“QUALITY COMES NOT FROM INSPECTION, BUT FROM IMPROVEMENT OF THE PRODUCTION PROCESS.”

-DR. W. EDWARDS DEMING

To XFS, Dr. Deming’s textbook remark is not a theory, but a practice we have been conducting every single day. We work on the principle that quality comes during the process of manufacturing, not after the fact. Tremendous hard work and resources have been dedicated to the realization of this level, where we don’t have to rely on the final testing for ensuing the quality of our finished products, instead the production process itself will ensure the quality. Below are some of the practises we have adopted persistently:

• To guarantee a homeostatic production environment and maintain the highest levels of specification and precision, all of our tools and machines are serviced one or more times per day for ensuring they are in the best working condition.

• Over ten quality control points have been employed throughout the manufacturing process, most of them are stricter than industry standards. Only end products that pass all of these control points are cleared for shipment.

This integrated approach to quality control means that our manufacturing process is the most efficient in the business, saving significant time and cost. That is one of our secrets for producing Grade-A products at Grade-C cost.

THE INDUSTRY’S STRICTEST QUALITY STANDARDS

We believe building a top-notch quality fiber optic product is the combination of fine craftsmanship and deep technical knowledge, and on the top of that, we have put considerable resources on execution and efficiency improvement. The quality standards which XFS has set are far more stricter than industry’s norm, and by steadfastly adhering to our standards, we can ensure to have the best quality products in the market.

End-face Geometry Inspection

INDUSTRY’S MOST STRICTEST:

• Radius of curvature (mm): 6.5 to 9 (SC/APC)
• Apex offset (μm): 0 ≤ x ≤ 30
• Fiber height (nm): -30 ≤ x ≤ 30
• APC angle (°): 7.8 ≤ x ≤ 8.2
• Key error (°): -0.2 ≤ x ≤ 0.2

To ensure proper physical contact between connectors under mating, connectors' end-face geometric requirements are important for the quality control of fiber connectivity products. There is a strong correlation between the connector's end-face geometry and the variation of the insertion loss. For that it is critical to have all of our products passed 3D geometric measurement to guarantee the high optical performance.

End-face Quality Inspection

INDUSTRY’S MOST STRICTEST:

• Zero defects on the ENTIRE ferrule’s end-face (core, cladding, adhesive, contact zone and the rest of ferrule)

Before shipment, 100% of our connectors’ surfaces will be visually inspected by using 400x microscopes to ensure all of the surfaces are scratch-, damage- and dust-free. Scratches through the fiber core can not only affect optical performance, but also damage any other fiber end-face they contact. To avoid that, XFS has strictly adhered to our standard polishing and cleaning procedures, which have also been refined constantly.

Optical Performance Inspection

INDUSTRY’S MOST STRICTEST:

• SM single-fiber connector: random mated IL avg. ≤ 0.07dB, for 97% ≤ 0.12 dB
• SM MPO/MTP^® connector: IL typ. ≤ 0.1dB, max. ≤ 0.25dB

Insertion Loss (IL) expresses the reduction in optical power across the junction caused by applying a connector or splice, while Reflection Loss (RL) refers to the reduction in reflected energy. XFS has adopted the most advanced equipment from NTT-AT for performing the critical IL/RL Testing, which every single connector is measured before delivery to the customers.

TESTING EQUIPMENTS

We have a variety of testing equipment for verifying the optical performance and environmental and mechanical reliability of our fiber interconnect products. We also regularly send our products for testing at 3rd-party companies including UL, SGS and Telcordia/Ericsson.

IL/RL inspector

24c-MPO IL/RL inspector

Multi-wavelength IL/RL inspector

3D interferometer -single core

3D interferometer -multi core

End-face inspector

End-face inspector -MPO

Ferrule oncentricity & OD inspector

Connector tuner

Multi channel optical measurement

PDL inspector

Spectrum analyzer

Temperature- & humidity-cycle test

PCT accelerated aging test

Tensile strength tester

Vibration tester