Defect level prediction for newly designed Printed Circuit Board Assemblies

In this paper a new defect level prediction tool is presented, which is intended for newly designed printed circuit board assemblies, especially for the PCBAs (printed circuit board assembly) determined for automotive industry. The tool is programmed in Visual Basic for Application (VBA) and can be operated in MS Excel environment. On the one hand, the defect level prediction tool results from the parts stress analysis prediction technique, but on the other, it results also from a defect level prediction model of PCBA manufacturing processes, which was created on the basis of empirical data coming from automotive electronics industry. The tool provides a prognosis in defects per million parts produced (dpm), which PCBA will reach in the field (field quality) and at delivery (delivery quality). A significant advantage of this tool lies in its feature, which allows the user to change test parameters and processes in order to fulfil customer requirements. The tool also provides a possibility to estimate first pass yield (FPY) of manufacturing lines.