Behind that handy television remote are complicated circuit board assembly services. Behind the microwave that you use every day to reheat your meals are circuit board assembly services. In fact, behind of most of the items that we use every day in our lives is some kind of prototype PCB assembly. And while consumers do not often thing about what is behind the scene in their modern day conveniences, the fact of the matter is that if it were not for the continued and affordable development of the PCB industry.
From typical engineer’s salaries that can vary widely from $50,000 to $150,000, to hourly workers who send their days on assembly lines, PCB manufacturing companies enable many to make sure that they are able to successfully complete their jobs. Whether it is the most expensive in home security system or the least expensive toy car remote, the items that we use on a daily basis require circuit board assemblies.

Consider some of these facts and figures about circuit board assembly services and the impact that they have on the nation’s economy:

• With spaces between electrical conducting paths as small as 0.04 inches (1.0 mm) or smaller, board designers use computer-aided design systems with special software to layout the circuit pattern on the board.
• 4 layers, 6 layers, 8 layers, and 10 layers are the most common multilayer board styles. The total number of layers that can be manufactured, however, can exceed over 42 layers. These more layered types of boards are used in the most complex electronic circuits.
• Heavy copper PCBs are printed circuit boards with copper thickness of more than 3 ounces in inner or outer layers.
• Automatic processes have made a significant impact on the PCB industry. In fact, a single automatic line can place and solder more components than 50 hand solder operators could accomplish. The automatic process also allows these tasks to be done with better and more consistent quality.
• Transistors will continue miniaturizing until they reach the size of a single nanometer. Theoretically, they will eventually be equivalent to a thickness of 10 back-to-back atoms.

We are not always thinking about the details behind the smallest of items that we use on a regular basis, but the reality is without items printed circuit boards, many of the items that we use we not function the way that we need them to.