A crowded server board with ten thousand parts doesn’t forgive sloppy inspection—and neither do pricey GPUs and chiplets. From the floor of Productronica in Munich, we dig into how automated optical inspection keeps advanced packages honest once they hit the PCB line, where solder quality, coplanarity, and sheer component variety can make or break yield. Vidya Vijay from Nordson Test & Inspection joins us to unpack why AOI remains the fastest path to actionable insight, when X‑ray is the smarter choice, and how new sensor design changes the game for reflective, high‑mix assemblies.

We explore the real pain points engineers face today: shiny dies that confuse cameras, BGAs packed with I/O where hidden defects hide under the body, and miniature passives that crowd tight keep‑outs. Vidya explains how three‑phase profilometry creates true 3D height maps by projecting fringe patterns and reading them from multiple angles, enabling precise checks for corner fill, underfill, and coplanarity. We also get into multi‑reflection suppression, Nordson’s approach to filtering glare and ghost images so the system sees the joint, not the noise. With true RGB on side cameras and higher resolution, AOI can now pick out tiny solder balls and subtle surface issues at speed—fuel for stronger AI autoprogramming and more reliable defect classification.

If throughput is king, data is queen. We talk about closing the loop from inspection back to the line to prevent bad lots—flagging stencil drift, placement offsets, and paste issues before they explode into scrap. Then we spotlight Nordson's launched SQ5000 Pro: faster cycle times, a wider field of view, and configurable 7 µm or 10 µm sensors designed for modern PCBA demands. Whether you’re chasing yield on high‑value GPUs or balancing AOI with AXI on dense boards, this conversation offers a practical roadmap for choosing the right tool, tackling reflectivity, and using insight to drive predictable quality.

Nordson Test and Inspection
Delivering best-in-class test, inspection, and metrology solutions for semiconductor applications.

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