Epec's Blog | Electronics Manufacturing Solutions

As a printed circuit board (PCB) manufacturer for more than 70 years, we have worked with thousands of customers to provide quality products in prototypes of a few pieces to many tens of thousands of circuit boards repetitively.

From a printed circuit board (PCB) manufacturing supplier’s point of view, often we are consulted about design and layout at the concept phase. Over the past many years, we have seen an increase in customers asking to assist with design, layout, and modifications to the circuit board. From this repeat request, we developed an engineering team to make it happen.

We hear this a lot when it comes to our user interface product solutions. The name, or names of these products, vary depending on who is talking. From membrane switches, silicone rubber keypads, keyboards, and touchscreens, these are all considered human-machine interfaces, aka HMI.

Around the world, battery pack manufacturers are dealing with supply chain issues. These issues are impacting lead times when they gain battery cell chemistry and battery management system materials.

Lowering PCB cost is primarily driven by design decisions made before layout begins, including layer count, board thickness, drill strategy, surface finish, and material selection. Small changes to copper layers, via structures, and panel utilization can significantly impact manufacturability, yield, and overall pricing.

Rigid-flex circuit boards are the integration of rigid PCB technology with flexible circuit technology in one unit that is capable of both interconnect and operating functions in a device.

Mil-aero devices live in a special place in the worlds of design and engineering. These are devices that are often subjected to extraordinary environments. They have extreme requirements, and they often must function in the harshest environments of the world.

There are a wide variety of flexible circuit board design options available to solve interconnect requirements. One of the more unique is a dual access flex PCB construction. This unique construction of a dual access flex circuit can be beneficial for many applications.

Human Machine Interface (HMI) keypads are an essential component of any manufacturing business’ operation, but they don’t have to be boring or plain. In this blog post we will review how to design and manufacture your own custom HMI keypads in any color your business wants so that you can better connect with your customers and give them the experience they deserve.

The unique capabilities of flexible circuits allow for additional design elements that are not available in rigid PCB designs. A very common one is integrating Pressure Sensitive Adhesives (PSA) into the design. A PSA is a double-sided adhesive tape that can serve multiple purposes. The PSA is attached to the flex as part of the manufacturing process and the release film is retained on the exposed side to protect the adhesive until it is installed.