Why AOI Is Crucial for PCB Assembly?

2017-10-16 21:22:04 PCBBox 129

AOI (Automatic Optical Inspection) is widely used for PCB assembly, which can automatically inspect soldering defectives such as short circuit, less solder paste, joint soldering etc. The theory of AOI is that operator enter all parameters of a functional board into this machine, which can compare the board going through with correct parameters by taking a photo. Image analysis program can automatically do the check jobs. AOI highly increases possibility of finding defectives rather than common eyesight check.


However, AOI is not universal for quality check. There are some defectives that can not be inspected by AOI. So AOI is auxiliary. Significantly, programming and checking on AOI take lot of time, so many PCB assembly manufactuer do not use AOI to do check jobs, particularly in terms of prototype order.

As a purchasing man, you have to carefully ask your PCB assembly manufacturer to do AOI checks, in order to ensure quality of soldering effects. For mass production, AOI seems a necessary machine to fulfill quality assurance.