Implementation of an enhanced FMEA system for the PCBA design testing - a practical case study [failure mode and effects analysis]

It is well known that current engineering (CE) has shown its importance in the printed circuit board assembly (PCBA) testing phase. During the PCBA design process, the testing of PCBA quality must be simultaneously engaged with the manufacturing of the PCBA product, otherwise a defective PCBA product could be produced. This article presents a practical case of how to use an enhanced FMEA (called E-FMEA) system in the PCBA design phase to increase and ensure the quality of the PCBA product. The enhancement involves practical PCBA testing experience knowledge in the form of descriptive rules and their computerization using VBA (visual basic applications) macroinstructions in an Excel spreadsheet system. The creation of this enhancement is especially to meet the international customer requirements of the PCBA testing corporation in Taiwan. The proposed E-FMEA system is successfully applied in this studied large-scale PCBA testing corporation and greatly decreases the testing cost and shortens the testing time the customer requests.