The Role of Automation in Fast Turn PCB Fabrication
Automation in Fast Turn PCB Fabrication
In an industry where technological innovation is at breakneck speeds, speed is a vital factor in getting products to market. For companies in fields like electronics, aerospace, and automotive where shelf life can be incredibly short, quick turn PCB fabrication is often the silent enabler that lets them keep up with — or even outstrip — fast-moving consumer expectations for quality and performance.
To deliver high-quality, fast-turn PCBs, manufacturers must strike a delicate balance between speed and precision. Achieving this requires the right mix of technologies, including automation, that work together to streamline and optimize the production process, enabling engineers and product designers to achieve their goals for speed and quality.
The fast turn pcb fabrication process starts with a design file, which is sent to the manufacturer in the Gerber format. The fabrication company then performs a Design for Manufacturability review of the file and verifies that it meets all of the necessary specifications. This step is essential to ensuring that the PCB will be built to the correct standards and requirements, and can help to reduce delays associated with mismatched information.
The Role of Automation in Fast Turn PCB Fabrication
Once the design has been approved, the manufacturing and assembly processes begin. During the assembly stage, one of the biggest factors in determining turnaround time is a PCB’s component selection. Choosing the best components for a project is critical to ensuring that the final product will be robust, reliable, and efficient. The best choices are those that offer a combination of reliability, efficiency, and cost, while also being easily available.
Human error is another major source of delay during the PCB assembly process, as it can lead to misplaced components, soldering defects, and other issues that require manual intervention to resolve. Automation eliminates these risks by allowing machines to place components with pinpoint accuracy and consistency, resulting in a more accurate and faster process.
A third area where automation can significantly impact speed is in the etching and drilling stages of the production process. This is a critical stage that requires precision in order to ensure the final product has the correct layer stack-up and will operate as intended. When a board has been properly etched and drilled, it is ready for the next phase of the process – which is where automation comes in again.
Automated pick-and-place machines are used to place the components on the board, removing the need for manual labor and further reducing processing times. This also improves the overall quality of the final product by ensuring that all components are placed in the correct position and that no errors have occurred during the placement process.
Finally, automation can help to speed up the testing and inspection stages of the production process by enabling more thorough and comprehensive tests than would be possible with manual inspection. This can include automated optical inspection (AOI) testing to detect issues such as missing or misplaced components and functional testing to ensure that the final product will function as intended.