When trying to save time and money, consumers look to bulk and bundled products that offer more value than the sum of the individual items or services. This same principle of combining services also optimizes the work done by electronics contract manufacturers who procure parts, build circuit boards, and assemble entire system components; with all of the manufacturing for a project located under one roof, OEMs save time, money, and resources when using these PCB CMs. Let’s look at how these different electronic assembly manufacturing services can help and what to look for when choosing an EMS partner.
Electronic Assembly Manufacturing Step-by-Step |
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Professional Engineering Assembly Manufacturing Available When You Need It
A printed circuit board contract manufacturer is primarily responsible for building PCB assemblies, but many more electronic manufacturing services are available. A complete turn-key PCB CM will work with you on the initial design and guide the board through its assembly until it is ready for delivery, thoroughly tested, and qualified. To do this requires a well-staffed engineering department set up to help with the following design tasks:
- Design capture – The manufacturing process starts with a bill of materials (BOM) review that confirms the availability and viability of the design’s components. The CM’s engineering staff will assist with circuitry enhancements or alterations as necessary and capture all changes in a new and organized documentation set.
- PCB layout – Before building a board, the CM layout engineers examine it for any design error regarding manufacturability (DFM) that can disrupt manufacturing. They report any findings or make the corrections themselves with approval.
- Test – Before the circuit board can be delivered, it must undergo testing to validate the assembly process. The CM’s test engineers set up a test strategy and either work with existing test fixtures or create new ones to validate an assembled board.
- Mechanical engineering – Beyond PCB assembly, an EMS partner helps with the mechanical engineering of the system’s chassis or other related hardware. This process will include reviewing the specified design and materials and redesigning as necessary to optimize the assembly and performance.
Box Builds, Wire Harnesses, and Other Electronic Manufacturing Services
Many OEMs today are looking for more than just having their circuit boards built. They are increasingly searching for electronic assembly manufacturing to develop their entire system to save time, lower costs, and relieve their already overburdened internal resources. Here is where a full-service PCB CM like VSE can help.
VSE has over 40 years of experience building printed circuit boards for technology companies in Silicon Valley, including San Jose and San Francisco’s Bay Area. Our customers have come to rely on our versatility and quality in PCB assembly and our mechanical assembly capabilities. Here are some of the services that we provide at VSE:
- Box builds – We regularly develop enclosures and complete systems to house our customers’ circuit boards at VSE.
- Wire harnesses – Interconnecting these systems requires custom-made wire harnesses suited to the precise dimensions of the system enclosures we are building.
- Cable assemblies – In addition to wire harnesses, interconnecting systems need custom-built cables between them, which we provide.
Control panels, etc. – We can build many other components of an entire system, including control panels and other interfaces.
