I am in the process of evaluating equipment that could be used to meet our
current raw board
ECO needs (the cutting of surface traces and the drilling out of plated
barrells).  The ECO work needs to
be done on the raw board at our facility (we only load PCBs).  There does
not appear
to be an off the shelf machine that was designed specifically for these
needs.  It appears as though we
would need to modify a drilling machine or modify an adhesive dispenser to
meet our needs.  We are
concerned about depth control in the z direction and require vision for
"bomb sight" programming.

Questions:

First of all, is anyone performing this type of rework on finished raw
boards?

If so, what methods are you using for etch cutting and the drilling of
plated barrells?

If your process is automated, what type of equipment are you using?

Is the equipment an off the shelf item or is it customized?


Any help would be greatly appreciated.


Tom Phelps
Teradyne
(617) 422-3031