPQ) later. It will also support you in reaching PCBA quality and reliability targets, gives you an improvement plan to act on, and speeds up your idea-to-market time.
The COPQ appear mostly in the manufacturing and service phases. But COPQ can often be prevented in the development phase by improving the PCB design process and choosing the right suppliers. After a tech assessment, the quality of your entire PCBA value chain improves: the end product performs better – within high quality and reliability objectives – resulting in improved customer satisfaction.
Key area of expertise
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Relevant for you
We deliver PCBA value chain analysis
A small, expert team from Philips Engineering Solutions visits the sites within the PCBA value chain, and assesses them from a technology perspective.
They first evaluate the handover from research and development (R&D) to Electronics Manufacturing Services (EMS). Next, they focus on the quality of the EMS, EMS housekeeping, EMS PCB assembly and their PCBA output to end-product assembly. Then, the tech assessment team turns to service and maintenance, analyzing the types of complaints and the learnings from faulty parts. Finally, they close the loop from service back to R&D (via assembly and the EMS).
PCBA value chain
Within a couple of weeks, the team delivers a PCBA value chain tech assessment report, which focuses on process and capability improvement:
- Securing intrinsic robustness of PCB design
- Securing alignment of supplier technical capability and PCB design
- Optimizing test and verification process
- Component database management
- Maximizing PCBA manufacturing yield
- Providing service connected to PCBA-related field calls
Our approach to PCBA value chain analysis
A PCBA value chain tech assessment delivers a series of improvement recommendations in a PCBA value chain tech assessment report that covers key improvement areas such as:
1. Development phase
R&D
- Improved PCB design robustness based on design for six sigma (DFSS)
- Less redesign (re-spins)
2. Manufacturing phase
Electronics Manufacturing Services (EMS)
- PCBA supplier preference management, including preferred PCB manufacturer
- Improve first-pass yield (FPY rate)
- Reduce slip through of faulty PCBAs
- Reduce fault-forward cost
- Reduce the RMA handling (return materials authorization)
Assembly end product
- Improve first-pass yield (FPY rate)
- Reduce slip through of faulty products (manufacturing defects)
- Reduce warranty cost
- Less production line stops
3. Service & maintenance phase
Service
- Reduce service costs
- Reduce field call rate
Methodologies and tools for PCBA value chain analysis
The quality experts from Philips Engineering Solutions work with proven processes, methods, and tools to accelerate your innovation. Philips Engineering Solutions is certified for ISO 9001, 14001 and 13485. We have over 40 years of experience in every aspect of technology design and manufacturing. When working together with us you gain access to the knowledge of 1,000 experts. Read more about working together ›
Contact our PCBA value chain tech assessment experts directly
One of the best practices is to have early supplier involvement. This means that during R&D, you select your EMS supplier early on and look at the development of the device master record together as a team. When R&D connects with the EMS on their wishes and requirements regarding the manufacturability of the PCBA, it results in less redesigns, higher yields and an overall improvement of the value chain.
An EMS aims to deliver the best service, and this can be a pitfall. When you give an EMS some pieces of the puzzle, they may create the missing piece of the puzzle for you. And all seems well but then it turns out they don’t fit completely… You reduce costs and have better products by simply having a conversation at the start.
Paul van Bakel
Product Quality and Reliability Engineer
Philips Engineering Solutions
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