Online NPL Defect Database and Industry Assembly Trends

Three surveys covering PCB assembly, printed circuit boards and electronic components have been circulated to three market sectors. The surveys are still being collected so that the trends will always be current and show industry prospective. The three surveys are available on the web site for completion and engineers are encouraged to contribute. Engineers who complete the surveys will be updated with results when the initial report is available. NPL Defect of the Month videos presented by Bob Willis are also availbale via the IPC video site http://www.youtube.com/user/IPCAssociation

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/