New X-Ray System enhances our Inspection Capabilities
Mar, 2026
RVL have always aimed for the kind of quality control that is built in to how we work. We continuously invest in the people, processes, and technology that keep our standards where they need to be. Our latest investment is the installation of a Seamark X-ray Inspection System, representing a meaningful step forward in what we’re able to offer our customers.
The Challenges Hidden in Modern PCB Design
Electronics are getting smaller, more powerful, and more tightly packed. The components driving that progress, such as BGAs and QFNs, have become standard across a wide range of high-performance applications, chosen for their compact footprint, thermal efficiency, and ability to handle demanding signal requirements. But they come with an inherent inspection challenge. Their solder joints sit beneath the component body, completely hidden from view where no camera can reach them and no optical process can verify them. For years, that represented a genuine blind spot in the inspection process, one that in the main, industry has largely accepted as the price of working with modern components.
How does an X-Ray Inspection Help Reduce those issues?
The Seamark system gives us direct visibility into solder joints, voids, bridging, and internal structures that no other inspection method can reach. We can see what’s actually happening inside an assembly, not just what’s visible on the surface. Crucially, it’s non-destructive. The assembly passes through inspection intact, with nothing sacrificed to gain that insight. And the images generated create a verifiable record of joint quality — useful for traceability, process improvement, and customers with audit or compliance requirements.
Getting It Right Before Production
One of the most valuable applications of X-ray inspection is at the development and prototyping, before a product moves into full manufacturing. This is where the ability to see inside an assembly has the greatest impact.
Identifying a joint quality issue, a process variation, or a design concern at prototype stage is a very different conversation to identifying it mid-production run. The earlier a problem is found, the less it costs, in time, materials, and disruption to a customer’s programme. By applying X-ray inspection early, we help our customers iterate faster and enter manufacturing with a much higher degree of confidence that the design and process are right.
One More Layer of Verification
For our customers, this capability adds a meaningful layer of assurance behind every assembly we deliver. Whether a project is at the exploratory prototype stage or moving toward volume production, they will have confidence that the connections driving their product’s performance have been properly verified, not assumed. Hidden joints on a high-density board carry the same risk whether the end product is a piece of industrial control equipment, a safety-critical system, or a consumer device pushing the boundaries of what’s possible in a compact form factor.
Every project is different, and so are the challenges that come with it. Whether you’re developing a prototype, scaling toward production, or tackling a particularly complex assembly, we’re here to help you get it right. Contact us at info@rvl.co.uk
