Component placement

Component placement is an electronics manufacturing process that places electrical components precisely on printed circuit boards (PCBs) to create electrical interconnections between functional components and the interconnecting circuitry in the PCBs (leads-pads). The component leads must be accurately immersed in the solder paste previously deposited on the PCB pads. The next step after component placement is soldering. Component placement is an electronics manufacturing process that places electrical components precisely on printed circuit boards (PCBs) to create electrical interconnections between functional components and the interconnecting circuitry in the PCBs (leads-pads). The component leads must be accurately immersed in the solder paste previously deposited on the PCB pads. The next step after component placement is soldering. Basic placement sequence generally includes: board indexing, board registration, fiducial vision alignment, component pick-up, component centering/vision inspection, component placement and board indexing. Component pick-up, component centering/vision inspection, component placement are repeated for each component. Sometimes, adhesive dispensing and on-line electrical verification are also included in the sequence. Through the process of board indexing, the stencil-printed PWB is loaded to the appropriate position. Fiducial marks, also known as fiducial markers, provide common measurable points for all steps in the assembly process. There are many types of fiducials. Global fiducials are used to locate the position of all features on an individual printed circuit board. When multiple boards are processed as a panel, the global fiducials may also be referred to as panel fiducials if used to locate the circuits from the panel datum. Local fiducials are used to locate the position of an individual land pattern or component that may require more precise location, such as a 0.02 in (0.51 mm) pitch QFP.