» PCB & ASSEMBLY Ersa
» PCB & ASSEMBLY Ersa believes its i-CON Trace hand soldering station closes the traceability gap when it comes to manual soldering processes in industrial electronics production Source: Ersa Elevating the process of manual soldering to a whole new level The ‘missing link’ for full traceability in hand soldering Hand soldering processes have long been excluded from traceability frameworks – a big problem for manufacturers who require precise documentation of assembly processes. Now, soldering technology specialist Ersa says it has developed a ‘smart’ hand soldering station which connects manual processes to any digitally-networked production environment – ensuring complete traceability of every single component and task. » Julian Greß, Product Manager Soldering Tools, Ersa GmbH Manufacturers of electronic assemblies currently face numerous challenges. These include the miniaturisation of components, an ever-increasing PCB component density and a growing variety of different assemblies. In order to retain an overview of these developments and still be able to continuously improve processes in assembly production, traceability and precise process data documentation are becoming more and more important. Traceability has long been an integral and indispensable part of machine soldering processes such as reflow, wave or selective soldering. More than half of all newly-delivered systems are equipped with a network connection and the software necessary to enable traceability in real time. Traceability is quite different when it comes to the rework of assemblies, e.g. after the machine soldering process. To correct faulty automated solder joints, either a manual soldering process or a rework system is used, depending on the type of component. As soon as a soldering iron is employed to carry out such reworkings, however, the comprehensive documentation of the entire soldering process was, at least 28 EPP Europe » 04 | 2022
PCB & ASSEMBLY « The connectivity of the soldering station allows each individual soldering process to be documented. By scanning the QR code of the assembly, the tip and solder wire used, as well as the temperature and soldering time are all recorded electronically and can be traced. All data are saved in the software Source: Ersa The network card allows the stations to be easily and safely integrated into MES systems Source: Ersa until recently, rendered impossible as manual processes could not be included in traceability systems. For this reason, many manufacturers completely dispensed with manual soldering processes or only permitted them when elaborate special approval has been granted. This has often resulted in complete assemblies being scrapped if just one faulty solder joint is discovered. And of course, for both economic and environmental reasons, this is something that should be avoided at all costs. Documentation at every stage To guarantee traceability, even of manual soldering, each individual soldering process must be precisely documented. Among other things, the assembly to be processed, the materials used (such as soldering tip, solder wire and flux), as well as process temperature and soldering time must be recorded electronically and made available for tracing. With the i-CON Trace, Ersa has developed the first soldering station specifically designed for complete traceability in manual soldering for use in a digitallynetworked environment. The system comes with various connectivity features including WLAN and Bluetooth. If there are restrictions on wireless transmission methods at a particular production site, a wired connection is also available as an option (in this case, a network card is used to connect the soldering station to a server via a network cable). The software for operating the soldering station is available as a download free of charge and does not have to be installed on each individual PC or end device (as was previously the case). The software, called ‘Ersa Trace Cockpit’, need only be installed once on the customer’s server and as soon as a soldering station is integrated into the company network, all mobile end devices (PC, tablet, smartphone) that are on this network, and have the appropriate authorisation, can access it. Access is easy via commonly used web browsers such as Google Chrome, Firefox, Windows Explorer. New levels of connectivity The connectivity of the station elevates manual soldering to a new level. It allows for the process to be transparent, traceable and enables documentation of each individual soldering process. The PCB, the component to be processed, the soldering tip used, the process temperature and soldering time are all recorded electronically and can be fully traced – both for manufacturers’ own documentation as well as for customers’. Tasks which were not previously possible or could only be reworked mechanically can now be processed manually without any risks. EPP Europe » 04 | 2022 29
