Rapid Prototyping on PCBs' with 1005, 0201, 0402 - 50 sq mm BGAs

At all the various stages during the product life cycle of an electronic system, from Prototyping to Disposal, our customers have the assurance of 100% commitment from us at Power Action Ltd in Lisburn, Northern Ireland.

It is however at the prototyping stage that our involvement and experience can add so much extra value to the potential of your product especially when complexities such as Micro Ball Grid Array (BGA), QFN, pressfit and 1005 devices are involved.

Power Action Ltd's Design for Manufacture and Project Management team will work closely with you to ensure rapid and high quality prototyping using even the most testing of micro Ball Grid Array (BGA) devices. This ensures that new designs are released smoothly into production and delivered to schedule.

Areas where our Prototyping can yield advantage

  • Rapid / Fast turnaround
  • Excellent build quality - reduced debug time
  • Layout for Thermal Distribution
  • Component clearances advice
  • BGA placement
  • Component orientation planning
  • Stage build
  • X-ray analysis
  • Component layout suggestions for rework
  • Pressfit assembly with minimal tooling costs

Fast turnaround time is of considerable importance in most development cycles and for this reason our Prototyping is unrelated to our main factory schedule. These jobs are started IMMEDIATELY when it is prudent to do so.

BGA Placement / Rework

Using the highly advanced Airvac DRS24C BGA / SMT rework station, removal and replacement of Ball Grid Array (BGA) devices right down to micro BGA format is carried out with precision and repeatability. The primary strength of the Airvac BGA / SMT station is the fully automated self profiling software - taking away operator error and producing a thermal profile for the specific BGA /SMT area under assembly.

This station particularly proves its worth when it comes to the assembly of prototypes stage by stage. For highly complex designs incorporating multiple BGA devices the design engineer can 'isolate and verify' that different sections of complex circuits function as they should before building up the next section. This method of assembly has been used to full effect by us for the prototyping, pre-production & NPI of boards to a complexity of up to 42 BGAs per board.

Our location, close to the main road routes in Ireland and within 20 mins of two UK international airports, rapid turnaround of an in-house project, can be paired with excellent logistics to the benefit of the customer.

X-Ray and Automatic Optical Inspection (AOI) Systems

For those Contract Manufacturers not prepared to make the substantial investment required for X-ray equipment various half hearted budget alternatives are now available in the market place. As a customer of Power Action Ltd however we will not be asking you to settle for second best.

We have many years of expertise interpreting X-ray images. Using our in-house equipment we carry out 100% X-ray inspection on ALL BGA devices and fine pitch SMT connectors using an Xtec HMX-ST 160 Real Time 5-axis X-ray.

X-ray inspection specification

  • 5 µm Focal Spot Reflection Target X-Ray Source, 160 kV
  • 15kg Capacity 5 axis fully programmable manipulator
  • Maximum scan area 480 x 510mm (480 x 680mm in 2 scans)
  • Geometric Magnification up to: 160x
  • System Magnification up to: 400x
  • Feature recognition: down to 1 micron
  • Stage build
  • External Cabinet Dimensions: 2030mm L, 1360mm D, 2000mm H

Visual Inspection

  • 2 X Automatic Optical Inspection Systems
  • 3 X Lynx Stereo Dynascopes
  • 3 High magnification camera inspection Systems

Materials Management

Excellence in the area of inventory management is essential for the reduction of lead times. This can only be implemented with the assistance of specialist procurement software. This system has the distribution information of over 1000 worldwide component distributors and manufacturers and therefore enables us to easily track down difficult to source parts, schedule their arrival and track their movement on the factory floor.

Functional Test

We carry out a wide range of Functional Test to customer specifications, including programming on or off line. For medium volume applications we have an In-Circuit Test capability offered at a competitive cost with fixtures and programming.

We have a highly experienced team of test/repair engineers with a vast knowledge of many types of electronic systems. We combine this expertise with the latest repair and rework facilities to make a very competent combination.

  • 1 X DRS 24C Airvac BGA / SMT rework system with Nitrogen reflow
  • 1 X Focused beam BGA / SMT Rework system
  • 1 X HMX-ST 160 real time X-Ray inspection system
  • 3 X Lynx Stereo Dynascope Inspection systems
  • 4 X Advanced AM 6000 JBC Surface Mount rework Stations with Hot air capability

Volume circuit and system production

We have two fully automated high-speed surface mount lines with placement capabilities ranging from 1005 chip components to 50mm square fine pitched (0.3mm) QFP's and BGA devices.

Universal Fusion Placement machines, DEK Printing and convection reflow machines.

  • 1005 up to 50mm square devices
  • 3 X Universal Instruments Fusion Placement machines ( 162,500 placements per Hour )
  • 2 X Dek Automatic Screen Printers with Grid lock system for high precision printing
  • Solder Paste inspection on both SMT lines
  • PTF placement for waffle tray supplied components
  • 7 Zone convection reflow
  • 9 Zone convection reflow
  • Automatic Board loaders and unloaders

Flow Solder processes utilise Electrovert Wave Solder with either Foam or Spray Fluxing for either No Clean or aqueous processing .

The use of a Barcode Tracking System specifically designed for the electronics industry not only records the position of individual circuits throughout the entire process but also logs the process parameters used at each stage for each individual circuit. This enables excellent qualitative analysis and in-process improvement.