To best conduct this testing, the board must be prepared with features that are accessible with a test probe, called test points—their inclusion in printed-circuit-board (PCB) designs is crucial.

The circuit was designed prior to the advent of SMT. Circuit components are not available in SMT. The manufacturer doesn’t have SMT equipment to manufacture the assemblies.

As more components are embedded in PCBs, complexity increases as multiple systems are needed to perform in-circuit test (ICT), programming and functional testing.