Electronics Manufacturing

Electronics manufacturing has become an integral part for today’s fast paced society. Not only do we need these mechanics to live our normal day-to-day lives, but they are also an extremely important part of the economy. But the amazing thing is that very few of us actually know what electronics manufacturing is really all about! Resistors and capacitors, integrated circuits and photolithography? It really is gibberish to the most of us! So, below you’ll find a few common phrases and their definitions, as well as a short explanation on what actually goes on in electronics manufacturing!

First off, most of us have heard of circuit boards, they are found in pretty much all electrical equipment, and join the wires and cables to ensure that everything runs smoothly – now, that may sound easy and simple, but they’re actually far more complicated! In electronics manufacturing, specialized contractors, who make what is technically known as PCB’s or Printed Circuit Boards, generally produce these circuit boards.

The next step in electronics manufacturing is the soldering material, which is used to mount the various electrical components. These are called SMD’s or surface-mount devices, which are typically hand soldered onto the circuit board. Sometimes in big productions of electronics manufacturing, factories employ the method of SMT, or surface-mount technology, as it is a great time-saver. The machines first of all release a solder paste print, and then place the mount, using a machine that picks up the component and then places it over the solder paste. This entire circuit board then moves through a reflow oven that dries it out, also within the electronics manufacturing plant.

In the field of electronics manufacturing, one often has to panelize many circuit boards into one very big multiblock in order to maximize the printed circuit boards and thus increase the surface mount technology. Later on in time, these multiblocks need to be depanelled and then packed up for distribution. This is basically a time saver in electronics manufacturing. Before the circuit boards are cased up however, they are always coated with a protective layer, known as the conformal coat.

Once the circuit has been made, it always needs to be tested in electronics manufacturing. Firstly, the factories perform what is known as In-Circuit Testing, which is basically a check-up of the integrated circuits and a few other components. There is always a visual inspection to see that all looks up to scratch, and then the X-Ray inspection to view those tiny invisible joints in the circuit. And the final check up of the Automated Optical Inspection, to ensure that all is good with the final electronics-manufacturing product.