Case Study  

Innovative Barcode Labels for PCB Assembly

OUR CUSTOMER: American-owned Jabil Circuits, based at Livingston, near Edinburgh, manufactures printed circuit boards for the car, computer and telecoms industries.

OUR TASK: The company required bar code labels capable of withstanding the high temperature needed in wave soldering and infra-red reflow processes, often as high as 300ºC. The firm required the ability to identify individual PCBs throughout the production process for analysis and tracking purposes.

OUR SOLUTION: Considerable time was spent by international materials specialists 3M and Labelgraphics in media-matching all the materials needed to produce the labels, and identifying the best speed and energy settings on the bar code printers to obtain the highest quality print possible. Jabil then ran the labels through various tests at different heat, humidity, and life acceleration levels. "Labels were used on some products during seven-day SIR tests at 85ºC and 85 % humidity," a Jabil spokesman explained. "The exercise was to test the boards, but as it happens it also tested the tenacity of the labels."