Quality-critical traceability in hand soldering processes

Published as: Cover story EPP 11/2022
Author: Jörg Nolte

Already 100 years ago, company founder Ernst Sachs applied for a patent for the first electric soldering iron. Since then, Ersa has developed into a technology leader and global player offering high-performance systems for electronics manufacturing. With the i-CON TRACE, Ersa has now launched the world´s first IoT soldering station for end-to-end documentation of hand soldering processes in a digitally networked environment. Given the many years of experience with the traceability of assemblies in machine soldering this has been a logical step.

Shrinking sizes of assemblies require smaller and smaller electrical components while their variety increases. At the same time, there are still areas where manual soldering processes are indispensable despite advancing automation in electronics manufacturing. For example, when it is necessary to manually correct machine solder joints or to manually place and solder THT components. However, as soon as a soldering iron is used, complete documentation of the entire soldering process and its parameters has not been possible until now. Many electronics manufacturers have therefore often dispensed with a manual soldering process or only permitted it with costly special approval. “In some cases, manual rework and soldering was and still is completely prohibited in individual industries. This can now change,” says Jörg Nolte, Product Manager Soldering Tools, Rework and Inspection Systems at Ersa GmbH.

Traceability is an important factor in electronics manufacturing. After all, it is important to detect and isolate quality deviations in production at an early stage to ensure the delivery of error-free products. Also, in the case of returned assemblies it is helpful if the causes of problems can be traced and thus determined more precisely, even in the case of hand-soldered components.

With the i-CON TRACE, Ersa has therefore now developed a soldering station which allows hand soldering processes to be fundamentally improved from both an economic and an ecological point of view. In developing this soldering station, the experts have applied the specific process know-how they have been building up over many years. i-CON TRACE stands out by a characteristic operating concept and features WLAN and Bluetooth interfaces as well as a network card. And providing a heating power of 150 W it also offers an outstanding soldering performance. Furthermore, the range of available soldering tips has been redesigned and optimized thermally so that the energy transfer into the solder joint is now up to 30% more efficient. The program for controlling the soldering station can be accessed via any mobile device. “During our 100-year history, we have repeatedly developed solutions for our customers that made their technological challenges resolvable. This starts with the soldering iron, continues with many further developments, and ends with today´s i-CON TRACE. In the digital age, the manual soldering process must also be digitized. We have succeeded in doing this with the i-CON TRACE, which creates many advantages for our customers,” Nolte explains further.

Using i-CON TRACE soldering stations, a supervisor can centrally specify the parameters relevant for a complex manufacturing process. This includes the soldering tip, the soldering temperatures as well as the solder wire and flux. The station´s operating software Ersa TRACE Cockpit even allows to assign a soldering task to a specific specialist, to display the set and actual temperatures, and to change them if necessary.

i-CON TRACE is equipped with an on/off switch and three LEDs. A red LED indicates the heating process and a yellow one the standby mode. The operating user receives a green light for an assigned soldering task as soon as he has captured the component and the correct soldering tip, solder wire and flux for the soldering task with a hand scanner. “Thus, the i-CON TRACE ensures complete traceability of the process data. It also eliminates potential errors and increases process reliability. After all, the operator can only start a manual soldering task once all parameters correspond to the task,” Nolte explains and continues: “The employee can thus fully concentrate on the soldering task and be sure that the workpiece is soldered according to the given specifications.”