Printed circuit boards, or PCBs, are a complex set of electrical routes and connections designed to direct power to electronic machines and devices in an orderly way. Assembly is an important part of integrating the PCB with working devices.
What Is PCB Assembly?
Printed circuit board assembly involves creating efficient connections between a PCB’s wirings and conductive paths, or traces, and the neighboring components and completing a working device. The process requires skilled personnel and dedicated facilities to produce PCBs that meet today’s exacting requirements.
Common PCB assembly types include:
- Surface mount, one of the earliest and most-employed approaches, which uses a tab and solder technique and produces double-sided PCBs with high circuit densities
- Box-build or electro-mechanical that incorporates custom metalwork, looms, wire harnesses, molded plastics and cable assemblies to integrate on-board components
- PTH, or plated through hole, that speeds up assembly with pre-drilled holes for insertion by existing leads on surrounding components
PCB Types
Printed circuit board assembly services can produce custom PCBs as well as digital, analog and mixed-signal assemblies. Custom boards can meet unique demands in multiple industries, such as consumer electronics and agriculture. Assembly services can also offer prototyping and large-scale production runs with tight turnarounds.
PCB and box-build assembly services can handle any job, from the simple to the complex, including assemblies categorized as flexible, rigid, rigid-flexible, and single, double and multi-layer.
Turnkey PCB Assembly
Printed circuit board assembly services also benefit small-sized to mid-sized OEMs by providing ready-to-implement processes and equipment that would otherwise be too expensive to keep in-house. Turnkey PCB assembly can take up production in instances of urgent turnarounds while upholding quality standards.