JUKI Provides Established Closed Loop Traceability For Highest Data Recording Accuracy

Traceability is one word but there are different levels of traceability depending on the requirements. JUKI provides established closed loop traceability for highest data recording accuracy and trace down to component level so-called the ‘IFS-X2 Standard’. This level of traceability also requires a certain amount of preparation and environment settings or adjustments. Fundamental to all of this, is the feeder intelligence upgrade on the JUKI machine as well as on the feeders. Additionally, all component reels need to have a barcode, either a JUKI or customer barcode with a unique ID.

On each feeder there will be an RFID tag mounted for continuous communication with the system. This ensures that the system instantly recognizes when a feeder has been removed from the feeder bank. As soon as the feeder is put back on the feeder bank, the operator will be prompted by the system to scan the component reel barcode to ensure that the correct part is loaded on the feeder and slot. For the traceability, every PCB has to be equipped with a 1D or 2D barcode and the JUKI machines need to be upgraded with the traceability kit which includes machine software, as well as a traceability camera on the pick and place head.

Every board entering the machine will be scanned in the centering station. This has a big advantage compared to other systems on the market. By reading the barcode in the centering station, just before the pick and place starts to place components, ensures that records contain 100% correct data. If the barcode was read at the entrance of the machine, there is still the chance that a board will be manually removed or swapped in the IN buffer, in which case the traceability data would be distorted. With this combination of hardware as well as software, JUKI achieves traceability down to the component level in a closed loop system.

The mid-size traceability is a combination of “IFS-X2 Barcode”, which uses barcodes on the feeders instead of RFID, and the traceability camera on the machine. In this case the feeder barcode and feeder slot on the feeder bank have to be scanned to link the feeder to a certain position on the feeder bank. This solution is a way of ensuring proper feeder setup and verification, as well as traceability for a lower price than the “IFS-X2 Standard”.

The third and new traceability solution is called “Traceability Light”. This version can be combined with the RFID or barcode version of feeder intelligence. The main difference for traceability is that there will be batch traceability only, instead of scanning every PCB barcode. In this case, no traceability camera is mounted on the machine at all. The operator enters a batch ID in the IFS-X2 software application and as soon as the pick and place program is downloaded to the line and the operator hits the start button on the machine, the traceability starts to record until the batch is finished. If there is no fully loaded traceability required, this is a low cost way to record basic traceability data.

Following the lowest cost of ownership, existing investments are of high value because the principle of the system is still the same, allowing new modules to be added easily with very low additional investment.