Array Spacing and Breakaway Tab Design in PCB Panels Array spacing and breakaway tabs look like details on a fabrication drawing, but they decide how the panel behaves on the assembly line and how clean the board edge is when the array is separated. Space that is too small leaves…

Drill Map Verification and Tool Assignment Control The drill map is the document that connects the design to the drilling machine, and it is the point at which a design error becomes a physical one. A hole assigned to the wrong tool, a diameter entered in the wrong unit or…

PCB Panel Size Handover: Passing It On Modern electronics depend on boards that are assembled correctly the first time. Every product – a phone, a charger, a medical instrument or an industrial controller – relies on thousands of solder joints that must conduct current for years. This article explains PCB…

Test Program Verification and Defect Escape Control A test program is a piece of software that decides whether a board is good, and like any other software it can be wrong in ways that do not announce themselves. A program that misses a net, applies a limit too generously or…

Etch Uniformity Control Across the PCB Panel Etch uniformity decides whether the traces on a panel finish at the width the design asked for, and it is measured across the panel rather than at a single point. A line that etches the centre correctly and the edges lightly will produce…

PCB Panel Size Timing: How Long It Takes Electronics manufacturing has become a discipline of small details. Solder paste volumes, placement accuracy, temperature profiles and inspection limits all add up to the final result. This guide looks at PCB panel size timing from the perspective of a PCBA factory floor,…

Conformal Coating Removal and Rework Practice Coating removal is the least documented operation in most conformal coating processes, and it is the one most likely to damage a board. A finished assembly that needs a component replaced has to have its protective film taken back locally, and the removal step…

PCB Panel Size Specification: Writing It Down Precisely Electronics manufacturing has become a discipline of small details. Solder paste volumes, placement accuracy, temperature profiles and inspection limits all add up to the final result. This guide looks at PCB panel size specification from the perspective of a PCBA factory floor,…

PCB Panel Size Data: What the Numbers Say Electronics manufacturing has become a discipline of small details. Solder paste volumes, placement accuracy, temperature profiles and inspection limits all add up to the final result. This guide looks at PCB panel size data from the perspective of a PCBA factory floor,…

Developer pH Control: 5 Checks for Consistent Development Developer pH control is the parameter that keeps resist development repeatable from the first panel of a shift to the last. Alkaline developers lose strength as they dissolve resist, and the change is gradual enough that nobody notices until openings start to…