SerComm Reconfigures Test Stations in 5 Minutes or Less

LitePoint Helps Boost Utilization Rate and Lower Manufacturing Costs

"By moving from the old test approach of power meters and spectrum analyzers and a Golden unit to the highly integrated LitePoint test platform, we have reduced the time it takes to reconfigure test stations from more than one hour to less than five minutes. With our high frequency of daily line changes in support of solutions from Texas Instruments, Broadcom, Marvel, and more, this adds up to dozens of hours of time saving each month. In addition, our test results are 1.5 times better than when using traditional equipment. LitePoint testers have helped us reduce maintenance time, increase equipment utilization, and gain greater flexibility – all factors that help us compete."

– Jack Yueh, Manager of the Engineering Department, Manufacturing Division, SerComm

The Customer

Incorporated in 1992, SerComm is a Taiwan OTC public company and a leading embedded server provider that makes networking simple and affordable for its customers. Owing to SerComm’s core competencies of seamless integration of software, firmware, and hardware; network protocol expertise; and flexible manufacturing, SerComm is able to ensure the most rapid response to customer needs by building high quality products with the shortest possible lead time. SerComm’s customers include the world's top-selling networking companies.

The Need

Every month, SerComm manufactures hundreds of thousands of products, including network cameras, broadband routers, access points, print servers, and more. These products are based on chipset solutions from Texas Instruments, Marvel, Ralink, and Buffalo, as well as Realtek, Broadcom, and Airgo for MIMO-based products. In addition to these various product and chipset configurations, the company has customer orders that range from very large to sometimes as small as a few hundred. One of the keys to SerComm’s ability to rapidly meet customer demand is a very flexible manufacturing facility.

The majority of SerComm’s manufacturing lines are changed daily – sometimes as many as three or four times – to accommodate the different solutions. Prior to using LitePoint, SerComm was using spectrum analyzers and power meters plus a Golden unit to test its solutions. When changing one of its manufacturing stations to produce TI rather than Broadcom solutions, for example, configuring the test tools could take up to an hour or more. Engineers at SerComm knew that finding a way to reduce maintenance time would help SerComm get products into production faster while boosting its reputation with OEM customers.

The Solution

SerComm selected the LitePoint test solution after recognizing its advantages over test equipment from traditional vendors. After quickly seeing the ROI of the LitePoint solution, SerComm required five of its subcontractors to purchase the testers as well. To date, SerComm has more than 40 LitePoint testers, which are used to test nearly all of its products. Production rates are approaching one million products per month, and as many as four LitePoint testers can be simultaneously placed on the manufacturing line.

The test solution includes LitePoint IQview® 802.11a/b/g/n WLAN R&D Test Solution and LitePoint IQflex™ 802.11a/b/g/n WLAN Test Solution for Manufacturing. Both LitePoint IQview and LitePoint IQflex are wide-bandwidth single instruments capable of performing all 802.11a/b/g/n transmitter and receiver tests including MIMO and optional Bluetooth + EDR with integrated VSA and VSG functionality. Easy to install, SerComm’s was able to get the LitePoint testers into production within a matter of minutes.

Ace Solution, a LitePoint distribution partner, supports SerComm manufacturing operations in Taiwan China with a team of engineers. LitePoint has also assisted by helping SerComm develop new solutions, including a MIMO-based solution.

The Benefits

Greater flexibility and higher utilization of stations with a reduction in maintenance time: A key to SerComm’s success is its flexibility, which entails changing stations multiple times per day. Using a solution like the power meter, by contrast, required SerComm technicians to spend an hour or more setting up the configuration for each batch of products based on a different chipset. With the highly integrated LitePoint equipment, the set-up process for different batches has been reduced to five minutes, since all LitePoint testers are calibrated and certified prior to shipment. Within a year’s time, these savings add up to hundreds of hours.

More satisfied customers confident in SerComm’s quality and innovation: Leading OEMs expect contract manufacturers to know the EVM of manufactured products. The LitePoint test solution directly measures transmitter performance, using EVM and other signal quality metrics. SerComm is able to provide its OEMs with this very important metric, assuring them of the company’s quality and commitment to innovation.

Higher yield rate with better feedback loop to R&D: With the ability to measure EVM, manufacturing is able to more effectively communicate results with R&D, which has directly resulted in higher yields. If the EVM of a product is sub-par, the manufacturing department can easily convey this problem to R&D, where engineers can modify and enhance the design. Thanks to this improved feedback loop, SerComm is able to deliver better products and increase its yield rate. 

Higher utilization rate with dual-head test for Linux-based solutions: Products built around Linux are becoming more popular. However, because they can take more than 30 seconds to boot up, these products are lowering test equipment utilization rates. By using a power meter, SerComm was wasting at least 40 seconds to boot up each device. In contrast, LitePoint testers have dual RF ports, which means SerComm can test two devices with one LitePoint tester using the “ping pong” method. While one device is being tested on one side, the other device can be booting, staging, or otherwise getting ready to test.

Increased output and lower manufacturing costs with faster test times: Test time was as high as six minutes per product when using Agilent. Using LitePoint, test time has been trimmed to mere seconds. Faster test time directly translates into lower manufacturing costs since employees spend less time testing the same number of products. Not only that, but output is also increased, meaning SerComm does not need to invest in additional test stations to keep up with an increase in demand.