LACROIX Electronics Achieves Exponential PCBA Test Throughput and Cost Savings

Introduction

Implementing changes to the In-Circuit Tester (ICT) in a manufacturing production line can be a challenging endeavor for original equipment manufacturers (OEM) and contract manufacturers (CM). It involves a significant investment of time and resources to adapt to a new testing system, including the need to familiarize oneself with the product, establish new test plans, retrain operators, and ensure the qualification of boards. Given these complexities, a compelling reason is required to justify the transition to new test equipment. Moreover, they are seeking methods of increasing the throughput of their printed circuit board assembly (PCBA) In-Circuit Testing, which also involves onboard programming as part of its manufacturing test processes for PCBAs.

Keysight offers the i7090 Massively Parallel Board Test System as a solution that significantly improves the efficiency of the testing process of low-complexity PCBAs. This cutting-edge technology enables massively parallel testing of up to 20 boards, resulting in a remarkable boost in test throughput.

Background

LACROIX Electronics, a prominent player in the industry, embarked on a journey to revolutionize its manufacturing process. The mission was clear: enhance test throughput, optimize floor space utilization, and reduce operational costs. With a strategic partnership with Keysight and the adoption of the i7090 system, this success story came to life.

The Challenge

Accelerating throughput of PCBA In-Circuit testing with affordable cost and time in the production Line

LACROIX Electronics faced the common challenge of balancing test accuracy and efficiency. While necessary for quality assurance, their test process posed production bottlenecks that hindered their ability to meet demand.

To address the challenge of increasing production output, the existing approach involves adding more test systems, fixtures, operators, and shop floors. However, the combined impact of this approach and the limitation of the existing board test solution, which is its inability to support flash programming, hinders the testing process, affects the test throughput, and results in significant costs incurred by the customer, which is far from ideal.

The Solution

i7090 Massively Parallel Board Test System

Driven by the need to fulfill their testing capacity requirements, the customer sought the expertise of Keysight’s ICT team due to our reputation for offering one of the industry's most comprehensive ICT and boundary-scan test solutions. After thorough discussions and careful consideration, the customer concluded that the Keysight i7090 was the optimal solution for their specific needs.

The i7090 can implement massively parallel testing to optimize test time and increase throughput by conducting tests up to 20 parallel cores on an entire panel simultaneously. This new technology enables Flash Programming alongside In-Circuit Test by integrating an automated In-System Programmer. Additionally, the i7090 can cater to up to 20 parallel cores featuring a PXI-based In-Circuit Test capable of Automated In-System Programming, enabling multi-hardware platform support with a standard 19-inch rack for Functional Test.

In this case study, over 500 panels of PCBAs were subjected to comprehensive in-circuit testing as part of the evaluation process for the production line. The main objective was to validate the performance and ensure a consistent test throughput. Three Repeatability and Reproducibility (R&R) reports were generated based on the testing results. These reports consistently indicated stability and repeatability, confirming the reliability of the tested PCBAs.

The Result: Accelerated Throughput, Cost Savings, and Intuitive Troubleshooting

Faster and scalable test throughput by 4X

Implementing the i7090 has proven beneficial to LACROIX Electronics in improving the test throughput and streamlining the handling process, which results in faster test throughput. Unlike conventional test systems that can only test 4 boards in parallel, the i7090's capability of testing up to 20 boards simultaneously significantly boosts test throughput. Additionally, the utilization of multicore technology further enhances test efficiency, ensuring maximum performance for different PCB layouts.