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First of all, let's introduce ourselves, graduated from HUST in 02, was tricked to Suzhou ASUS, forced to the contract of the obscenity of the power, until October 04 to leave the job, is now mingling in the Suzhou Industrial Park, a small U.S. company, the ASUS MB (motherboard) factory PROCESS ENGNIEER, since I think that the motherboard is still a little bit of understanding, and certainly the production process, but the motherboard is not the only thing I know, and the motherboard is the only thing I know. I'm not sure if I've ever seen a motherboard with the same design, but I'm sure I've seen a motherboard with a different design, and I'm sure I've seen a motherboard with a different design.
The original purpose of writing this article is just to learn more about the process of producing some motherboards, as well as the comparison between the brands, you can choose, there is no intention to praise or criticize any brand, first of all, in this disclaimer!
We all know that 2005 is basically the motherboard manufacturers doom, many small and medium-sized motherboard manufacturers were forced to withdraw, change production ...... business competition is cruel, the survival of the fittest! At present, only ASUS (ASUS) and other large manufacturers can continue to expand the territory, of course, this is also the strategy of asus and so on.
In 2002, I entered the factory Suzhou asus own brand 3 line (production line), plus to dell OEM 9 line, ***12 line, to my departure time has been 72 line, respectively, dell 15 line, sony 9 line, HP16 line, intel 8 line, ASUS 8 line, ASUS 8 line, ASrock 8 line, ASrock 8 line, ASrock 8 line, ASrock 8 line, ASrock 8 line, ASrock 8 line, ASrock 8 line, ASrock 8 line, ASrock 8 line. line , ASrock (ASRock, ASUS's own low-end brand) 12 line , IBM (server board) 4 line (roughly the data, the difference will not be worse than 2, after all, more than a year, the expansion of the speed of the visible, just from the line of the number of people may not feel, but if you know the cost of a MB line of about 40,000,000 rmb time! I'm not sure how you feel about that. Asus is Asus! His strategy is to change the past high-end route, expansion, grab orders, forcing small and medium-sized manufacturers can not survive, and then grasp the initiative of the market!
Well, back to business! First, the motherboard production process demystified 1. production line process SMT ---> DIP ---> W/S----> T/U-----> TEST ---> AGE ---> OQC --- > PACKING-----> Customer Above is the ASUS motherboard production line of the layout, the following one by one to explain!
1) SMT name surface mount technology acronym in English, but also the key to the motherboard manufacturing technology, in fact, in a word, the motherboard design is good, the rest of the production is the need for parts welded to the PCB process.
SMT is a welding technology, ASUS SMT technology in the industry is still at the forefront, or not a lot of SMT ggmm out are being snatched up by others ...... Of course, the stability and quality of the SMT depends largely on the equipment, ASUS are the use of first-tier brands of equipment. printer ---DEK, high-speed machine ---FUJI, GSM --- universal GSM2 reflow ---Heler (don't know if it's written correctly), and later ASUS have to buy 13 line siemens (Siemens) equipment, the value of that even more expensive, probably 1.5-2 times the original line, said that the person responsible for The import Siemens equipment, the section chief of the return to Taiwan before the treat openly declared that they are millionaires, haha, see those equipment know how much money ah!
However, originally he was going to leave, and then ASUS did not let go, then he was in Taiwan is to mix the day, every day only to the company to report, and now seems to come to Suzhou!
Running far away and coming back, I do not know how many second-tier manufacturers can afford these devices, it is estimated that all use Panasonic, Philips, etc., so the equipment largely ensures the quality of ASUS.
In addition to equipment, of course, is the use of materials, SMT mainly depends on the good and bad solder paste, the world's more famous solder supplier is ALPHA and KESTER are US, but it is very expensive ah, and the solder paste is a big cost, so ASUS basically do not use these two, unless the OEM customer specified, like HP on the designation of KESTER, these are all the interests related, that is, ASUS many of them are not the same as the other two. Interests related, that is, ASUS many things to buy Taiwanese companies, do not buy the same mainland, here will not say more.
ASUS solder paste is mostly used by a Taiwan-funded enterprise, called the rise of trade solder, most of the solder paste, tin rod (used in the latter part of the W / S) are using it. Even if the beginning of the customer has asked to use other, and then when you order a large, can not get out of it, ASUS will give you a variety of reasons to change, by then the customer has no choice but to change, so in the end they are shenmao. pour ！！！！！
But in good conscience alpha ls500 is indeed better than kester 951, but because the alpha U.S. that offended the HP Labs certified that person, he killed without using alpha, and then there is no way out, or change, it seems that HP's that person is not responsible for this project.
Finally, a brief description of the SMT process: printer ----- printing paste on the PCB, high-speed machine ---- will be small chip capacitors, resistors and other very small parts to the PCB paste, GSM ----- large IC, north-south bridge chips and other large parts such as beating the paste to the PCB paste, reflow ----- heating paste melting, cooling, and then soldering the parts on the PCB. Then the parts will be soldered on the PCB.
2) DIP is the artificial plug-in, IC, chip capacitors, resistors, chips, etc. are SMT complete, vertical capacitors, and some I / O interface are inserted into the PCB surface by hand, and then through the W / S (wave solder, wave soldering) to complete the welding!
So there is nothing to talk about here, first of all, the human factor, operator is not happy today, plugged in the bad and did not make a sound, the back is not measured, then the bad luck is the user, but the odds are very small.
The key is the problem of materials, these are the design of the time to decide, and RD design to see to whom it is, how to request, price, cost, etc. Of course, the production process may also be a problem, because a lot of materials have alternative materials, sometimes the problem is here, replaceable? The quality of the two can not be the same ah, ho ho, to see which one's public relations ability! Purchasing, material control, quality control, production, each department to get it done, and then use your ！！！！
3) W/S ( wave solder, wave soldering) This is the motherboard production process of the second technical content of the process, the main equipment here is still good or bad and the use of FLUX and solder quality determines the quality of the solder.
Asus all the wave soldering machine is all SOLTEC, the world's first-class equipment, produced in the Netherlands, only one U.S. equipment can be comparable to it, ASUS once evaluated the kind, but was my classmates negated (my classmates are responsible for the evaluation), Suzhou BenQ seems to have three to four such equipment in the Yangtze River Delta, in addition to the Asus, the SOLTEC Wave soldering machine should not be more than 20 units, and ASUS is 72 units.
The quality of wave soldering is also determined by the flux (FLUX), which has already been mentioned, generally large OEM customers will specify FLUX, (of course, also specify the solder paste, solder rods, and many other consumables involved in the product), but as mentioned earlier, will eventually be replaced by ASUS, who has the ability to persuade customers that I can do a better job with the, of course, cheaper will not be mentioned! , but I think the customer must also know, to not be sick ah!!!! Really still customer centric ah?
ASUS with FLUX more than Alpha LS5000A, this flux is Alpha developed specifically for ASUS, the market may be able to buy the same formula, but it is impossible to make this model, because this model is exclusively for ASUS, honestly, this flux is really a classic! Consistent performance, good cleanliness and weldability!!!! So most of the ASUS are using this brand, whether it is DELL, HP, INTEL, or SONY, IBM (server board), or its own brand ASUS, but which ASROCK because of the 2004 company to engage in the "Golden Goose Program" (that is, to save costs, each department has an indicator, forced), imported into the "Golden Goose Program" (that is, cost savings, each department has a The ASROCK because of the 2004 company to carry out the "Golden Goose Program" (that is, cost savings, each department has a target, the implementation of forced), the introduction of a KESTER low-cost flux, causing the back of the brother screamed bitterly, as if it was also done by me.
, and later imported a domestic low-priced flux, hehe, do not be surprised, ASROCK born out of the * life, more than 300 yuan selling price to people how to do ah? So everyone bought ASROCK or endure ah! After all, it's just so many meters!
In the factory, ASROCK is synonymous with bad goods, basically no one to take it seriously, as long as the test can be passed on the line, a day of production of 5000/pcs/line or so, do not care about the appearance of the matter allowed to receive, so at that time to see a number of magazines, Web site reviews, it is simply funny! But our consumers don't know that!
Speaking of process things, in W/S, first inserted parts of the PCB through the equipment of the spray system, the FLUX evenly sprayed on the PCB, through the heating zone heating activation, after the melting of the tin (the so-called tin rod, paste are 63/37 Sn/Pb, now the EU RoSH came to the beginning of the guide to the lead-free), melting of the tin will climb to the parts of the hole, and then the parts of the pins, rise to the top, and then the parts of the tin, and then the parts of the tin, and then the parts of the tin, and then the parts of the tin. Along with the pins of the parts, rising to the top of the PCB, and then cooled, complete soldering!
As for the good and bad of the solder is just the purity of the requirements, there is a long time to use, some other metals inside the solder will be overloaded, such as copper, silver, etc., so we should regularly (monthly) solder test, a year to replace the entire slot tin (ASUS practice), I do not know how the rest of the practice.
4) T/U The so-called T/U is to repair, from the wave soldering inside out of the motherboard, the back of the solder joints are mainly short-circuited, empty soldering, eat tin insufficient and so on bad, for these ASUS has a appearance of acceptance of the standard, should still be able to represent the industry's old higher requirements, but unfortunately this standard has been repeatedly lowered!
T/U section is mainly manual with a magnifying glass to check whether the solder joints are OK, or else with a soldering iron to make up for the soldering, or to remove the short circuit, etc., here is the most likely to happen is to pull the PAD off, or repair after the run hole pull bad, so it should be scrapped, but some people will be private make up holes, fill the run hole with copper wire, and then tin, and insert the parts soldered, the appearance can not be seen at all, and the test can not be measured. Out, to the hands of the user is most likely to be a problem, it is estimated to use a month or two on the end of the good up to six months!
There is also a harmful board is the overflow of tin board, we see the word on the know, is the wave soldering tin overflow to the board parts surface, often due to the line speed is too fast, will be the tin wave hit a very high lead. After the overflow of tin should be scrapped, but the number of problems involving departmental scrapping, will try to fix it, that is, the parts surface of the tin pick off, this board is very good to identify, picking the tin must be used to flux, and flux must have a residue, no matter what cleaning agent to clean will leave traces, especially after a long time, it will be very obvious! Timely cleaning is very clean, over time, as long as the light, see the parts surface and other parts of the color, or reflections are not the same as the basic is a flux, large flux traces is certainly the overflow of tin plate maintenance left behind!
5) TEST ASUS test has three, ICT, FUNTION, MANU
1) ICT is the line test, whether there is an open circuit, a short circuit, this time do not add any peripherals (CPU, DIMM (memory) and other fixtures), the purpose is to avoid to the back of the funtion of the time to avoid the burned out of the fixtures.
2) FUNTION is mainly a function test, will be added to the CPU, DIMM, and so on peripherals, to do a power-on test, here will find all the problems, the basic funtion through the OK.
3) MANU is the actual test, all the peripherals are connected, boot test, test compatibility, etc., so it's just for more insurance. Sometimes it is too late, MANU will not test, this board is not a big problem, occasionally a little problem, and some boards simply do not open MANU station, by only a percentage of the provisions of the only, not the full test, only a few OEM customers such as DELL, INTEL requires 100% of the full test, and the test data are transmitted to the customer online, want to be lazy are not possible! The test data is transmitted online to the customer, and it is not possible to be lazy!
6) AGE & OQC AGE & OQC belongs to the QA department, specializing in sampling test, test the same way with MANU, the general ratio will be very small, but as long as there is a bad occurrence is the whole batch of the judgement back, all the re-work retest! One of the AGE is aging test, repeated boot test!
7) PACKING Then there is packaging, manuals, CD-ROMs, handbooks, wires and so on into the box, packing and shipping! Okay, that's the end of the process! The latter is a comparison of the various brands of motherboards that ASUS has manufactured!
Two, each brand strong comparison! ASUS OEM (OEM, after 2003 are basically ODM) motherboard DELL, INTEL, HP, SONY, IBM, as well as their own ASUS and ASROCK, in fact, ASROCK is also considered OEM, but should be for the low-grade, low demand for everyone is not when it is OEM, because the OEM in the factory on behalf of the high standards, high requirements, high quality! ! Explain, which IBM OEM is the server motherboard, here will not say!
The following is in accordance with my personal view of the quality of good and bad advantages and disadvantages of the order of one by one detailed description of the advantages and disadvantages of each brand of motherboards.
1) DELL
You know DELL has an assembly plant in Xiamen, ASUS OEM motherboards are sent there.
DELL There is a reason why DELL is ranked first. We may not usually think of DELL's stuff how, but the international factory is an international factory, his process requirements, process level is the industry's first-class, he has the industry's first-class experts in each process, DELL audit LIST has become the industry's model (by the way, the relevant practitioners need to leave email, this is a DELL's top-secret information).
ASUS a lot of process technology development is in the DELL audit requirements of the birth of the DELL most of the orders to Foxconn, ASUS to get a single is not much, because the ASUS board in the DELL line of qualified rate do not meet their requirements, there was once a cut single risk!
I have also stayed in DELL TEAM for a period of time, DELL after all, ASUS OEM customers for the longest time, in all aspects of the resources are very sufficient, after all, DELL's requirements are the most stringent, the factory side is still doing a very tired, of course, the quality is also the most guaranteed. But DELL's desktop I have not used, do not know how!
And DIYers can't buy DELL motherboards, but you should be able to buy factory outfits in Suzhou (don't ask as to how they come out...?).
By the way, ASUS like this loss of boards a year's value should not be under ten million, the craziest time is to find the whole batch of goods disappeared, and finally appeared in the Middle East market, heh cattle more than not? (I heard that time Beijing Zhongguancun someone special in Suzhou to collect goods, but now there is no such a good thing, in 2004, the company specializes in anti-theft program).
2) INTEL INTEL
Ranked second is completely dipped in the DELL wide, because in the manufacturing process, intel is not their own things, but no matter which are to give him face, should be his chip ah, so all his things are in accordance with DELL, but then, light take people's things, no expert, do not understand the content of the Or to lack of some, only know the book, what is said above to be what, so it is very good to fool, so although intel has someone based in ASUS (DELL does not have a resident technician, only a customer representative, but once a year the audit so that ASUS is a headache), but our engineers are not much hang him, because he does not understand ah!
No matter what, after all, is a big factory, and ASUS most dare not offend is intel, I personally think that intel is to take ASUS production line in doing their own chip experimental base, the latest chipset is the first production there, and the amount of are not big, not more than 1000/order, so intel's motherboards, we'd better buy those who have a very mature chipset! The latest ones are all test boards. But after the maturity of the board should still be very stable, the yield rate even more than DELL, the most critical is the daily line of production is low, probably not more than 1000pcs/line per day, DELL probably 1200-1500pcs/line so ASUS to do intel are losing money, but had to lose ah, but the people in the chip inside the benefits to give a little bit of flat.
3) SONY
First of all, SONY's motherboard is also used in SONY's brand-name machines, it is estimated that the market to buy the opportunity is not very high, but its quality requirements are also very high, the reason why it is ranked in the third, the main thing is that it is not common.
As we all know, SONY's quality requirements are indeed very high, however, the recent SONY frequent quality problems let a person shocked, I have always thought that SONY has been demanding high-quality requirements just to its suppliers high, and when there is a problem or can not meet its requirements, SONY asked for payouts, and the product he was the same is to accept, after accepting, I think he would never Throw it away, or sell it to consumers, so I think this is the root of SONY's frequent quality problems!
Despite this, ASUS still had to OEM motherboards for SONY in order to get SONY's laptop OEM order, even at the expense of losing money and repeatedly sending people to Japan to reengineer!!!! But in general, in the factory, SONY's boards are still demanding! The output is about 900-1200pcs/line, because SONY's board design is better, a lot of use of SMT components, which leads to the SMT section of the output is very low, the back section of the fast and useless!
4) HP
To be honest, the reason HP is here is because it's an OEM brand, otherwise I would have put it after ASUS's own brand!!!!
Because of its quality requirements, the requirements from HP are really not good, I did more than a year in the HP TEAM, I feel that HP is not like a big international brand, not as professional as DELL, HP's customers are not professional enough, so basically come to audit is to wander in the production line, eat and drink well on the OK, basically don't know much about the process.
But, HP all the boards are used in their own desktop inside, we use the opportunity to use very little, and HP's gold service, bad on the change ah! Don't worry, there is also a point in the factory, as long as the OEM brand, everyone's quality awareness will be a little higher, after all, customer complaints will be more difficult to deal with ah! That's why I put it in the fourth place!
5) ASUS
To be honest, ASUS boards, I don't think it's worse than HP's, because all the HP boards are ASUS ODM, so most of the boards are the same out of the same design, that is, the same piece of boards, both to HP to do, ASUS do it themselves, just name is not the same! For example, the PTGD series, to HP is PTGD1-R, ASUS own is P4GD - ****, and later P5GD - ****, etc., basically will not be specially designed for HP, are based on his requirements, make some changes, to know the redesign of a board, the cost of geometrics ah!
ASUS own brand, to be honest, used to be synonymous with high quality, until now, many Fans still think that ASUS boards will be higher than other brands a section, in fact, not!
The previous said, in addition to ASUS equipment on the quality of assurance, in the process has a deep accumulation, at the forefront of the industry, but the current ASUS I believe is no longer the ASUS of yesteryear, the culprit is the yield!!!!
After '02, ASUS began to attack the city after the price cuts, grab orders, the consequences of this is that the factory had to be 30 days in the factory 24 hours a day production, even the Chinese New Year have to work overtime! And the daily production was raised to the limit again and again! The top has to be fast, and the bottom is only messy! Because they are assembly line, too late to put over, with the terrible grass-roots management cadres are also involved in fraud, to the end of the day, too late to test the boards are not tested, all packed! Such a board out can be guaranteed?
And, ASUS treatment of employees to be honest, but also really too mean, so the front-line operators are not the right attitude to do the right thing, the quality from where to ensure ah, I will attach the ASUS employees leaving the message to everyone to see, a real understanding of the real situation of ASUS.
6) ASROCK ASROCK (ASRock)
Should be between 03-04 years, appeared in the market, specifically can not remember too clearly, so that ASUS in order to occupy the low-end market and reopen a brand in the factory is still counted as OEM, but after all, it is a family, but also the low-end brand, so no one take it seriously!
I don't even want to waste my time to talk about its quality! ASROCK in the factory are using a large line to produce, about 5000pcs / line, the other are JIT line, that is, SMT and the back section is connected to the production, and the big line is the SMT first production, semi-finished goods into the warehouse, after accumulating to a certain amount, the back section to start production, the reason for this is that the big line of the back section of the fast, JIT, then, the SMT will be supplied not to so this storage, midway transportation will produce quality problems, this is still small, and the back section of the line will be used to produce the products, but it is not the case that the SMT will not supply the products. Will produce quality problems, this is still a small problem, the key is the speed of the rear section, super fast ah! The boards arrive too late to look at them and put them down, where is the quality to speak of ah?
So at the time, seeing some reviews about ASROCK's boards was just hilarious! I don't know how much money was spent on those getting reviews!!!! More than that, it's really not worth talking about! Unless you don't have the money to buy rice anymore, don't buy ASROCK's motherboard, of course the money to buy rice is gone, the computer seems to be unnecessary