Quality: Systems

The Fort Collins Design Center designs and develops the IKOR Voltage Regulator Module (VRM) product line. Our manufacturing strategy is based on close relationships with our major contract manufacturers in Thailand and China.

The iWatt manufacturing transfer team works with the manufacturing and quality organizations of these companies to manage the conversion from prototype design to high-volume manufacturing. These products are designed to conform to the contract manufacturer's production process in order to maximize manufacturability and reliability. To guarantee conformance with customer specifications, iWatt maintains 100% ECO control.

Our primary manufacturing site is in Thailand with additional manufacturing sites available in China and the US.

All IKOR VRMs are built and tested to the highest quality standard, utilizing on-line product yield and quality monitoring. Our quality system allows full traceability down to the individual component level. Periodic quality monitoring data is available to customers through a secured on-line access site.

Initial Product Qualification Tests:

• Air-to-Air Thermal Shock
• High Temp Operating Life with Power Cycling (HTOL-PC)
• Temperature- Humidity-Bias (THB)
• Destructive Construction Analysis

Production Test and Quality Screening:

• ICT (In-Circuit Test)
• Functional ATE (Automated Test Equipment)
• Thermal Shock or HASA (Highly Accelerated Stress Audit)
• Burn-In
• Periodic Reliability Monitor
• ORT (On-going Reliability Testing)
• Burn-in Monitors
• Routine (Out Of Box) Audit

Restriction of Hazardous Substances (RoHS)

RoHS is a European Union (EU) directive that restricts the use of six hazardous substances in electrical products being sold into the 25 EU countries.

Effective July 1, 2006, (RoHS) restricts the use of six substances:

• Lead (Pb)
• Mercury (Hg)
• Cadmium (Cd)
• Hexavalent Chromium (CrVI)
• Polybrominated Biphenly (PBB)
• Polybrominated Diphenyl Ether (PBDE)

All products in the IKOR VRM product line have been qualified for RoHS compliance or eRoHS compliance. Product data sheets indicate if they are RoHS compliant or eRoHS compliant. eRoHS compliant refers to certain application exemptions to full RoHS compliance.

Below are application specific exemptions:

1. Leaded glass used in cathode ray tubes, electronic components and fluorescent tubes.
2. Lead (Pb) in Steel (0.35% or 3500 PPM), Aluminum Alloys (0.4% or 4,000 PPM) or Copper Alloys (includes bronzes, brasses, 4.0% or 40,000 PPM).
3. Lead (Pb) in high melting temperature type solders (i.e. tin-lead solder alloys containing more than 85% lead) on terminations used for soldering.
4. Lead (Pb) in electronic ceramic parts (example: piezoelectronic devices).
5. Mercury in scanner bulbs, projector lamps, backlit displays or LED's.