Testing electronic components for manufacturers
Testing electronic components for manufacturers
(OP)
Anyone who could help me on this. Your input would be much appreciated. I am a distributor for electronic components. For some time I have outsourced my testing to another company and I thinking about bringing it in house. I am wondering if this is economically feasible and what kind of equipment it would take. I buy up to 100 different parts per month, sometimes quantities of 10,000 pcs. I need an automated way to do a functionality test. What equipment would I need? How do testing facilities do it? Any input would be great...
Thanks,
OK JOE
Thanks,
OK JOE





RE: Testing electronic components for manufacturers
Keith Cress
Flamin Systems, Inc.- http://www.flaminsystems.com
RE: Testing electronic components for manufacturers
TI/BB INA118U
Siliconix DG411DY
IR IRFP460
NSC LM2577T-ADJ
NSC ADC0820BCWM
Altera EPF6016TC144-3
Tripath TA2020-020
Maxim MAX232ESE
Maxim Max710ese
Altera atmega128L-8AC
Motorola DSP56002FC40
RE: Testing electronic components for manufacturers
> You need to have personality boards for each part -- these must be custom developments with part handler mechanical interface
> You need to have test vectors for each part -- the only parts that can be tested turn-key are smaller FPGAs, processors and simple logic devices on small, pre-configured testers.
> You need to have a part handler to test the parts efficiently
TTFN
RE: Testing electronic components for manufacturers
Benta.
RE: Testing electronic components for manufacturers
As far as I know of, this is an industry is heading to extinction due to complexity and expertise spanned across many disciplines, meaning high overhead in acquiring expertise (many engineers) with low payback due to very low volume procurement. How many engineers a company has to hire to have enoug expertise in all fields (look at your ICs list) to do a small volume business? Many of them would prefer to work for a big company rather than to work for a small company. And even a big company couldn't afford to do such small business while incurring so much overheads, so they also have to look for outside test labs to do the jobs for them. Due to the vast knowledge required across many disciplines, it's very hard to do in house and majority of test labs couldn't even to test certain parts for you if they are honest in what they're doing.
BTW, equipments are not the real issue here because you can buy cheap useable & dated test equipments to do the job but knowledges and price for using the test equipments & testing the parts are a very BIG issue.
RE: Testing electronic components for manufacturers
Standards have to be met, and agreed to by all parties involved.
Most reliable suppliers (and most are reliable) would not consciously provide parts and /or data that was not accurate. Not to say it has not happened, but it is rare.
When it does happen, the events are recorded and remain on file on a master list. This list figures greatly in the supplier selection process as contracts become available.
Another part of the supplier selection process, and a less interesting one. When you agree to do testing, and provide government accepted data, you take on a formidable task.
Often, the documentation could easliy choke a horse.
You would have to have masochist tendencies to do business with the government and do less than what is expected of you. Many on-site, or visiting source inspectors have little technical knowledge (probably making them more dangerous is some ways) but the ability to shut down a line with a phone call.
On the bright side, in some 30 years I saw many successfully completed programs, the result of all parties involved understanding what was expected of them and not hiding problems in trash receptacles.
RE: Testing electronic components for manufacturers
PS: My conjecture is okjoe is more concern about whether he bought counterfeit parts than testing parts to milspec. But the differences are not that great so it would be a natural step for him to move up the chain.
RE: Testing electronic components for manufacturers
Keith Cress
Flamin Systems, Inc.- http://www.flaminsystems.com