R&D Focus
Smart Manufacturing Service Application Platform for Circuit Board Industry
Taiwan has been known as the world’s leader for the PCB industry, holding the largest market share for 10 consecutive years. Despite this remarkable feat, there are still some challenges facing its PCB manufacturers, such as skilled labor shortage and defects caused by human errors. To overcome these issues, ITRI has developed the Smart Manufacturing Service Application Platform for Circuit Board Industry, which was recognized with the Industry Contribution Award gold medal this year.
ITRI developed a smart manufacturing service application platform to upgrade Taiwan’s PCB industry.
The platform features three key technologies as follows:
Printed Circuit Board Equipment Communication Interfaces (PCBECI)
PCBECI is the world’s very first communication protocol developed specifically for the PCB industry. By implementing PCBECI across the industry, different manufacturers will be able to follow the same protocol when processing and integrating equipment data, thereby reducing the time and costs involved in the production process.
Integrated Root Cause Analysis Model Technology
Using multiple analysis models, the technology identifies and prioritizes the key factors which lead to flawed products. The production equipment can then take the factors as a reference to automatically correct and calibrate the defects in the products, reducing the reliance on senior workers.
AI Reimaging and Defect Categorization Technology
By utilizing image fusion techniques, the technology compares the AI-reconstructed image with the original, which helps detect flaws that could be easily overlooked by humans and thus improves the quality of the products.
Dr. Ta-Hsin Chou, Deputy General Director of ITRI’s Mechanical and Mechatronics Systems Research Laboratories, emphasized that ITRI’s Smart Manufacturing Service Application Platform for Circuit Board Industry provides an integrated solution to the PCB industry. Rather than targeting only one specific problem, the platform fulfills multiple needs of the PCB industry to achieve optimal performance, he added.
A major flexible PCB manufacturer in Taiwan incorporated this platform and worked with upstream companies such as material suppliers and system integration companies to upgrade its production process. This forms Taiwan’s first PCB production line that spans different parts of the supply chain and significantly improves the yield rate.
The platform also helped another printing equipment supplier successfully transform from a traditional manufacturer into a system integrator. Dr. Yu-Ming Wang, Division Director of ITRI’s Mechanical and Mechatronics Systems Research Laboratories, noted that the transformation allowed the company to win orders from a major PCB manufacturer in Thailand.
Regarding the future development of the platform, Dr. Chou expects that in addition to giant PCB corporations, small- and medium-sized enterprises can employ the platform to optimize their production process. The platform is expected to accelerate the industrial upgrade and transformation for Taiwan’s PCB industry to secure its leading position in the global market.