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How do you Assemble?
- by Matt Stevenson

A PCB design and layout is often a “labor of love” or blood, sweat, and sometimes tears for the Designer.  Creating designs that meet the project needs that are put together in such a way as to make the best use of space without introducing heat or signal interference.  Adding personal touches throughout the design process, with the goal of a functional board in mind.  When that PCB is finally manufactured, it can be a beautiful sight to behold.  This PCB can now be seen as either an artful representation of wires, holes, and pads...or a line item on a BOM.  Regardless of the personal attachment to the design, at the end of the day, every Circuit Board needs components placed and soldered to meet its full potential in its productive life. 

PCB assembly can be almost as tricky as PCB manufacturing.  In the not so distant past, many PCB prototypes were hand-assembled by the design engineer or one of the project team members as soon as the parts arrived.  This saved cost and could often speed up the prototyping process.  As technology continues to advance towards surface mount parts and smaller and denser footprints, assembly becomes more of a challenge to do by hand. Hand assembly is not an impossible task by any stretch of the imagination, even on the smallest parts.   I have seen some amazing hand soldering feats on some really complex designs, while the rest of us may need help from an expert in the field with precision equipment. 

It seems like there are hundreds of PCB assembly businesses all over the United States each with a different sweet spot and placement on the technology curve.  Some of these have been around for quite a while and others are new to the game. Choosing the right assembly partner for your design based on relationship, quality, capabilities, and delivery can be a challenge even for the most seasoned engineers.  I know many of us like to have a local assembly partner so that they can be on hand for the assembly and be there to answer any questions that may arise.  Other engineers like to have everything taken care of and complete assemblies arrive at their desks, ready to test.  I have found that this depends on the engineer and how they best operate. 

Sunstone has chosen an assembly partner, Screaming Circuits, who fits our customers’ needs and style.  They have a very similar culture, customer centricity; are very competent (even on the really technical builds), and can do builds very quickly.  We value this partnership and can feel very good when we recommend them to our customers on their most crucial projects.  We know that they will come through with high quality, great service, and on time.  I don’t have to lose sleep at night knowing our customers are in good hands.