SPEA for SELCOM: Functional testers for home appliance front panels

User experience is an integral aspect of product design, encompassing a wide range of home appliances. While functionality is important to design teams, the ultimate success of a household product is placing the users and their experience at the forefront.

Typically, front panels for home appliances play a key role in the overall experience of use as they are frequently the main element on which the user is focused. Whether they are part of a dishwasher or an industrial oven, the quality perceived is directly linked to the feedback given when activating a function from the control panel.

Because front panels are usually made of electromechanical components and are used by such a wide variety of people, the most critical challenges for manufacturers lie in defining the optimal characteristics for the best user experience and then manufacturing the product without variations.

While the assembly process routinely manufactures household front panels without any concerns, there is always the possibility of a defect or deviation from specifications that, if undetected, could damage the brand reputation and the device correct functionality.

To prevent this from happening and guarantee the best performance, SELCOM part of Bonfiglioli Group, an international company operating in the EMS and ODM sectors, has teamed up with SPEA to combine their expertise and know-how with the benefits of customized automatic testing solutions.

Who is SELCOM

SELCOM, specialized in designing, testing and producing customized electronic solutions, has been serving various industries including Industrial Automation, Medical, Automotive, Home Appliance and Power & Energy Management.

With a strong expertise in innovative electronic applications and as a leader in EMS and ODM, SELCOM designs, manufactures and tests complete systems, manages the entire supply chain for its customers, and provides end-to-end services investing in cutting-edge production technologies. Following each and every customer demand efficiently, quickly and cost-competitively, the Group’s engineering and testing proficiency ensures that customers’ requests are consistently met.

Thanks to the contentious investments, SELCOM is capable of producing a wide range of electronic products and their Italian and Chinese facilities are well suited for testing both high-mix/low-volume and low-mix/high-volume production.

Since March 2023, SELCOM has been part of the Bonfiglioli Group, combining its advanced electronics with Bonfiglioli’s global expertise in industrial automation, mobile machinery, and wind energy to deliver more integrated and tailored solutions.

Automatic testing meets constant demand for better user experience

Ensuring that front panels meet user experience requirements before the final product is shipped to customers is critical. As they typically consist of several elements such as a circuit board and a user interface controlled by buttons, displays, and other components, comprehensive end-of-line functional testing may represent a challenge, especially in high-volume production.

Given the variety of components embedded in the front panels, SELCOM has quickly realized that they needed to look beyond the standard automatic testing offering and explore new test concepts and methods. In this scenario, the cooperation with SPEA has led to the design of the first integrated automatic functional test equipment for testing the front panels of household appliances.

“At SELCOM we have a long history of automatic testing that addresses any potential weaknesses in the electronic device. We are committed to ensuring that all products coming off our assembly lines meet the demanding quality and functionality criteria set by our customers.” – commented Eng. Massimiliano Buccellato, Head of Testing Engineering at SELCOM – “We are used to doing a lot of research to ensure that our products stand out from the crowd in terms of quality and this is how we approached the requirement to produce the front panel assembly for home appliance and test all of the properties assigned”.

Comprehensive automatic functional testing prevents inconsistencies

More than just a functional tester and capable of handling electro-mechanical assembly test requirements, the SPEA T100A is equipped with fully integrated and synchronized electrical, optical, and mechanical stimuli on moving flying actuators, making it the ideal choice for testing high-volume home appliance front panels.

“Typically, the front panel display and buttons are the main areas where the most common inconsistencies occur. As any deviation is not permitted for an optimal user experience, home appliance manufacturers do not only consider the correct operations to achieve the highest quality but they also require to assess conformance to specifications, such as the shape and color characteristics of the icons on the display, the color and light intensity of the LEDs, and the keystroke and activation force of the push buttons” explains Eng. Massimiliano Buccellato.

This is where the SPEA T100A flying actuators play a crucial role. The advanced light meters verify any light source characteristics and the force actuators, which mimic human fingers, accurately measure the push button keystroke and activation force as dictated by end-user feedback.

The collaboration between SELCOM and SPEA is not only successful in the design of the tester but also in avoiding any false defect detection. “SELCOM worked with SPEA to fine-tune the test algorithms and we successfully addressed key issues and prevented misleading inconsistencies. For example, the front panel silicone buttons corresponded to different mechanical properties depending on the season, fooling the test algorithm itself” remarks Eng. Massimiliano Buccellato.

Preparing for the future

New user experience conditions will undoubtedly lead to new requirements. Innovative touch technologies will enable further innovations in home appliance front panels and SELCOM will continue to provide end-to-end services.

“Customers trust in our commitment to finding the right solution for them. Even if it’s not available on the market we develop something new to satisfy their key necessity. SPEA has the right mindset, expertise and know-how to partner with SELCOM” – reveals Eng. Massimiliano Buccellato – “With the ability to meet even the most unique requirements, SPEA is one of the world’s leading testing companies second to none in understanding the expectations of its customers. The shared vision and the customer-oriented approach of the two companies enables a powerful synergy”.

SPEA automatic tester technology is designed to support any developments in test requirements, from push buttons to capacitive testing, as the flying actuator architecture can mount any testing tool. Additionally, the software platform features self-programming capabilities and can generate a production-ready test program from input information (CAD, datasheet,…) providing easy operations. As a result, adapting SPEA automatic functional testers to future electrical and mechanical requirements will be quite straightforward. Companies like SELCOM can continue to rely on SPEA technology for years to come, as well as use their skills to help implement the testing technology.