Warehouse & Logistics — Material Management and Shipping

Material Flow: From Receiving to Shipment

A PCBA order involves thousands of individual components — resistors, capacitors, ICs, connectors, bare PCBs — arriving from different suppliers at different times. Before a single board can be assembled, every component must be received, verified, logged, and staged for production.

Superb Automation's warehouse and logistics system is designed to handle this complexity with zero lost components and full traceability from incoming receiving to outgoing shipment.

[PHOTO: Warehouse receiving area — incoming material on pallets, barcode scanner station]

The Material Flow Map

Supplier → [Receiving Dock] → [IQC — Incoming Quality Control]                                        ↓                                 [ERP System — Lot Entry]                                        ↓                    ┌───────────────────┼───────────────────┐                    ↓                   ↓                    ↓            [Ambient Store]     [Dry Cabinet Store]    [PCB Store]            (passive comps,     (MSL 3-6 devices,      (bare PCBs,             connectors, HW)     humidity-sensitive)     stencils)                    ↓                   ↓                    ↓                    └───────────────────┼───────────────────┘                                        ↓                              [Kitting — Pick per WO]                                        ↓                              [Production Floor]                                        ↓                    [Finished Goods Holding → QC Pass]                                        ↓                              [Packaging → Ship]

Incoming Quality Control (IQC)

Every incoming shipment is inspected before it enters the component store:

Accepted material is entered into the ERP system with lot number, quantity, storage location, and MSL (if applicable). Rejected material is quarantined and the supplier is notified.

[PHOTO: IQC workstation — operator inspecting component reel under magnifier, barcode scanner visible]

Component Storage

Ambient Storage

Passive components (resistors, capacitors, inductors), connectors, hardware, and non-moisture-sensitive ICs are stored in the ambient storage area:

• Temperature: 18-22°C

• Humidity: <60% RH

• Organization: By manufacturer and part number. Fast-moving parts in front-access shelving; slow-moving parts in bin storage.

• Inventory system: Barcode-labeled bins. Every movement (in/out) is scanned. Real-time inventory visible in ERP.

• FIFO enforcement: Date-coded storage — oldest lots issued first.

[PHOTO: Ambient component storage — shelving with labeled bins, barcode labels on bin fronts]

Dry Cabinet Storage (MSL Handling)

Moisture-sensitive devices (MSL 3 and above) are stored in nitrogen-purged dry cabinets:

• Humidity: <5% RH maintained continuously

• Temperature: 20-25°C

• MSL tracking: When a reel is removed from the dry cabinet, the clock starts. The system tracks cumulative exposure time against the component's rated floor life per J-STD-033:

Expired floor life procedure: If a component exceeds its floor life, it is returned to the dry cabinet and flagged for baking. Baking profile follows J-STD-033: typically 125°C for 24-48 hours depending on package thickness. After baking, the floor life clock resets. A component can typically be baked 2-3 times before the lead finish begins to degrade (solderability risk).

[PHOTO: Dry cabinet with humidity display showing <5% RH, component reels visible through glass door]

PCB Storage

Bare PCBs are stored flat on dedicated racks:

• Environment: 22 ± 3°C, 45-65% RH

• Surface finish protection: ENIG and immersion silver boards are vacuum-sealed and stored in humidity-controlled cabinets to prevent tarnish. HASL boards have longer shelf life in ambient storage.

• Handling: Bare boards handled only by edges, with gloves. No contact with gold-plated pads (finger oils accelerate oxidation).

• Lot traceability: Each PCB panel is marked with a date code and lot number by the PCB fabricator. This is logged at receiving.

[PHOTO: PCB storage rack — bare PCBs stored flat on shelves, vacuum-sealed packages visible]

Kitting — Preparing for Production

Before a production run starts, the kitting process pulls all required components for the work order:

1. Kitting list generated from the BOM — every line item with quantity, storage location, and MSL if applicable

2. Component picking — warehouse staff scan each reel/bin as it's picked. The system verifies the part number against the BOM. Any mismatch triggers an alert.

3. MSL staging — MSL components are pulled from dry storage last, immediately before production, to minimize ambient exposure

4. Kitting cart — all components for one work order are placed on a dedicated cart, verified against the kitting list, and wheeled to the production line

5. Shortage management — if any line item is short (insufficient quantity to complete the order), the system flags it. Production does not start until all shortages are resolved or the customer authorizes a partial build.

[PHOTO: Kitting station — operator pulling reels from storage, scanning barcode, cart with staged components]

Finished Goods Holding

After QC final inspection (TAB2 Station 10), boards are held in the finished goods area pending shipment:

• ESD protection: All boards in ESD-shielding bags or conductive totes

• Order consolidation: Multiple board types for one customer order are held together

• Holding time: Typically <48 hours — we ship as soon as the order is complete

Packaging — The Last Step

Packaging is a QC step in itself. A poorly packaged board that arrives damaged is a failure, regardless of how well it was assembled.

Standard Packaging Protocol

1. Board preparation:

2. Board is inspected one final time (quick visual — no scratches or handling marks introduced after final inspection)

3. Board is placed in an ESD-shielding bag (metalized film, faraday cage effect)

4. Desiccant packet and humidity indicator card included (for boards that will be in transit >3 days or in humid climates)

5. Bag is heat-sealed or taped closed

6. Internal packing:

7. Each bagged board is wrapped in anti-static bubble wrap

8. Boards are placed in a corrugated cardboard box with anti-static foam or dividers — no board-to-board contact

9. Empty space is filled with anti-static packing peanuts or air cushions — boards must not shift during transit

10. External packing:

11. Inner box placed in outer shipping carton with minimum 50mm clearance on all sides — additional cushioning in the gap

12. "ESD Protected Device" labels on two sides of the outer carton

13. Fragile / orientation labels as needed

14. Shipping label with tracking number

[PHOTO: Packaging station — operator sealing ESD bag, labeled boxes on shelf]

Traceability — From Supplier to Customer

Every component in every board is traceable:

For customers with regulated products (medical, aerospace, automotive), this traceability data can be exported and integrated into the customer's own quality management system.

Shipping

• Carriers: DHL, FedEx, UPS, TNT — customer preference

• Documentation: Commercial invoice, packing list, certificate of conformance (if requested)

• Insurance: Declared value on all shipments

• Tracking: Tracking number provided within 24 hours of shipment

[PHOTO: Shipping area — packaged boxes on pallet, carrier labeling station]

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