The difference between PCBA inspection and PCBA testing.

PCBA Inspection vs. PCBA Testing: Understanding the Key Differences

In the PCBA (Printed Circuit Board Assembly) manufacturing process, there are distinct stages for PCBA inspection and PCBA testing. Many people often confuse the two, but in reality, their processes, equipment used, and ultimate purposes are entirely different. So, what exactly are the distinctions between PCBA inspection and PCBA testing?

PCBA inspection refers to the quality checks performed on the PCBA board during the manufacturing process itself. This requires various PCBA inspection equipment such as SPI (Solder Paste Inspection), AOI (Automated Optical Inspection), and X-ray inspection. Different process steps necessitate different inspection tools. For example, after solder paste printing, SPI is used to check the quality of the solder paste application. After component placement, AOI is employed to inspect the quality of the component mounting. After soldering is complete, AOI or X-ray can be used to examine the soldering quality or the quality of components post-soldering. Therefore, PCBA inspection primarily aims to identify quality issues arising from various processes during manufacturing.

PCBA testing, on the other hand, refers to the functional verification of the finished PCBA board. This mainly includes functional testing, aging testing (burn-in testing), and environmental testing. Its purpose is to verify whether the PCBA board can operate normally under various conditions. During testing, various test fixtures and aging test machines are required. These can test parameters such as the electrical performance, current, and voltage of the PCBA board.

In summary, PCBA inspection is carried out to check for manufacturing quality issues on the PCBA, while PCBA testing is performed to check for functional and reliability issues of the PCBA. This constitutes the fundamental difference between the two processes.