The assembly survey shows that currently open/joint failure is the most common issue seen by industry. Open joints are the most difficult to detect in manufacture, the root cause of these defects can be a simple process control issue or a more complex technical problem requiring laboratory analysis. PCB solder finish is seen as the second biggest issue and is understandable due to the number of different options and the need to change surface coatings for lead-free assembly.
"The reason for conducting three surveys is to allow comparisons between defects submitted and the trends seen in industry" said Davide Di Maio of NPL. "The database will take time to populate with defects, but with world wide industry cooperation and introducing defect types from our own research studies this will result in a unique resource.
The NPL Industry Defects Database is now available to allows engineers to submit defects online with full details and solutions to current problems or requesting advice and a possible solution to the process issues or failures at http://defectsdatabase.npl.co.uk/