Epec's Blog | Electronics Manufacturing Solutions

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.

At the conclusion of our webinar, Electrical vs Mechanical Requirements in Flex & Rigid-Flex PCB Designs, we had several questions submitted to our presenter, Paul Tome, Product Manager Flex and Rigid-Flex, at Epec. We have compiled these questions into a readable format on our blog.

As we sit on the cusp of another festive/holiday/peak/Chinese New Year (CNY) shipping season, it feels like once again there are going to be new and challenging variables that we are going to have to navigate to be successful.

Flexible heaters bring with them a wide range of advantages that cannot be ignored for most applications. For starters, they offer superior versatility (hence the name) when alternative types of heaters and can have very thin form factors as well.

Design teams transitioning from rigid PCB technology to flexible circuits often assume that the primary difference between FR4 and polyimide is flexibility. While flexibility is the most visible distinction, these materials also differ significantly in construction, thickness options, copper types, thermal performance, moisture behavior, and electrical properties.