Interfab Electronics: A total solutions company with a reputation for quality

Interfab is engaged in manufacturing and supplying a high quality range of circuit boards, PCB assemblies and allied products. It makes sure that the projects undertaken by it are finished in time and are a benchmark for excellence

By Baishakhi Dutta

Interfab Electronics (India) Pvt Ltd has been in the surface mount technology (SMT) business for over 16 years. Its promoters have a strong technical background in microelectronics. The company enjoys a good market share in various segments such as instrumentation, industrial automation, medical, defence, telecom and the energy management/utility sector. A true EMS company, it provides total solutions in SMT design conversion and the customisation of product packaging. Interfab has adopted the Six Sigma process approach, and uses its in-house facilities for endurance testing to ensure the reliability of its products.

Areas of business
The business activities of the company cover electronics manufacturing services (EMS), which involve expertise in embedded system design, CAD and PCB layout design, contract manufacturing, and functional and reliability testing.

The manufacturing floor
As a service provider, the company manages inventory for a wide variety of SMD and through-hole components in different packages. This enables it to offer tailor-made solutions that meet the exact packaging needs of the end products, within a short turnaround time. In the last decade, Interfab has completed 336 projects for more than 90 customers, 90 per cent of whom are SMEs.

Manufacturing set-up

• Air conditioned, dust-free, humidity controlled rooms
• The entire production facility is equipped with anti-static flooring
• Other static control and material handling aids are used
• Work instructions are displayed in production areas to meet IPC standards
• There are state-of-art machines and equipment for PCB assembly
• Critical manufacturing processes have been validated by a third party
• Trained manpower
• Well-defined quality management system (QMS) to support systematic:
  1. Material flow
  2. Data flow
  3. Flow of work instructions

Machinery at the facility: Interfab uses a wide range of machinery. These include:

• Precision stencil printer
• Pick-and-place machine
• Reflow oven
• Wave soldering machine
• Microcontroller universal
• programmer
• Air compressor
• Radial lead-cutting machine
• Ultrasonic cleaning machine

Manufacturing capacity: The company’s manufacturing facility is at Electronics Zone, MIDC Mahape, Navi Mumbai, which has a production 5 lakh sq inches/month.

Capex investment in manufacturing: The total capex of the company in manufacturing is about ` 40 million. The funding has been primarily through banks and internal accruals.

Design methodology
Interfab is a short form for ‘interactive fabrication’. This means that customers are assured of total satisfaction, because the company provides services with complete ‘involvement’ in projects, ‘innovation’ in design and development and ‘integration’ of processes to achieve the desired results.
Interfab has an in-house design and development team with vast experience in applying engineering know-how to various products using SMT. The company offers unique support to its clientele during the design conversion of conventionally-manufactured PCBs to SMT based assemblies.

Certifications achieved
Interfab Electronics (India) Pvt Ltd has ISO 9001:2008 certification.
ISO 9001:2008 specifies requirements for a quality management system where an organisation needs to demonstrate its ability to consistently provide products that meet both customer and applicable statutory and regulatory requirements. It aims to enhance customer satisfaction through the effective application of the system. This includes processes for continual improvement of the system, as well as the assurance of conformity to customer requirements as well as those mandated by statutory and regulatory authorities.
Interfab has also received certifications from MSME,NSIC

Focus on quality assurance
Apart from the all-important ISO certification, the company has the all-important ISO 9001:2008 certification. The company has experienced and trained manpower with wide exposure in the design and production processes, as well as in purchase, quality assurance and testing. A comprehensive quality management system outlines detailed procedures and work instructions, which cover a well-defined quality plan consisting of inward, in-process inspection and stringent norms for functional and reliability testing.

A few features of the supply chain management

• An in-house vendor development programme has been implemented.
• Supplier evaluation, records of delivery schedules and quality inward inspection reports are maintained.
• Import of raw material and components is done only through authorised distributors/dealers.
• Technically qualified and efficient purchase team.
• Stores equipped with an MRP (material resource planning) system, with a wide component database.

The reasons behind Interfab’s success story
One of the most important factors that has contributed to Interfab’s success is the strength and reliability of its machines. There are other reasons too, which are listed below:

• Fast turnaround times, which are possible due to investments in line optimisation, balancing and data conversion facility.
• High quality of assembly for custom prototypes.
• Frees up the customer’s technical staff for more important work.
• Comprehensive ‘Design for Manufacturability’ (DFM) review provided to customers by Interfab, including recommendations for improving the assembly process and lowering the total cost of ownership.
• Just-in-time inputs to production, to enable hassle-free throughput without wasting time and resources.
• Trained manpower to handle inward, in-process and final QC.
• Quality components, stringent inward inspection of PCBs, standardisation in processes and performance guaranteed by functional and endurance tests.

Goals for the road ahead
Interfab is recognised as one of the most successful and low cost service providers due to its leading role in EMS. It has achieved this position by adopting the latest in electronics design automation (EDA) systems, ensuring quality by using Six Sigma techniques, and supporting environment-friendly technology, compliant with European RoHS norms.