Epec's Blog | Electronics Manufacturing Solutions

I am still amazed at how far technology has brought us throughout the years. When asked about printed circuit boards (PCBs) and what they go into, the answer is everything you can imagine, everything you use in most cases.

At the conclusion of our webinar, PCB Manufacturing Facilities: Certifications, Compliance, and Security - we had several questions submitted to our presenter, Ed McMahon, CEO at Epec. We have compiled these questions into a readable format on our blog.

As the oldest production printed circuit board (PCB) company in North America, perhaps in the world, the 70+ year story of Epec Engineered Technologies is connected to the development of the PCB and the electronics industry. Epec’s storied history also includes delivering PCBs for the Apollo 11 spaceflight.

So, let’s talk about non-recurring charges, better known as NREs, that are applied to most new and new revision first-time orders for manufacturing of printed circuit boards (PCBs). These charges help aid in several crucial steps for manufacturing with a cost of processing, programming, testing, and manpower to deliver a quality product.

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.

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.

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.

While PCB layout typically has played the leading role in high-speed printed circuit board (PCB) applications, the role of the PCB fabricator becomes more and more important as the trend to faster, higher integrated, smaller form factors, and lower power electronic circuits become more prevalent.

Designing medical devices is no simple task. The stakes are higher for these devices compared to most other industries. Because of that, medical device engineers need to think carefully about which design elements should be prioritized.