From aerospace technology to medical devices and personal electronics, PCBs are at the heart of the systems that drive modern life and manufacturing. The endless variety of designs and applications means that PCB assembly is anything but a set-it-and-forget-it process. It requires precision, knowledge, and the fearlessness to tackle intricate projects across a broad spectrum of industries.
Obtaining custom PCBs for your production process is complicated for several reasons.
Hundreds of components per board
A single board can require hundreds of components and each component in turn has its own set of potential challenges. Many components have a long list of possible alternatives that could take their place in the design, and never-ending changes within the industry may suddenly make a specific part impossible to obtain.
Delays from supply chain problems and other issues are constant risks, and when multiplied by the hundreds of parts within a single board, it’s easy to see how that concern rises, threatening to disrupt the production schedule of your final product.
Complex design
Arranging a huge number of components on a single board is inherently a complicated process. It becomes an even greater challenge when the design involves both surface-mount and through-hole elements or other specialized treatments. Hand soldering and other manual production steps often add time and expense to a project.
New designs
Raise your hand if you have a new product design languishing on the shelf because you haven’t found a contract supplier with the capabilities, courage, and willingness to take it on and help you bring it to market.
Developing a new vision is hard enough, but an even greater task is engaging a partner who’s willing to put in the effort to bring your vision to life, especially if your project requires small quantities, high variety, and repeated prototyping.
Management and maintenance
Devices we depend on every day—like our phones and their chargers—are powered by electricity. But in order to function, that electricity has to be harnessed and doled out with control—that’s the job of the PCBs found inside of a multitude of products.
PCBs are in the power position (literally) as core components within medical equipment and devices, industrial systems and a vast array of manufactured products. While many OEMs may have their own electrical engineering staff available to design the circuitry, that’s not always the case.
Many contract manufacturers and OEMs without an electrical engineering staff choose to out-source PCB design. However, although the PCB design you rely on may belong to you, without follow-up attention to maintain the design, you may be missing out on helpful refinements and better production methods.
It’s a tough balancing act to strive for an uninterrupted supply of consistently high-quality PCBs despite dealing with these complicating factors. Aurora Boardworks understands the interconnected challenges you face and makes it a point to uncomplicate PCB assembly while delivering results that simplify your life and your production process and help you achieve the results you need.
Aurora Boardworks uncomplicates the PCB assembly process in five important ways:
1. Experience. Specialized expertise and deep experience take time to acquire. Every challenge we face and each problem we solve for customers increases our knowledge and experience that can be applied to any situation.
Since we’ve been producing PCBs for more than 50 years, we’ve tackled plenty of difficult and unusual projects, so it takes a lot to surprise us. Not only has the company been in operation for decades, but we have an extensive corporate memory with a team that includes many employees who have been with us for 10, 20, 30, and even 49 years.
Tenure like that also points to the integrity and operation of the organization—it’s a place where people want to work, and an environment that invests in helping people to develop their potential.
2. Constant learning and innovation. Dedication to problem solving is the name of the game. Every member of our team, from design engineers, production engineers, purchasing and customer service, is looking for new approaches, process refinements, and ways to simplify production processes.
Effective problem solving depends on investments in new machines, upgraded methods, and the introduction of automation where appropriate.
In the past, all through-hole components on a board also containing surface mounted parts would require hand soldering. We now use a selective solder machine that allows for even more meticulous control of results, especially in situations where extreme heat makes hand work both difficult and slow. As a result of this investment in technology, for certain applications we’ve been able to drastically cut production time while delivering excellent results that meet and exceed expectations.
3. Commitment to shared goals. Whether you’re making a variation on a current board or developing something entirely new, when we work with you we’re fully dedicated to your vision, committing to it as if it were our own.
New designs especially require prototypes. “The biggest challenge in prototyping a new design is putting in the legwork to get it right. Prototyping creates an intricate, intimate relationship between Aurora Boardworks and the customer,” says Daniel Stanphill, SMT Process Engineer at Aurora Boardworks. Working through the prototyping, testing and revision stages requires a close and strong working relationship to consider and test different ideas.
These single-unit or low volume requirements aren’t favored by producers that emphasize all-out speed and simple design. Aurora Boardworks willingly takes on these projects involving low volume/high diversity; we recognize that this can be an important initial investment that adds value and deepens our relationship with the customer. As higher volumes are needed, we’re ready to handle that as well.
4. Communications. Whether you’re testing a new design, working to get a new product to market, or addressing complex sourcing issues, open and clear communications can make or break the relationship between manufacturer and customer.
You need to be advised at every stage of the factors affecting price of the final product—constraints related to specific material costs, production methods, or the availability of components—to identify what aspects can or cannot be changed and what it will take to create a viable product at a marketable price.
5. Engineering support. For many customers, Aurora Boardworks becomes an extension of their team, providing help with managing and maintaining PCB designs and filling the gap, when an in-house engineering team doesn’t exist.
That includes manufacturers of products that are 95% mechanical and 5% electronic who choose to outsource PCB design as well as contract manufacturers who often build products designed by others. Engineers at Aurora Boardworks bring design expertise to help refine the product, rework designs to take advantage of the latest technology for savings in time and expense, and improve design for manufacturability and performance.
Uncomplicating PCB assembly is one of our core strengths that our team would love to put to work for you. Give us a call. Let’s get the conversation started to find out how Aurora Boardworks can bring ease and efficiency to your production process.