Choose Contract Electronic Manufacturing Services for Printed Circuit Boards

For those looking for contract electronic manufacturing services, a customer should choose a company that has a long-standing history of offering assembly services. This company should also offer circuit board inspection, circuit board assembly, circuit board testing, and circuit board box building.

This company may have a large facility that’s at least 15,000 square feet in size where it can produce contract manufacturing on-site. Customers can possibly expect such specializations from this company as thru-hole technology, mixed technology, and surface mount technology. All products can come either lead-free or leaded depending on the preferences of the customer. A company like this may offer fair prices that beat out the other competition as well as finish all products with automated selective soldering, conformal coating, and automated optical inspection.

When a customer places a printed circuit board order, they know that they’re in good hands with this company. Such an organization may work with other offshore companies in order to produce printed circuit boards quickly and efficiently. A customer can generally expect to receive a pricing quote in at least a day and 48 hours at the most. They will receive a prototype printed circuit board in at least a week but sometimes up to 10 days maximum. Once a customer approves of that prototype, they should receive a finished board that’s ready to use between three and four weeks.

Companies like these also produce their own printed circuit boards with a flexible design, soldering that’s either lead-free or leaded, and with a single layer or up to 30. These boards meet all standards and regulations so that they’re absolutely safe for the customer to use.

For a customer that wants to get started today, they can contact a company like this in a number of ways. They can visit the actual facility if they live in Pennsylvania, or they can contact the company’s leadership team, including its CEO and president, its plant manager of quality assurance, and its director of operations and purchasing. If the customer prefers, they can also email any of these parties.

When a customer contacts a company that offers contract electronic manufacturing services about quotes or inquiries, they should expect to hear back quickly to forge ahead with placing an order. Once the customer decides to work with a company like this, they will probably do repeat business in the future.

Contract Electronics Manufacturing Process and Testing Stages

A PCB, otherwise known as a printed circuit board, belongs in electronic equipment people and companies use every day. They are installed in computers, coffee makers, cell phones power tools, factory machines, and any other device that runs using digital technology.

The Production Process

A contract electronics manufacturing company uses a variety of tools, equipment and scenarios to create the perfect PCB. Some of them are single-sided for specific uses while others are double and mixed in order to provide the best performance in certain situations.

Nowadays, circuit boards have become smaller and smaller. This allows them to fit inside portable machines, tools, appliances, stereos and computers. However, current demands call for newer printed circuit board design methods in order to produce items by deadline.

For instance, some companies use fully-automated soldering equipment and prototype stencil printing. Engineers oftentimes also use design software to help them pinpoint possible complications in traditional designs that need modification to fulfill modern-day technological needs. All of this helps save time when producing boards, and it also saves money.

The Testing Process

Nowadays, researchers examine how much energy a piece of equipment requires. Then, they find a way to harness an increased amount of stored energy to improve device performance. This includes ensuring that the printed circuit board installed into an electronic item will support that gadget’s main functions.

A variety of performance tests are conducted, including the following:

• An in-circuit test – This typically will test voltage, but it also can check for faulty wiring and possible resistance.
• Visual inspection – Engineers keep a device shut off or a PCB unplugged and carefully examine it. They have the training to find small defects that could result in a printed circuit board not running the way it should.
• Automated camera inspection – This oftentimes provides an extra eye for designers when testing PCBs. It could also can possibly catch problems the human eye cannot.
• Power-off testing – This helps address complication by troubleshooting using no power. This helps in scenarios when a unit could be further damaged if left on during inspection.
• Functional test – This provides a practical analysis of what a device can do under certain conditions. It might include a smoke, sanity, regression or usability test. In summary, it helps find out how well a device that has a printed circuit board install in it works.

If proper inspect doesn’t occur, it usually increases chance of recall. However, most contract electronic manufacturing services engineers have the expertise to avoid having to take electronic products off the shelves.