The Surprisingly Complicated Process of Circuit Boards
High quality circuit boards are imperative to the function of almost any technological device. Look around you, you are bound to see at least one thing that works with the help of a circuit board. Laptops and smart phones are well known to have these installed, but so do televisions and older home phones. Smaller things like remotes, clocks, light settings, and thermostats all have circuit boards. You could almost say that these small panels are what keeps the world going. In this era of constant technological advancement, it is vital to keep things working and in top shape. People move fast, and can easily move on to something better in the blink of an eye. It goes without saying that with technology, the competition is stiff.
Low volume pcb assembly is a well needed business is this new age. These services can provide batches of circuit boards for prototype assembly. These panels need to be fluke free to be able to ensure the integrity of any device. Being able to find a trustworthy service to provide low volume pcb assembly can make or break any technology business.
The pcb assembly business is booming and highly capable. A worldwide industry for these assembly projects was made in 1995, over 50 years after their invention. This industry reached $7.1 billion in worth. It grew over the next 5 years to become a $10 billion industry. After the complete revolution and growth of technology and the internet, it reached up to $60 billion in 2012. This is without a doubt a successful and ever changing business, while arguably one of the most important industries in modern society.
There are many things that goes into low volume pcb assembly. When you are dealing with such intricate, delicate, and minuscule details it is important to get it correct. These days, those who design the circuit boards and their functions use software to outline the entire board and all of it’s intricacies. This is the best way to get consistent and accurate results when designing circuit boards. However, back when this software did not exist and electronics were not the most visually comprehensive, this process was a lot more complicated. Circuit board designs were printed onto mylar sheets, creating a transparent outline of which the assembled board needed to match. Unfortunately this method caused many errors in manufacturing, due to discrepancies in the printing compared to the actual board. This issue was responsible for up to 70% of all errors and quality problems. Low volume pcb assembly can be a very complicated process, but with the help of software, the occurrence of error has been drastically lowered.
Human assembly is no longer a common practice in low volume pcb assembly. Machines are the most common manufacturing method and can greatly reduce any chance of error. These pick and place machines, along with a conveyor, chip shooters, paste applier and an infrared oven are all vital parts of the process. These machines combined can produce up to 50,000 parts per hour. This type of fully automatic line can assemble more components with better quality than a full assembly line of 50 people doing everything by hand. This is a very large and sought after business, and efficiency is one of the biggest priorities.