Industry: Automotive Tier-1 Electronics · Application: 77 GHz radar module assembly · Volume: 1.2 million modules/year · Location: European production facility
The customer used a mix of selective wave soldering and hand soldering on 77 GHz radar modules. High-density fine-pitch components (down to 0201), mixed copper weights on the same PCB, and thermally sensitive MMICs led to inconsistent joint quality and a 1.8% defect rate. Rework labor consumed ~12% of line capacity, and recurring warranty claims from the OEM customer were damaging the supplier relationship.
ULilaser application engineers evaluated the full product mix and identified 14 solder joint classes. We deployed a Dual-Station Laser Soldering Machine (DX-Series) configured with two 60 W semiconductor lasers, closed-loop temperature control (±1°C), twin coaxial CCD vision with auto joint recognition, and MES integration via OPC UA for per-joint traceability. Sample testing on three product variants was completed in our Shanghai Application Lab before the production order.
| Metric | Before | After |
|---|---|---|
| Solder joint defect rate | 1.8% | 0.23% (−87%) |
| Rework labor | ~12% of capacity | ~10,000 hours/year returned |
| Annual savings | — | €380,000 rework + warranty |
| OEM supplier rating | At risk | Top-3 retained |
“ULilaser’s closed-loop temperature control was the differentiator. The other vendors we evaluated could not hold ±1°C across the full product mix. The 2-4-8 service model meant we never waited more than 8 hours for a problem resolution during ramp-up.” — Production Engineering Manager, Tier-1 Automotive Supplier
