Epec's Blog | Electronics Manufacturing Solutions

Early on in the printed circuit board (PCB) industry, "quick turn PCB" was a very relative term. Purchase orders were faxed, confirmed with a phone call, and lead time was open for discussion. Quick turn PCBswere 7-10 days, maybe as low as 5-days for a fast PCB manufacturer. A 2-day PCB quick turn was a very rare order which designated a person to move through production from process to process, bumping every other board from the line.

Manufacturing cable assemblies used in precision medical device applications requires rigorous demands just to meet the industry standard. When dealing with these specific applications, failure is not an option. Envision applications used in a medical environment. You must limit the possibility of failure for users in the field. Even something as mundane as cable sterilization can potentially cause the cable to fail and/or cause issues for the user(s).

Hot Air Solder Leveling (HASL) has always been the main staple of PCB surface finishes. In the late 1980s, 60/40 tin-lead reflow started to phase out of processes and was replaced with Hot Air Solder Leveling. HASL finish, the long running reliable surface finish, is still used today in military, aerospace, medical, and other applications.

We’ve received cable requests on a hand-drawn dinner napkin, 8x11 pieces of paper, and even old pictures. Regardless of the format, once the request is received it is drawn into a basic design which is sent to our Engineering team. We need to have the requested design in a particular format in order to be able to manufacture the request appropriately. Otherwise, our facility would not be able to understand dimensions (etc.) correctly. An official manufacturing ready design drawing would then be returned to you.

Navigating through the complex cable industry can be both difficult and time consuming. This is especially true if, for whatever reason, you have to change your cable assembly manufacturers. This blog post is intended to give you a perspective of what to expect if you find yourself in need of switching an existing cable assembly design to a new supplier.

The old saying “to the victor go the spoils” is now starting to apply in the battery supplier industry. Recently, Panasonic announced that it will no longer be supporting any new battery pack development projects that are not in the electric vehicle (EV) or solar storage space.

Over the course of the last 10 years, e-commerce has gone from something that very few people did to something that is part of our everyday lives. The rise in e-commerce has made many of our lives easier and more productive. The unseen side effect for most people is the strain that this dramatic increase of the “casual shipper” has caused to the existing Air Freight model.

Cable Assemblies can be used in almost any environment, but some environments pose specific challenges that need to be individually addressed. One such environment is when a cable assembly is installed in areas highly susceptible to rodent damage. Installations requiring rodent protection can include any outdoor application, indoor industrial installations, residential applications, food/grain storage areas, or any area that offers shelter and food for rodents.

Business-to-business (B2B) is now more competitive than ever. Remaining competitive in the electronics manufacturing industry requires businesses to change, adapt, and improve. But, there are many barriers to improvement. How does your organization solve problems and drive improvements?

In 1999 there were over 1,200 active printed circuit board (PCB) manufacturing facilities in the U.S. Today, there are fewer than 130. What has transpired at a lot of these manufacturing companies are small service businesses that act as a liaison between a manufacturer and their customers. In many instances, this is a valuable relationship; the products are low in technology and the risk is very minimal. However, why is it that we require certification to ISO standards for our manufacturing locations but not for service providers?