Executive Summary
A major multilayer PCB manufacturer in Shenzhen faced increasing complexity and demand for rapid, high-volume inspections across hundreds of board types. Traditional optical metrology systems required extensive manual programming and lacked flexibility.
Fermi Vision addressed this bottleneck by integrating CAD auto-programming and distributed offline workflow capabilities. Programming time dropped from hours to minutes, delivering significant gains in:
- Throughput - Faster inspection cycles
- Equipment utilization - More productive machine time
- Inspection consistency - Reduced human error
This case underscores how Fermi Vision's intelligent software and hardware integration redefine performance standards in optical metrology.
Background: The Legacy Limitations of Optical Metrology
Optical metrology has long been essential for quality assurance in PCB and semiconductor production. While vision systems replaced slower, manual tools, they brought their own challenges:
Manual Programming Overhead
Legacy systems often require manual selection of features, alignment points, and measurement logic. For high-mix production environments, this means programming hundreds of unique jobs—a time-consuming, error-prone process.
Lack of CAD Integration
Many vision tools still operate independently of CAD environments, limiting automation and increasing rework.
Offline Limitations
Traditional systems often tie programming to the inspection station itself, reducing equipment availability and operator flexibility.
These limitations bottleneck yield, delay production, and strain inspection teams.
The Challenge
The customer in this case—a high-output multilayer PCB factory—needed a solution that could handle a wide array of board designs and sizes.
Key pain points included:
- 30 minutes of manual programming time per new board inspection
- Valuable engineer hours consumed by programming tasks
- Delayed new product introduction (NPI) cycles
- Main inspection systems tied up with programming instead of production
Additionally, the customer wanted to avoid dedicating their main inspection systems solely to programming, as that further reduced operational efficiency.
Fermi Vision's Solution
Fermi Vision deployed an advanced system with two key innovations:
1. CAD Auto-Programming Engine
Working directly with the customer's design department, Fermi Vision developed a workflow where:
- CAD data could be directly ingested
- Complete inspection programs were automatically generated
- Manual setup was nearly eliminated
2. Distributed Offline Programming
Fermi Vision provided an offline programming module compatible with local network environments. This enabled:
- Engineers to write, review, and optimize inspection programs from any PC in the factory
- Inspection machines to focus on production use only
- Greater flexibility in workflow management
Results
The implementation delivered dramatic improvements across multiple metrics:
- Programming Time Reduction: Programming time fell from ~30 minutes per board to under 5 minutes in most cases
- Higher Equipment Utilization: With offline capabilities, inspection machines could focus on measurement, not setup
- Scalability and Consistency: New board types could be onboarded faster, with less training and lower risk of inconsistency
Industry Impact: Raising the Bar
While many vision systems still rely on static programming models and disconnected workflows, Fermi Vision's approach demonstrates what's possible when modern software engineering meets precision hardware.
In this case, the transformation included:
- Integration with upstream design tools eliminated redundancies
- Software automation empowered operators and engineers alike
- Flexibility unlocked full equipment ROI, even in high-mix environments
This is not merely an upgrade to traditional metrology—it's a transformation of how factories approach dimensional inspection.
Conclusion
As demand for speed, flexibility, and traceability grows in electronics manufacturing, Fermi Vision continues to lead with solutions that redefine expectations.
In this Shenzhen facility, what once took hours now takes minutes—without sacrificing accuracy. For manufacturers dealing with growing complexity, Fermi Vision delivers the next generation of scalable, intelligent inspection.
Learn more at: www.fermivision.com or contact sales@fermivision.com for a demo.