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Tuesday, December 10, 2013

How prototypes improve performance of the actual circuit board?

A prototype is a model of the actual circuit board. It indicates how an actual printed circuit board will look and function. It is an essential process when circuit boards need to be manufactured in large quantities. A single flaw in the design of PCB can create a trouble for the manufacturers especially when the quantity of the boards manufactured is quite large.

Creating prototypes will also help in making necessary improvements in the design of circuit board. The devices manufactured in the electronic industry have their own requirement for circuit boards with different circuitries. That is why, it is necessary for manufacturers to create a sample of the actual board in order to avoid flaws in the mass production.

Simply creating a prototype is not enough. A prototype undergoes intense inspections. Not only a single component is part of circuit board instead, multiple components are part of the board. The experts manufacturing these boards will closely examine all these components in order to check performance of the board.

Therefore, if you need a circuit board for your electronic industry, then it is necessary for you to hire reputed PCB prototype services.  There are several stages involved in creating and testing prototypes. First of all, the manufacturers will check whether it is possible to create a circuit board with specific components or circuitries. In simple words, they will check for the logic, if it is correct or not.

Secondly, the experts will take into consideration the size of the printed circuit board. The professionals will select the best size of the board after creating a prototype for the actual board. For example, if the size of circuit board is big and not performing according to the expectations, then the experts will bring important modifications in the design of the prototype in order to create a fully functional circuit board.

On the whole, designing prototypes of circuit boards prevent flaws in the actual board used in the industry. Moreover, designing prototypes is of core value for manufacturers as well as the clients who need such boards for different reasons.
 On preparing a model of the circuit board, the manufacturers can call the client to see its working. If the client feels satisfied with existing design, the experts can easily produce circuit boards in large quantities without thinking the performance of the board as they have already shown the prototype to the client.

Find a reputed service provider to get hold of a high quality board.

 Make a thorough research on the web to find trustworthy PCB prototype services so that you can get a quality board for the devices you manufacture in the electronics industry.

Monday, November 25, 2013

How contract PCB makers can help, electronic businesses grow consistently

It is common for any business that are a part of electronic industry to face certain challenges, as they go about designing and manufacturing electric circuits, boards and devices. Although some of the problems can be resolved easily in-house, but if combined with the resourceful thinking, skills, expertise and high-end technology that contractual manufactures offer, seeking solutions to technical flaws become quicker and fast pace.

There are some common problems faced by electronic businesses, which contract manufacturer can provide unique and customized solutions to tailor-fit each business’s unique needs. Therefore, before hiring a contract PCB manufacture for your company, make sure to hire industry leaders who offer following solutions:

Better design efficiency

A business may think that their present PCB design schematics are excellent and most efficient, but the truth is that there will always be some room for improvement. Often in-house engineers believe that a particular design cannot be improved any further, but when you take outsider’s help, you get to see the product form a fresher prospective. Professional PCB manufacturing and testing companies can easily spot problematic areas and recommend solutions to improve the schematics for creating a more efficient design which is less costly and more compact.

Compliance with industrial standards

Most of the start-up and small businesses find it difficult to meet ever-growing demands of customers for compact designs and constant production needs. It is also challenging for them to stay update with new industry standard and keep up with it. Quality contract PCB makers can provide your business with devices at affordable costs to keep your business stay ahead in terms of industry standards and regulations.

Saves capital and costs

Plant and machinery is the most important asset of any business, but purchasing and maintaining newer machines and following latest technology is difficult for some manufacturers. Apart from that, it also consumes a lot of facility space. Taking help of a third-party will enable you to reduce this burden. You can get your devices manufactured in your contractor’s facility, using their machines and technology, which helps saving capital, costs as well as factory space.

Customer satisfaction

The key to business growth and success is customer-satisfaction, which is possible through constantly creating advanced boards, and developing faster devices. That is the only way to keep your customers coming back to you. Your contract manufacturing company will help you with the same by constantly making your products advanced with each stage and by providing good customer-care services.

Most of the small and mid sized companies hire contract based PCB manufacturing testing companies to speed up their production and to cut on costs.

Tuesday, November 19, 2013

Some Basic Electronics Manufacturing Tools Explained

Manufacturing of PCB boards for electronic devices is a complicated science that requires technical skills. With time, PCB fabrication is becoming more intricate as technology is consistently advancing. In this section, you will get to know some of the most basic tools and equipment that electronic manufactures use in the making of printed circuit boards.

Take a look:

Drill:

It can be both corded and cordless, which is highly useful in the making of such devices and components. Drill is to create a hole, onto the circuit board for the purpose of attaching components. For majority of projects a drill that has bits with the range of 1/8 to ½ inches is best. 

Soldering iron:

Soldering iron is electronics and soldering equipment, which is basically a device that carries a tip which heats up to a particular temperature in order to melt down the soldering metal (usually metal alloys that have melting point of about 360 Fahrenheit). First, the solder melts and upon cooling down, it forms an electrical link between the conductive components.

Soldering irons can either be combustion-powdered or electric. In case of manufacturing of small electronic devices, the electric soldering iron is a better option which is more readily available and user-friendly. Solder attaches the components with each other and offers a conduit path through which electric current flow in small amounts.

Wire strippers

Electronic manufacturers spend quite the time dealing with wires. When two strands of wires are attached, then it is important to strip the outer protective layer that provides insulations in order to use the inside copper wire. This is what manufacturers use wire-strippers for. These strippers look like pair of pliers with small grooves. Each groove has varying size corresponding to the thickness of wires. Wire is placed in the groove and upon pulling the wire-stripper; the insulation gets removed off the wire.

Pliers

There are two kinds of pliers namely; wire-cutting and needle-nose, which are part of electronic work. The latter one holds and solders the components in right place, and also puts small components on tighter spaces which are too small for human fingers and hands.

Common tools

Other common tools that are part of electronic manufacturing are screwdrivers and hammers. Hammer is for putting apart and piecing together the component casings. Screwdrivers on the together hand, attaches the components with bolts and screw with each other.

The quality of electronics and soldering equipment have a direct bearing on the overall quality and durability of the final product manufactured.

Wednesday, November 13, 2013

Employ a professional PCB maker for steady business growth!

Every electronics business entity strives to keep growing with time. That is why even the start-up companies after a certain point of time begin to feel that it is time to move on to the next and bigger level in order to expand and grow more. Unfortunately, not every business can manage to do so. An effort to grow quickly, especially without the necessary resources and financial help, can cause major problems.

This is when businesses (especially small and medium sized) start reaching out to contractual PCB services for the realization of this goal.  It is because the current products may be good but not necessarily efficient to the best of its abilities. You may have quite knowledgeable workforce of engineers, but when outsider engineers take a look at the production plans, you get to know some neglected factors that may be helpful in making the product work better than before.

Contract based PCB manufacturing companies help electronic businesses in more than one way. First of all, there is no need to constantly upgrade the technology and machinery every time there is a technology update. On the part of electronic companies, it would be quite a costly affair to keep up with the constantly changing technological scenario.

PCB makers on the other hand, are expert in only services related to designing and making of single-sided, double-sided and multilayered PCBs. Contract based circuit board makers review your schematic and present production plans. After closely observing the entire production processes and technologies in use, they can pin point certain areas and methods which you can use to improve the overall functionality of the product. This way you can streamline the basic design of your circuit board, and eventually the entire production becomes better and cost-effective.

Working through the challenges is how every business grows. If your team of engineers is struggling in finding out the problem with the schematics or not able to figure a workable way out, then PCB makers can help you. As you redeem the help of top industry professionals, you get the privilege of monitoring the production plans, procedures and technical issues from a newer perspective. PCB making companies have industry experts under them, and they help electronics companies resolve technical issues in a faster and reliable manner to make the most out of the available technology.

Contractual PCB manufacturing companies provide a number of services such as designing, manufacturing, testing and prototyping.

Wednesday, November 6, 2013

Do you know about PCB prototypes? Here is a piece of information that will clear your doubts

Industries like electronics, defense, telecommunications and aerospace make use of circuit boards for manufacturing different devices and gadgets. There are many companies that design printed circuit boards with different circuitries so that a device or a gadget can function properly.
The circuitry of a printed circuit board differs from one device to the other. For example, the circuitry used in the printed circuit board used by electronics industry is going to differ from the one used by aerospace industry. Only the experts can made different types of boards according to the requirements of the industry.
Before designing the actual board, the experts create its prototype. The main purpose of creating prototypes is to check the performance of the board and the experts want to see whether the board is performing the desired function or not. The printed circuit boards have a major role to play in making a device function properly. A single mistake in its design can lead to a big trouble.
Moreover, it is not easy for the circuit board designers to modify a fully functional board, but it is not the case with a prototype. The professionals design prototypes with actual circuitry and components required on the actual board. As, its main purpose is to check its functionality, so in case, if the board is not fulfilling purpose, the circuit board designers make necessary changes and test it again to see whether it is performing as per the requirement of the client or not.
Therefore, if you are running a business of manufacturing various electronics gadgets, then it is quite apparent that you will need circuit boards for the devices you manufacture. In such conditions, you will need a reliable service provider who can provide you high quality boards. It will benefit you, if you hire a service provider that also provides PCB prototype manufacturing services.
The experts follow a number of steps to design a prototype. The experts will drill holes with the help of special tools and examine all the components and leads installed on the board. They will conduct a thorough inspection to see whether all the components are on their accurate places or not.
Creating prototypes is of core importance in order to reduce the risk factor associated with designing printed circuit board in large quantities.
Therefore, after making a thorough search on the web, find reliable manufacturing services.
 PCB prototype manufacturing services play a major role in designing fully functional as well as high quality circuit boards that different industries can use effectively.

Monday, October 28, 2013

Some useful guidelines to help you stumble down to the quality PCB service provider


Instead of investing huge money in creating a separate department for the purpose of designing and manufacturing PCBs, electronic companies find it more beneficial and economical to outsource this task to an outside company instead. However, there are pools of companies that offer contractual PCB services, and therefore finding the best one becomes a little tricky.

This article focuses on what to look for in a contacting company before hiring it to redeem its services. Take a look:

Certifications Always go for a company that can meet with multiple national and international standards as it shows their ability to offer high quality electronic services to a number of industries. Look for certifications from ISO, military and government certifications that are indicative of company’s quality.

Testimonials and case studies
– Any worthy PCB service providing company will have enough case studies, reviews, testimonials and reports of past projects. While talking to a company representative, ask about a situation where they had to work on a short notice or had high goals to achieve. Try to find out how they dealt with a challenging situation. This would let you know a lot about the company.

List of clients
– One of the sure shot proof of the kind and quality of services offered by any company would be the list of its clients. PCB making companies hired by high-profiles companies are more likely worthy of its services.

Designing and manufacturing services – To get the best out of your local PCB manufacturing service provider, look for a company that deals not only in manufacturing but also in designing. This is because you will always benefit from their extra expertise. A company that deals in both designing and production can detect design related flaws and errors and provide correctional advice, thus saving you from big financial losses.

An assurance for improvement
– You would always like to hire a company that has an ability to stay on the top of latest advancements, newest ideas and trends in electronics industry. Check out the blogs and all the promotional material that company has posted online. See to the fact what idea the information is giving about the manufacturer. See if the company seems to be staying on the top of technology or just recycling the same old information and ideas. A company that does not seem to be current and updated of the latest trends would likely not deliver high-quality services.

Follow the above-mentioned instructions and be assured that will not be settling for a substandard local PCB manufacturing company, but only the best in industry.

Thursday, October 24, 2013

Why PCB Prototype services are crucial for electronic manufacturers?

If you are a part of electronics industry and want to launch a product in the market, then it is never a good idea to launch the first idea that engineers came up with. The reason is that first design or idea of product can have some flaws and may not be perfect one. New concepts have to first go through testing as made refined before supplying it down to the assembly line.

Failing to do so can turn out to be a costly affair afterwards. A company generally faces this problem when it outsources electronic manufacturing to outside party. The quality of product manufactured will depend upon the specification provided and the quality of device. If the specifications are flawed, then the ultimate product will also be of substandard quality.

To save electronic manufacturers from these, PCB prototype services come into picture. There are companies that offer these services, which every electronic manufacturing company should contact before outsourcing the PCB services.

Advantages of PCB prototyping


One can think of it as getting insurance done. Spending a little money in the beginning, one can save himself from potential losses. You can compare the idea of a prototype to that of a model or a sample. Prototyping creates multiple samples, and gives manufacturer the liberty to choose the one that promises perfection and highest quality.

For example if one has to finalize a PCB design, these services will create multiple designs and make them go through real life testing. After testing, one can choose that design which is the ideal one involving least costs and the one that promises maximum efficiency. The idea behind it is that of a test and trial so that engineers can find errors in early stages.  The advantage of creating these samples via prototyping is that it provides specifications which are real as per an actual working system, and not just in theories.    

These services help save businesses from facing reputation loss as a result of making poor quality products. Once some negative news has broken out that particular firm offers poor product, it is hard to compensate that loss and undo it without a complete rebranding.

PCB prototyping provides the makers enough room where they can implement procedures to thoroughly test and idea or concept before replicating it into a real product and thus saves from committing big mistakes during production phase.

If a company does not have an in-house research and development department, it can outsource this task to a firm that offers prototype services. initially, there are many uncertainties whether a new concept will be able to perform required task and deliver needed results, but engineers who do prototype testing can detect problems, and make required changes until the design has reached an ideal stage of perfection.

The advantage of PCB prototype services is that it helps manufactures create a replica of a new design after thorough real-life testing.

Sunday, October 20, 2013

Reasons to prefer PCB surface mount manufacturing over traditional techniques

Printed Circuit Boards have become the basic components of different types of electronic components. Many industries such as automobile, medical, telecommunications, power supply, instrumentation control, entertainment, and others greatly rely on PCB manufacturers in order to fulfill their needs of manufacturing variety of electronics.

PCB, depending upon the purpose they are designed for, can be single layer, double layer, or multi-layer structures. These structures contain numerous electronic components soldered on the board and conductive paths through which the components communicate.

The electronic components on the boards are soldered through using various technologies such as through-the-hole and surface mount. Through the mount technique is a traditional approach of soldering electronic components that use leads or wires. The wires are passed through the holes drilled on the board and attached on the pads on the other side of the board manually or using mounting machines.

Highly popular soldering technology used by printed circuit board manufacturers these days is PCB surface mount manufacturing. It is the best suitable method when it comes to the fabrication of highly complex and superior quality PCBs.

Significant improvement over the traditional component mounting technique, SMT has become the ideal choice of manufacturing printed circuit boards for numerous reasons including:

Effective time utilization: Prior to the emergence of surface mount technique, through-the-hole and point-to-point soldering techniques were used. These fusing methods consumes large amount of time since the components need to attach pads on the frames and require wires to be inserted into the holes. This type of manufacturing of PCBs not only consumes significant time on soldering but also affects the way energy is conducted throughout PCBs.

On the other hand, surface mounting technique supports the fusing of electrical parts on the surface of the boards instead of connecting through holes. Using this method, electrical parts are mounted on PCBs via automation which saves a lot of time.

Reduced  manufacturing costs:In comparison to traditional soldering techniques, SMT save much money needed to produce fully-functional PCBs. Furthermore, the production of lower quantity or prototype printed circuit boards was extremely expensive with traditional fabrication methods.

Due to the automation of the fabrication process and ability to produce variety of low quantity PCBs simultaneously, surface mount method lowered down the expenses needed on the production.

Enhanced Usability: Printed circuit boards that are manufactured using surface mount fabrication technique make use of smaller components which made entire PCB compact and sleeker. Due to their smaller size and lighter weight, they provide electronic devices with portability feature.

That is why printed circuit boards are widely used in electronic devices such as computers, laptops, washing machines, smart phones, and others.
 
At American Progressive Circuits,Inc, PCB surface mount manufacturing helps to produce small-sized and properly functioning PCBs at reasonable costs.

Monday, October 14, 2013

Ensure properly working PCB production with reliable PCB manufacturing companies

Printed Circuit Board is a thin sheet on which electronic component and chips are soldered and connected for communication via conducting pathways.

There are different types of printed circuit boards available that are manufactured, according to the client’s requirement specifications, using various types of soldering techniques.

PCBs are widely used in different industries that deal with the manufacturing of electronics such as automobile, entertainment, medical, telecommunications, power supply, instrumentation control, and others.

Many of such businesses hire professional PCB manufacturing companies for fabrication of ready-to-use printed circuit boards. Let me share with you the common steps used in the manufacturing of printed circuit boards.

  • After choosing the thin sheet on which various electronic component are mounted, the next step is to make pathways on the board so that electrical components and chips can communicate to produce the desired functionality. Pathways are made by removing unwanted copper from the board. Manufacturing of PCBs is generally carried out through etching process which is accomplished using ferric chloride.

  • The designing of conductive pathways is accomplished through a photographic process in which a thin layer of photo-resist material is used to cover the copper on the board.

  • Photo-resist material on the board is then exposed to light through mask, known as photo-mask or photographic film, printed with the details of required pattern of pathways.

  • After this, photo-resist is placed in a designer so that spaces on the board where conductive lines are needed are highlighted in the resist.

  • The next step in the fabrication process is to etch the board areas where no conductive lines are needed.  To achieve this PCB is placed into ferric chloride.

  • The time for which the board is placed in ferric chloride greatly depends upon two aspects that are the thickness of copper on the sheet and concentration of ferric chloride. Any carelessness in the measurement of such factors can give you with low definition track designs. For example, if the board is placed in the ferric chloride for long time, it may produce a low definition pattern because ferric chloride has properties to weaken the photo-resist.

  • Although photographic processing for manufacturing PCB is quite popular, there are many other techniques to achieve the same results. Using highly specialized milling machine, copper layer can be milled away from those parts of the board where it is not required. The milling of copper is controlled by printed circuit board design software. When it comes to the manufacturing of PCBs in large quantities, this method of designing printed circuit boards is not suitable.

  • Another methods used for printed circuit board prototype is to print onto PCBs etch resistant inks via silk screening printing process.

Hiring PCB manufacturing companies, one can ensure the fast production of properly functioning PCBs.

Tuesday, October 8, 2013

What basic qualities are needed to be looked into PCB prototype manufacturing services distributor?

Choosing of an able electronic supplier is must, in order to get best quality results and to meet up to the expectation of the clients.

Especially, when it comes to electronic industry choosing of reliable supplier is must in order to reach the goals on time and to let the business prosper.

However, finding one reliable distributer amongst the hoard of suppliers is not so easy because there are many counterfeits and cheaters in market whose main purpose is to grab money from people.

This is where you need to be cautious and look into few qualities when searching for PCB prototype manufacturing services supplier:

Channelizing of stocks

Manufacturers expect from the distributor that their orders will reach on time. For this, a distributor needs to channelize their orders in an appropriate way, so that it can reach the customers as early as possible.

Offer affordable rates

A distributor must have effective interaction with the retailers and sell the equipment on affordable prices to them, so that manufacturers do not find it heavy on their pockets.

Coordinates well with the retailers

Besides, accomplishing orders on time, distributor also needs to maintain a healthy relation with the retailers. This is because relation (good or bad) affects shall be borne by the manufacturers. For example, if distributor won’t have good relation with retailers then certainly supplier will not give any discount to retailer and subsequently, retailer won’t give any less to manufacturer. Hence, a supplier should be one who has good communication with everyone.

Deliver quality of services

Quality is the major aspect that is needed to be considered when looking for a manufacturer because there is no room of experimentation in business world.  Especially, when you want to come speed up in the competition, you need to be sure of that distributer you are thinking to rely upon is best in line and trusted for delivering quality products to their clients.

Relied for providing consistent solutions

Your job task of selecting a reliable manufacturer is not just to avail quality services, but to also make sure that he provides consistent solutions in a long run, as well. This is important because in case your product wears down, then he should provide you immediate solutions for it.

After reading all the above aspects related to the qualities of distributer, you must have got a clear idea about the things that you need to look into while searching a distributor.

As there are numerous suppliers available in market make sure to research well. The best way to find some reliable suppliers is via searching online or through directories, or even you can take reference of your friends and colleagues.

To get the best and guaranteed electronic equipment, research well and then choose one reliable PCB prototype manufacturing services supplier available in market and online.

Wednesday, October 2, 2013

How to select a reliable PCB manufacturing testing manufacturer?

Undoubtedly, the essential component of electronic industry is PCB, which is also known as printed circuit board.

The world has changed and so the technology. With such rapid changes, it has become quite important to meet up with the pace of development.
Talking about electronic industry which too has kept the pace with the change, this calls for the need of reliable manufacturer.

If you are a newcomer and you don’t have any idea about who are the best PCB manufacturing testing manufacturers in your vicinity, then have a look at this document that will help you to find the best one. Let’s get started:

There are many companies who prove to be more capable than they are in actuality. You need to be aware from such manufacturers, as for them their motive is to grab customers towards them for the sake of earning money. In regard to this, you need to research well. This comprise of looking out for authentic dealers.

However, finding one is a difficult task. You can make use of internet, the best platform to search. Via this you will come across a number of dealers.
Besides getting the list of suppliers, you can also find out who is the best amongst those. Thinking, how? Well, via seeing the reviews and comments of people regarding the manufacturers.

Once you have sought the few suppliers that you find are good, make sure to have one on one conversation with them. This will help you know more about them personally.
During this conversation, you must ask few things like, standards, quality, technology used and measures taken to build PCB boards.

After having conversation, weigh out the pros and cons of the available options. This will help you out find one reliable manufacturer who will cater your needs.

Once you have searched a dealer, you must ask if he gives you guarantee of the product. If not, then you must reconsider your choice. Guarantee of boards is important because, in case if it get wears down then you can get it replaced easily, if you have guarantee card with you. Eventually, it will also give you an assurance that in such case you won’t have to spend your money again on buying new PCB board.

After looking at the points you must have got an idea about the factors that you need to consider when searching for a reliable manufacturer.

So, make sure you follow these points, as there is no room for experimentation in such case because you would never want your business to suffer any losses.

PCB manufacturing testing is the most essential step carried out by the manufacturers to build up a good PCB board.

Tuesday, September 24, 2013

What manufacturing methods do PCB manufacturing companies follow?

Electronic industry is not simple. This is because wide number of add-ons and alterations are carried out in it that makes things complicated. Especially, when it comes to making of PCB board, quite a number of things are needed to be taken into consideration.

From this document, you would get a complete guide over modes of manufacturing that are used to make PCB board.

Commonly, there are two techniques for the making of PCB: point to point and surface mount assembly.

Point to point method: This is the oldest form of manufacturing method. In this, soldering of electronic circuits is done by non-automated form. Tin and lead alloys are preferred because point to point assembly is very well carried out only by these alloys. However, using these alloys is relatively more expensive and time consuming, but there were no other options in traditional times that could efficiently help perform the manufacturing process.

Surface mount assembly: This is completely a new form of PCB manufacturing process. Relatively to point to point method, it is much more reliable, cost effective, trusted process for printing circuit boards. Where in point to point tin and lead was used to attach the wires on PCB, in this process solder balls, flat contacts and short pins are used for the same purpose. Moreover, unlike to point to point method, it does not require drilling holes through the circuit boards.

Therefore, if you are looking for reliable and cost effective solutions, surface mount technique is the best option. Another benefit of SMT is that it is versatile because this process is used in making of number of applications such as laptops, mobiles and a host of other gadgets.

However, while looking for PCB manufacturing companies, make sure they follow SMT method, along with that consider the fact of usability and affordability, as well, because such things should also suit your pocket.

Countless options are there in the industry that can be trusted for the manufacturing of most well suited printed circuit boards. But choosing one manufacturer from hoard of suppliers is a tedious task. Along with this, you even need to ensure that the supplier is not a counterfeit or a cheater. Thus, on the whole, you need to do a thorough research and then make a wise decision of choosing a manufacturer.

While searching, consider factors like reputation, certified, trusted, integrity, credibility etc. This will help you ensure that you have contacted the right person to cater your needs and requirements.

Besides factors that are to be looked in a manufacturer, you also need to assure the quality of product, price, and functioning of the product etc. This will help ensure you that the machinery is working properly.

There are numerous PCB manufacturing companies in market that are known for manufacturing printed circuit boards. So, choose a one that you find impressive.

Sunday, September 8, 2013

Designing guidelines for PCBs!



Printed circuit board is a key element used in the manufacturing of electronic products used in different industrial area. We can say that PCBs are the basic building blocks make an electronic unit functional.

A printed circuit board itself is constituted using variety of, large and small, electronic elements that collaboratively exhibit the function of the product.

The fabrication of PCBs needs a professional designer or engineer to come with a design that will work according to the product prototype. Professional designers first create a schematic for the circuit that will give you a close idea of the actual circuitry that will be etched on the board using that diagram (or schematic).

PCB manufacturing companies rely on professional engineers for the fabrication of these electronic units. The skilled design professionals ensure that the printed circuit board will be manufactured keeping in mind various standards and techniques, and the blueprint of the model will be exactly transferred to the board.

In order to ensure that PCB will work successfully, it is good to follow some guidelines, although nothing can substitute the knowledge and experience:

PCB design guidelines:

Listed below are some guiding principles that will help to design and layout a PCB. These guidelines are divided into different section as follows:

Board constraint design guiding principles:
  • The selection of right reference points that costume the fabrication process. They most important thing is to have reference holes on the substrate. These points are used to place machines and examine fixtures. Choose these pints in such as way they complement the manufacturing process of PCB. They may be in the form of holes for machines or may be in the form of cross points for sensors.
  •  The area of the board should be sufficient for the circuit. The length and breadth of the circuit board will define the size of the final product. Therefore, it is important to make estimation about the size of the board so that it can accommodate all components and pathways needed to design the desired circuit and also give you the final product of the required size.
  • Determine whether it is a single layer, double layer, or multiple layers printed circuit board that your project needs. Also, if it is a multilayer board then how many layers it needs to fabricate the comprehensive PCB as per client’s requirement specifications?
  • An important fact to know that increase in the number of layers will also increase the production costs. When the circuit is complex, it is not possible to etch all needed tacks on the single substrate. Adding layers the job of etching pathways become much simple.
  •  The next thing that you need to consider is element mounting techniques. There are different types of mounting techniques, such as surface mount technology, through-hole technology etc.
  • PCB manufacturing companies facilitates the professional designing will give you a standard design and fully-functional printed circuit board.

Saturday, August 31, 2013

How to perform Infrared inspection on PCBs?

Printed Circuit Boards are the rigid structures that have geometrical patterns etched on their surface. These patterns are made of copper or conductive material and replace the use of electrical wiring in electronics. Printing the circuits is less expensive than fitting wires and soldering them.

On the other hand, multi-layer boards with wiring make systems highly complex. If a defect occurs in an inner layer of the multilayer board, then all the other layers above that layer need to remove to reach that layer. This generates the need of proper inspection before lamination.

Among the various types of inspection techniques, infrared inspection uses heat and requires the use of current. The purpose of inspection is to find defects in printed circuit boards which if not corrected timely could lead to electrical failure.
Defects in the PCBs can result variations in temperatures. Inadequate or improper soldering at joint can cause electrical resistance. As a result, the temperature of the PCB increases and can be detected with the help of infrared camera.

The idea behind printed circuit board inspection with known standards is based upon the fact that heat emitted in the part of the PCB that is inspected is predictable. This idea behind inspection can be affected by the elements and methods used for printed circuit board fabrication. The substrate contains numerous electrical components, such as semiconductors, that generate heat of varying temperatures.

The idea of image subtraction involves the use of software that forms a perfect thermal profile which can be compared to the actual inspection results or even subtracted from them.  The outline can be loaded into the inspection camera or it can be used from computer system.

One main thing in various types of inspection is presence of current to facilitate necessary heat generation requirements. There are mainly two types of infrared inspections, active and passive.

In active infrared inspection of printed circuit board, the device is given energy as it would be serve the actual purpose and heat produced by different electrical units is measured. On the other hand, passive infrared inspection on printed circuit board involves the current directed on the tracks in the PCB to a heat sink.

Before conducting the printed circuit board infrared inspection, the professional inspectors properly examines the job and makes selection for the best inspection tools. During selection of equipment, the inspector considers various factors like color options, field of view, and limitation associated with the physical structure of the equipment. Each inspection techniques have its own set of issues and the selection of equipment plays major role. The selection of right equipment avoids re-testing.

The printed circuit board inspection enables defects to be detected before they become a major cause of failure.

Tuesday, August 20, 2013

Various techniques used for PCB assembly


The printed circuit board assembly (or commonly known as PCB assembly) is a process of connecting various electronic parts together on a printed circuit board to produce a comprehensive functional printed circuit unit. 

Before we start with the various methods to create PCB, lets’ have a quick look in what Printed Circuit Board is? PCB is a thing board where numbers of electrical components are attached through the etched copper pathways (conducting tracks) instead of wires. This conductive part of the board directs an electrical current to the various electrical units mounted on the board’s surface. 

Existence in industry:

The use of printed circuit boards is widely popular in various industries including for the fabrication of semiconductors used in computer microprocessors, for making sensors, such as missile wings sensors, in aerospace engineering. Furthermore, they are the widely used electronic equipment in military which is used in missiles and rockets. 

Almost every electronic device used today has a printed circuit board as an integral part of their construction. Most of the electronic things such as television, coffee machines, radio, iPods, washing machines,     mobile phones, games consoles, computers, alarm systems etc., have PCBs as the basic building blocks of their internal structure. 

Construction of PCBs:

Basically, there are three main construction techniques used to create PCBs that are discussed as follows:

Surface-mount assembly: SMT assembly involves the various electronic elements being joined directly to the printed circuit board surface. This method has several advantages over the traditional through-hole in the way that they can be used to create much smaller circuit boards.

Through-hole assembly: This construction method involves the electronic parts that have leads connected to them are pushed to the PCB by inserting through finely drilled holes. This job can be accomplished by using machines or can also be completed by hand. 

Electro-mechanical assembly: Also popular by the name box-build assembly, this method of construction is use the cable assembly, customized metalwork, moulded plastics, and wire harnesses to fabricate fully-functional printed circuit boards.

Many businesses rely on electronic assembly fabrication services to source their printed circuit board units. There are many advantages associated with hiring of such services, including:

  • They save money as a lot of investment is required for PCB assembly unit. Furthermore, it saves large amount of money that would go for hiring labor, setting up required operations, upgrading machinery, managing inventory and maintaining various equipment etc. 
  • Another benefit of hiring electronic assembly services is that you get your work done by the highly specialized work forces. The expert service ensures you the delivery of a product that will meet the modern industry standards.

SMT assembly is a latest technique of manufacturing electronic circuits in which the various parts are positioned directly on the board’s surface.

Tuesday, August 13, 2013

Consider These Tips While Choosing a PCB Manufacturing Company

The internet has made it easy for every individual to search any information at any time of the day. No matter, whether you are searching for online shopping stores or a advance PCB manufacturing company, the results will come in front of you in a few seconds.
But, the question is how to choose a reliable manufacturing company when thousands of options are available on the web? Here is a list of factors that one needs to take into account before selecting PCB manufacturers.

Use of Latest Technology

The technology is becoming more and more advance with each passing day. That is why; the design of electronic devices has become more complex.

Not, even a single electronic manufacturing company is interested in buying Printed circuit boards that are not designed according to latest standards and the technology that is widely used.

So, choose a firm that makes use of latest and innovative techniques to design a circuit board.

Openness to Customization

The structure and design of PCB’s vary from one device to the other. In simple words, each device has its own requirement for circuit boards.

Therefore, it is important to choose the company that is ready to work according to the requirement of devices and clients.

Experience

The firm should have years of experience in designing different types of circuit boards so that they can fulfill requirement of electronic device manufacturing companies in the best possible manner.

Thursday, August 1, 2013

Different processes of PCB assembly process!

PCB assembly a very common term that most of us listen today; especially those people who are surrounded by electronic equipment and products. However, still there are few others who are not aware of it. So for them this article would help enlighten few facts about it:

Basically, PCB comprise of various components that are put together to enable the functioning of device. However, the whole process is quite complicated and long one which is needed to be carried out carefully by the manufacturing company. Various multi-stages are carried during the PCB assembly service that includes placing of components of board, soldering them, inspect and lastly test them for working.

The foremost and basic step that is followed by the manufacturer company is ordering of silicon and other semiconductors, further which are then transformed into electronic chips. These chips are then integrated onto a printed circuit board for its working or operation.

Now let’s have a detailed look at the different processes carried under PCB Assembly Services:

Solder Paste Printing:
Once the chips are prepared they are needed to be pasted on the board, during the soldering method. Basically, during this process, binding of material is done on the board.

SMT pick and place assembly: On each assembly line, chips are placed appropriately or accurately on their designated places. This is done in order to have proper functioning of device.

Reflow/Through-hole curing: So as to bind the chips properly on the board, hole curing method is performed after soldering is done. This helps to bind the chips more firmly on the board.

Conformal Coating: After the chips are soldered and placed properly, boards are covered with a protective layer coating so that they are not affected by the harmful materials or other things. Usually, conformal selective coating is done by the machines that provides protective layer to the board.

AOI and AXI: In order to get assured that no mistakes are there on the board, inspection process is also carried out during the assembly process. This method is particularly known as Automatic Optical Inspection and Automated X-ray Inspection. After soldering and pasting is done, this method is vital to perform and therefore, PCB manufacturers never miss out to leave this process of inspection.

Reworking: During the inspection, if any defect is detected then that is corrected before the board is sent out for construction. During the reworking process, board is heated, chips are removed and replacement is made with the right chips or semiconductors. Once the chips are soldered then again the inspection process is carried out in order to ensure that now the replaced board is working properly.

Fabrication of printed circuited board and its assembling is a very cumbersome and challenging task. It is generally outsourced by business to the assembly service providers. So make sure to find out the most reliable company for PCB Assembly Manufacturing .

Wednesday, July 24, 2013

Use Quality Electronic Equipment for Efficiency in Your Business


Electronic equipments are the heart of every trade today. Electronic machines have made our lives much simpler and much more efficient by allowing us to perform complicated errands at the press of a button and giving us the ability to do carry out tasks that are impossible to do for the human body and mind.

But the quality of these products is what defines them. The longevity, performance, and efficiency of electronic products varies from manufacturer to manufacturer

So, if you want to buy electronic equipments like heavy machinery or prototypes for your establishment such as a medical facility, an automobile factory or an energy generating plant or want to assign the task of their installation, assembly, quality check, etc., make sure you buy only a durable product or avail quality services because the entire electronic set up of your cooperation relies on the machines you use, and by extent, the efficiency of your company also depends on them.

The heart of PCB electronic manufacturing equipment is its Printed circuit board or a PCB. A PCB should comply with the following points:

Printed circuit base: The base of the Printer circuit board should be made of fiberglass. G-10 is the type of fiber glass that is generally considered ideal for this purpose for it is light in weight, affordable and tough. If any manipulation is required to be performed in the board, it needs to be easy to cut or be drilled a hole into. The current that flows through the board travels in a specific direction, so the material used should have the qualities of a good insulator.

Electronic components: Connectors, Diodes, Resistors, Integrated Circuit, Transistors and Capacitors are the most important components of a printed circuit board. Verify the fineness of every small electronic component, as each has a vital and unique role that determines the overall performance of the product.

Outer Casing: Plastic is usually used for the casing because of its good insulating properties. The casing of a printer circuit board has to comply with the size, function and utility of the PCB. As every board has a different purpose, the casing too is different.

Quality check: If you are used to dealing with electronic products, you surely have a good eye when it comes to examining them. That being said, the functions and specifications of every single component are very unique and need to undergo intense testing. The physical placing of the electronic components has to be very specific for the purpose of temperature control. They may be varied from one board to another depending on the requirements of the equipment, tests to check the strength of each component are essential.