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.