Why a custom test fixture?

We’re having false failures, and need a test fixture.

Is your team rejecting a record number of boards that may not be actual failures? There are several reasons a false failure can occur, and lack of repeatable testing is a main factor. This is where companies turn to custom test fixtures to help reduce their rejection rate. A custom fixture built for your device allows you to repeatedly test the factors that make a difference in your product build.

Once QC or manufacturing identifies a need for a fixture the next question that might arise is if your company has the capability to do the fixture in house. Several factors contribute to this decision, and it may not be the same for everyone.

Budget- A custom fixture can cost anywhere from $1,500 to $50,000 depending on complexity, included components, automation, and any other number of factors. If you’re losing manpower units (MPUs) and product in identifying failures or rejecting perfectly good units these costs need to be taken into consideration.

Volume- Our bed of nails manual gear lever fixtures, or clamshell type fixtures allow for easy and quick test setup for your operators. This comes with a great reduction to MPUs and a repeatable testing setup. A lot of in-house solutions have a lot of wires to plug in and complications that can be time consuming for the operator to setup and test. This may work for lower volume testing, and a lot of companies can use this method to reinforce their request for a custom test fixture. Once unit volume approaches hundreds, thousands, and hundreds of thousands these time consuming test methods are not economical and can be counterproductive to the original goal.

Test Procedure- If your DUT has a complicated test procedure that may require specialized operators or engineers to manage, this can take valuable time away from the critical path of development or manufacturing in other areas. Our custom test fixtures provide all the mechanical functions that can probe, connect, and measure the requirements. Paired with your test program our fixtures can allow the operator to have less in-depth knowledge of the product and accurately verify results.

You can read more at Custom Test Fixtures website