DATA INTERFACE FOR REAL-TIME PRINTED CIRCUIT BOARD SOLDERING STATISTICAL PROCESS CONTROL

THIS PROGRAM WILL RESULT IN THE PRELIMINARY DESIGN OF A REAL-TIME STATISTICAL PROCESS CONTROL SYSTEM FOR PRINTED CIRCUIT BOARD SOLDERING BASED ON THREE-DIMENSIONAL MEASUREMENTS OF SOLDER JOINT PARAMETERS. THE DEVELOPMENT OF SUCH A SYSTEM WOULD ALLOW IMMEDIATE CLOSED-LOOP ADJUSTMENTS TO UPSTREAM PRODUCTION EQUIPMENT VARIABLES AS SOLDER JOINT QULITY INDICATORS APPROACH CONTROL LIMITS. THE ANTICIPATED PROCESS CONTROL SYSTEM WOULD ALLOW THE TRANSITION FROM THE PRESENT OPEN-LOOP QUALITY CONTROL APPROACH OF "INSPECT-REWORKREINSPECT" TO A TOTAL QUALITY MANAGEMENT PHILOSOPHY EMPHASIZING THE PREVENTION OF DEFECTS. THIS PHASE I EFFORT WILL INVESTIGATE ALTERNATIVES IN STATISTICS, DATA STRUCTURES, AND SAMPLING TECHNIQUES AS THEY APPLY TO SOLDER QUALITY, AND CONCLUDE WITH A PRELIMINARY SPC SYSTEM DESIGN, INCLUDING A USER-INTERFACE TO ALLOW STATISTICAL ANALYSIS FOR A VARIETY OF POPULATION CROSS-SECTIONS.