Support
Escalation
A straightforward escalation process for South African SMT floors, for teams who need the next technical step without the fluff.
What Escalation looks like on an SMT week
The Escalation page shows how a line fault moves from first checks to the next technical level when the issue stays unresolved. Use it when your SMT team has already covered the obvious causes and needs the next action.
State which stage failed, such as printer, placement, reflow, AOI or hand inspection, and note the board code in use. Add the shift, the last good panel, and any site conditions that matter, including load-shedding recovery, generator changeover, inland dust or Durban humidity. An escalation reads better when it separates process drift from a one-off operator check.
Capture the machine screen before any settings are changed. Include the alarm text, feeder lane or nozzle position, and one wide photo showing the affected area of the line. That first record often shows whether the issue belongs to setup, material, maintenance or program data.
Escalation pack essentials
A useful escalation names what was checked, what was ruled out, and who must take the next technical action. That makes handover easier between production, process and maintenance staff on the same board family.
Before you raise scope, compare the fault with the matching reflow record and the board history in Board notes. Check labels, batch records and any quarantined assemblies so the escalation points to the correct lot. SMT line enquiries should name the board type, the placement volume and the machines already on the line.
- Machine stage and exact fault listed
- Alarm screen saved before changes
- Checks logged by production and maintenance
Fault patterns on SA sites
Escalation on South African SMT sites often includes power events, delayed component arrivals and mixed-age equipment on one line. A stoppage after generator transfer does not read the same as random mispick on a stable utility feed. Teams in Johannesburg, Durban, Cape Town and smaller industrial areas usually need the site condition written next to the process symptom.
Coastal air can show up as paste handling issues, oxidation questions or more frequent cleaning around exposed metal parts. Inland dust tends to affect sensors, tape movement and cover integrity over a long shift. Where power drops are part of the story, note whether first article approval happened before or after restart.
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Information that moves the case
Send the board reference, machine name, alarm wording and the checks already completed by the team. Add timing, quantities affected and whether the fault repeats on one feeder, one head or one product only. Short notes with exact observations are more useful than a long description with no machine detail.
Log the event while the evidence is still on the line, including photos, rejected board count and any temporary setting change. Where purchasing or quality needs a record, attach the escalation note to the same job file as the production history. That keeps traceability intact if the issue returns on the next build.