In today’s fast-paced world, the demand for high-quality, reliable electric smart meters is ever-growing. Behind every well-functioning electric smart meter lies a detailed production process, involving precision, advanced equipment, and strict quality control. In this article, we take you inside an electric smart meter factory, revealing the steps and technologies that ensure each smart meter meets standards.
· Material Storage: Protecting Core Components
Our production begins with the careful storage of essential components. The most critical of these are the chips, which serve as the heart of the electric smart meter. These chips are stored in a temperature-controlled warehouse, shielded from any potential environmental damage. Maintaining the right temperature and humidity levels is crucial to ensure that these components function optimally throughout the production process.
·SMT (Surface Mount Technology) – Precision in Every Component
Next, we move to the SMT (Surface Mount Technology) production area, a highly controlled environment designed to protect the delicate components from dust and contamination. Before entering the production line, workers pass through a dust removal room to maintain the cleanliness of the workspace.
The factory operates two SMT production lines, which are composed of six key stages:
Solder Paste Printer: Applies the solder paste to the PCB.
Feeder: Supplies components to the mounting machines.
High-Speed Mounting Machines: These machines automatically place components on the PCB with incredible precision.
Multi-functional Mounting Machines: Capable of placing a wide variety of components.
Reflow Oven: Melts the solder to securely attach the components to the PCB.
AOI (Automatic Optical Inspection): After reflow soldering, the AOI machine inspects the board by comparing it with a reference PCB image, ensuring that all components are placed correctly and that no defects are present.
The Panasonic lead-free machines used in these lines allow us to produce up to 5,000 single-phase smart meters or 3,000 three-phase smart meters per day, all with a quality pass rate of 100%.
·DIP (Double In-line Package) – Insertion and Soldering
The next step in the process is the DIP (Double In-line Package) operation, where components that cannot be mounted using the SMT process are inserted manually or using automated machines.
We operate four insertion lines:
Manual Component Insertion: For components that require hand placement.
Wave Soldering: For components that can be soldered using the wave soldering method.
This phase ensures that all the necessary components are securely attached to the PCB.
·Post-Soldering – Manual Soldering of Large Components
Certain components, such as relays and LEDs, are too large to be handled by automated systems and require manual soldering. Our factory has four post-soldering lines.After the soldering is complete, each component undergoes a thorough inspection to ensure proper functionality.
This ensures that every unit meets the required specifications before moving forward.
