- Customer Success with Koh Young
Elevating Inspection Capabilities
Active-PCB Solutions, an Electronics Manufacturing Services (EMS) provider in Reading, UK, continues to raise the bar in inspection performance by expanding its investment in Koh Young 3D Automated Optical Inspection (AOI) technology. With a legacy of delivering high-complexity assemblies for small to medium-batch productions since 1997, Active-PCB has earned a strong reputation for its responsive manufacturing solutions and quality-driven approach.
Specializing in demanding assembly processes—such as flip-chip, package-on-package (PoP), Micro BGAs, QFNs, and ultra-fine pitch components—Active-PCB also offers comprehensive services like repair, rework, and refurbishment. The company backs these services with advanced capabilities, including X-ray validation for BGA and QFN rework, ensuring it consistently meets customer requirements for precision and reliability.
Recognizing the limitations of 2D inspection in a high-mix, high-reliability environment, Active-PCB set out to strengthen its inspection capabilities with true 3D measurement. The goal: deliver more accurate, repeatable, and traceable inspection results across all product builds.
Two years ago, the company took its first step by implementing the Koh Young Zenith Alpha HS+, a high-speed 3D AOI system enhanced by AI-driven algorithms. The success of that system led to a second investment in the same model, reinforcing their commitment to continuous process improvement and customer satisfaction. To make the right choice, Kiet and his team evaluated three other manufacturers alongside Koh Young in a side-by-side analysis. As Kiet elaborated, “We eliminated two of those manufacturers early, which left Koh Young head-to-head against another manufacturer. We were able to visit other local users who had the machines. This personal engagement gave us a good understanding of the company. Koh Young's reputation was very highly regarded.”
- The Koh Young Zenith Alpha HS+ is engineered for performance.
The Power of 3D AOI
With a four-projector Digital Light Processing (DLP) architecture, it achieves full 3D metrology with 15-micron resolution and a 25mm measurement range. These capabilities enable the reliable inspection of intricate component structures and densely populated boards with exceptional accuracy.
Beyond hardware, the system’s integration with Koh Young’s KSMART platform provides real-time process visibility and optimization. KSMART delivers actionable insights through measurement-based process analysis and statistical process control, allowing manufacturers like Active-PCB to implement data-driven improvements on the SMT line.
“3D AOI is critical in ensuring that the products we manufacture at our site meet the highest technical standards,” said Luke. “However, the AOI is also about being able to keep improving even our best products, so that we get closer and closer to perfect assembly each time they are run. KSMART and the Statistical Process Control software allow us to create value from the enormous amounts of data that we are capturing and take a pragmatic, data-based approach to incrementally adjust the processes of the SMT line and confirm that the adjustments are positive in real-time.”
Luke Minnis
Manufacturing Product and Process Engineer, Active-PCB
digital transformation
Empowering Innovation, Perfecting Production
