PCB Manufacturing, Assembly & Test Blog

Hi there Some of you have responsibility for production planning but it may also be handled in other groups. We are hosting a webinar on the often ignored area of production planning next week. I’d urge you to register for this event and let other people in your organization know about it who might benefit from hearing what solutions we have as part of Valor MSS. Below is the link to register … Read More

Sequence, vPlan, production, Planning, process

Hi there Firstly, let me wish you all a Happy New Year and Best Wishes for 2013. I appreciate everyone taking the time to read my blog and to also comment on the areas that we have discussed. This week I am going to continue on from my theme from the last posting where I discussed the auto-generation capability in Valor MSS Process Preparation. I described the capability to create machine specific … Read More

documentation, mixed vendor, programming, AVL, vPlan, approved vendor list, Planning, data preparation, process, bill of materials, BOM

Hi there I have talked about the Valor MSS unique capability to use the Valor Parts Library or VPL in multiple ways during PCB manufacturing. VPL data is manufacturer specific information about the actual component body and pin areas that can be used for multiple uses across DFM, Stencil, Documentation, SMT programming, test programming and inspection programming. I’d like to focus the specifics … Read More

Sequence, programming, mixed vendor, AVL, bill of materials, process, data preparation, documentation, Flying Probe, Design For Test, BOM, vPlan, stencil, VPL

Hi there I have talked to a number of users who are asking for capability to manage the Process Preparation needs of multiple locations around the world. I would like to hear from you on what requirements you consider important to this discussion. For example we have some customers running a single database across multiple locations allowing them to share data across all their facilities. One downside … Read More

programming, ICT, AVL, multi-site, data preparation, documentation, bill of materials, Flying Probe, BOM, Design For Test, database, server, testability, vPlan

Hi there It has been a few months since we launched the World Class Process Preparation Webinar including a video of an overall product demonstration. Over the past couple of months I have met with a number of people who implemented the Valor MSS Process Preparation solution and are achieving the efficiencies and improvements that we describe in the Webinar. Therefore I would like to provide you with … Read More

mixed vendor, Flying Probe, AOI, ICT, BOM, boundary scan, AVL, bill of materials, documentation, data preparation, Design For Test, vPlan, Planning, testability, VPL, stencil, programming, process

Hi there I have been posting comments on my blog now for a number of months. The topics have been based on the feedback and conversations I’ve had with many users of Process Engineering software, both Mentor Graphics and non-Mentor Graphics products, all around the world. Many of you have also taken the time to add comments on these postings which I really appreciate. I’d like to open … Read More

mixed vendor, Flying Probe, AOI, ICT, BOM, boundary scan, AVL, bill of materials, documentation, data preparation, Design For Test, Planning, testability, vPlan, stencil, programming, process

Hi there We released our Valor MSS Stencil Design module a few months ago and have received positive feedback which resulted in a number of major enhancements that will be part of our up-coming release. However, a topic that I have discussed with a number of our users involves the use of a stepped stencil. Standard stencils have a single thickness across them meaning that paste volume can only be controlled … Read More

stencil, programming, vPlan, data preparation

Hi there The configuration of SMT lines has changed a number of times over the years. A few years ago lines were configured with a best-in-class requirement, where the line was configured with the chip shooters being supplied from one vendor and the fine pitch machines being from another vendor. In recent years though, may be with the introduction of modular machines and dual line capability, there … Read More

process, programming, BOM, mixed vendor, vPlan, data preparation

Hi there I spent last week in the wonderful town of Zug about 45 minutes from Zurich in Switzerland. My European colleagues organized a two day seminar for over 60 of our Valor MSS Process Preparation customers at the Siemens facility in Zug. The agenda consisted of some Valor presentations, Valor demostrations of the upcoming software, presentations by actual users of the Process Preparation software … Read More

programming, AVL, process, AOI, data preparation, documentation, Flying Probe, bill of materials, ICT, BOM, Design For Test, vPlan, testability, VPL, stencil

Hi there As a follow up to my posting last week on measuring test coverage, which you can read from the following link: http://www.mentor.com/pcb-manufacturing-assembly/blog/post/how-do-you-measure-test-coverage–77cbb106-851f-4f26-a548-4857098f23d4 I would like to hear from test and process engineers on what types of equipment form part of your test and inspection strategy. How do In-Circuit … Read More

Design For Test, Flying Probe, AOI, testability, vPlan, ICT, data preparation, BOM, programming, boundary scan

Hi there Although the Valor MSS Process Preparation solution can handle most types of data that are passed it’s way, intelligent design data brings a wealth of benefits to its users. The import process is typically a few seconds for most designs as opposed to multiple hours to reverse engineer Gerber files to a sufficient level to be useful for manufacturing. Having to support electrical test … Read More

ODB++, bill of materials, documentation, programming, Gerber, BOM, VPL, data preparation, vPlan

Hi there For the many years I have worked in this industry one of the most common complaints from SMT engineers is related to position and rotation errors that were found during the first article inspection of a PCB during the sticky tape run. The programs would then be tweaked and the sticky tape board ran again to confirm the changes. This resulted in a significant loss of line down time while the … Read More

programming, data preparation, virtual sticky tape, pick and place, vPlan, mixed vendor

Hi there I have covered a number of areas of process engineering in this blog over the past few months and there is now an opportunity to see how these areas all come together next week in our Webinar titled “World Class Process Preparation”. We will be discussing a number of ways that the users of Valor MSS can streamline their process preparation tasks to make them more efficient and … Read More

Planning, AOI, mixed vendor, BOM, data preparation, documentation, AVL, Flying Probe, bill of materials, ICT, Design For Test, process preparation, vPlan, Webinar, testability, stencil, programming, Sequence

Hi there This week sees the all new Valor MSS 11.2 version that supports all areas of PCB Process Engineering and Shop Floor. One of the new features of this release is the ability to include Automated Optical Inspection (AOI) machines in-line with the SMT placement machines. This provides the ability to create specific AOI programs depending on where the machine is in the line relative to the point … Read More

data preparation, approved vendor list, vPlan, AOI, BOM, process, AVL, programming, bill of materials

Hi there One of the least efficient areas in PCB assembly concerns the creation and management of package data that will be consumed across the shop-floor. For example DFM processes rely on accurate package data to determine component to component spacing issues or using accurate pin terminus contact data to ensure that solder joints will form correctly. Accurate package data is critical for DFT analysis … Read More

programming, AOI, bill of materials, mixed vendor, process, documentation, data preparation, Design For Test, Flying Probe, ICT, BOM, VPL, vPlan, stencil, testability