Increasing Test System Automation for Existing Tester to handle Production Volume Demand Increase

Reduced test time across several products by an average of ~25% and reduced time to create paperwork by ~3x

Client

Manufacturer of high-voltage power supplies

Challenge

The client already had an existing manufacturing test system in place. They wanted Viewpoint to enhance the tester due to an increase in production volume demand.  Viewpoint reviewed the existing test system and noted 3 areas for improvement:

  1. Automation available in the measurement instruments – most of the test equipment was automatable, via some combination of serial, GPIB, or Ethernet interfaces. Furthermore, some equipment, such as an oscilloscope, had the ability to store and recall setup configurations. The test operators already used these configurations to decrease setup time for the next test step. Most test equipment did not have automated setup.
  2. Operator time spent on each test step – the client had been through a Lean assessment and had already done a good job of timing operations. However, we specifically noted that the operator was manually connecting to the test points and manually transcribing to paper the measurement results from instrument displays.
  3. Automating the connections – many types of product models were being tested at this test system. Connecting the test equipment to all sorts of products would require either 1) many types of test harnesses and connectors or 2) a redesign of the products to make test connections simpler and quicker.

Solution

The enhanced automated test system included automation of instrumentation interfaces, a test executive to run the test sequences, automated test report generation, and automated test data archiving for the electronic UUT.

Benefits

  • Reduced total test time across several products by an average of ~25%.
  • Time to create paperwork was reduced by ~2/3 due to automated data collection.

System Overview

The enhanced test system included the following updates:

  • Test sequence automation
  • Automated test report generation
  • Automated test data archiving
  • Automation of instrumentation interfaces
  • Configurable automated test steps associated with each type of measurement instrument. The test operators would create a sequence of steps to setup each instrument and record the resulting measurement. The sequence of steps could be saved and recalled for each product to be tested, so the instruments could be used automatically.
  • New programmable meter – integrated the new DMM meter with a programmable interface to replace the one that was not automatable.
  • Foot switch integration – Since the connections to the test points were manual, a foot switch allowed the operator to take the measurement and advance to the next step.

The StepWise test executive platform managed the multiple test procedures created for the different products. StepWise also handled creation of HTML reports for every part tested.

SOFTWARE FUNCTIONS
Test GUI
Test Sequencer
Report Generator
Test Data Archiving
Instrument interfaces