Test Solutions

Our founders come from one of the most complex test environments in the world: semiconductor test equipment. As a result Paramit places a high priority on maintaining a skilled staff of electrical engineers and test technicians. Most contract manufacturers rely on their customers, the OEMs, to develop functional tests, build test fixtures, and train the manufacturer's employees to conduct the tests. Consequently, it's the OEM that drives any improvements in productivity, streamlined test processes, or cost reductions. Paramit challenges this approach.

We take full responsibility for the products we build, including all test processes for both the PCA and the finished device or instrument. Paramit maintains a large staff of degreed electrical and mechanical engineers who are knowledgeable in product and test design. With minimal oversight by the OEM, Paramit's engineers are able to design and develop PCA in-circuit and functional tests as well as subsystem and final system tests for the completed device or instrument. This strategy eliminates the need for OEMs to provide on-site engineering support. In fact, the Paramit test team supplements rather than drains our customers’ valuable resources.

System Assembly Testing

A single complex medical device may include hundreds of components and subassemblies from numerous manufacturers and multiple processes involving complex technologies such as mechatronics, fluidics, optics, and RF. Before we integrate any subsystems into the final device, Paramit develops and executes comprehensive tests to verify that each subsystem functions properly. This investment of time and effort during the build process has proven to save time and reduce expenses in the long run by eliminating the need to disassemble finished products containing defective PCAs or subsystems.

Our engineers are proficient in a number of different test development platforms, including National Instruments' LabVIEW and Visual Basic. Typically, our OEM customers use their preferred software to create final system tests. Paramit's engineers then fine-tune and streamline the test code for a production environment. Paramit's test team further distinguishes itself through the development of custom software solutions, including Computer Aided Design (CAD) translators, in-circuit and functional test libraries, automated test coverage and Design for Testability (DFT) reports, real-time process monitoring and controls, detailed parametric test data collection, and extensive defect analysis reporting.

PCA Testing

Printed circuit board assemblies (PCAs) undergo numerous tests to identify failure points and potential defects.

Automatic X-ray (5DX)

Paramit developed and currently maintains a PCA process of 10 defects per million opportunities (DPMO). However, a flawed board can pass all tests even when the integrity of the BGA (ball grid array) solder joints is questionable. To address this concern, Paramit performs an automated x-ray (5DX) inspection on all hidden solder joints. This inspection process combined with low levels of rework and a very high process yield ensure that every PCA will have optimum long term reliability.

In-Circuit Testing (ICT)

ICT verifies electrical continuity, component values and orientation, and the timing of specified circuits. Paramit's ICT test development team has extensive experience developing high-end custom solutions such as in-system programming for EEPROMs (electrically erasable programmable read-only memory) and PLDs (programmable logic devices), functional/cluster testing, boundary scan, BIST (built-in self-test) and data collection/analysis. Our test team has expert level knowledge of the Agilent 3070 platform. In fact, several of our test engineers worked at Agilent developing these test tools before joining the Paramit team.

Functional Testing

PCA functional testing ensures that the board performs as designed in a real-world environment. Functional testing can become a bottleneck in the manufacturing process if tests are not optimized for the production environment. With this in mind, Paramit's test team focuses on three goals: 1) Thoroughly exercise the PCA to verify that it will perform flawlessly within its design parameters once installed in a device. 2) Streamline the test process by reducing the time and resources required to perform the test while still maintaining the integrity of the test. 3) Identify and correct the root causes of failures in addition to repairing individual failures. Our highly skilled team can reduce costs for an OEM and significantly increase throughput during functional testing.

Paramit also uses PCA process validation to validate the expected outputs for every piece of equipment.