Nice of you to visit us on our website. We are an EMS service provider and specialise in PCB assembly from prototype to large-scale production. Our promise: As a contract manufacturer, we go through the project without blinkers. This means: We think along with the customer’s project – from start to finish. We have the end product in mind to which we contribute with our production. A+B Electronic is not a single player processing orders, but part of a value-added process for you. This is one of the reasons why we have included more and more services for our customers in our portfolio in addition to PCB assembly, e.g. conformal coating of assembled PCBs.
High demands on our service are normal. For us, Made in Germany also means transparency. Everything that makes us who we are is in Huntlosen: Production, warehouse, office, coating, fleet. Come by and take a look at the machines and workstations – we’d be delighted.
Short definition for students, trainees and interested people: What is PCB assembly?
PCB (Printed Circuit Board) assembly is the assembly of an unpopulated board with components. In this process, we place the components on the PCB and solder them. Typical components are resistors and capacitors. After that, the circuit board is often coated. After testing, the assembled PCB is used in electrical devices. Before the PCB assembly, a developer develops the layout of the PCB.
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We manufacture SMT assemblies
The assembly of Surface Mounted Devices (SMD) is our core business. For this purpose, we buy printed circuit boards and components and assemble them individually according to our customers’ plans. The technology behind this type of assembly is called Surface-Mount Technology (SMT). This means that you approach us with your product development and we implement it.
Advantages of SMT components:
SMT components are smaller than THT components. This makes it possible to build the circuits – which are becoming increasingly complex due to technological progress – on a smaller surface area. This has two advantages:
- Developers can make the terminals smaller and handier.
- It is better from an environmental and cost perspective if we and our customers can save PCB material because less space is needed on the PCB.
- SMD machines automatically assemble many thousands of components per hour. This is another cost advantage for our customers. In conventional assembly, we would have to proceed by hand.
- The assembly process and the resulting quality is more reproducible. The machines work at a constant output and they store the batches of processed components optimally in terms of system technology.
Disadvantages of SMT components:
According to today’s state of the art, SMT components no longer have any major disadvantages in PCB assembly. Customers sometimes have concerns about excessive mechanical stress on SMT components. This can be solved today, for example with special components (FlexTherm capacitors). The automotive industry, for example, uses these because the electronics in vehicles are exposed to increased vibrations. On request, we also secure particularly tall SMT components (for example electrolytic capacitors) to the PCB with a suitable adhesive in our assembly department.
We manufacture THT assemblies
Our second major core competence is assembling printed circuit boards using through-hole technology, also known as “through-hole assembly”.
Advantages of THT components:
We use through-hole components in PCB assembly for products with particularly high requirements for stability, reliability and resistance to mechanical effects, among other things. Because these require a stronger connection between the layers. While SMT components are only secured to the surface of the PCB by solder, the leads of the through-hole components run through the PCB, making the components more stable. For this reason, manufacturers often use the push-through technology in agricultural machinery and aircraft or even in space travel. The push-through technique is also popular for testing or prototyping, which sometimes requires manual adjustments and replacements.
Disadvantages of THT components:
THT requires drilling holes, which costs time and ultimately money. In addition, THT limits the available routing area on multilayer PCBs, as the drilled holes must reach through all layers of the PCB. As for the PCB assembly itself, the assembly rates for THT are only a fraction of the assembly rates for surface mount. This also makes THT comparatively cost-intensive. THT requires the use of wave, selective or hand soldering techniques, which are far less reliable and repeatable than soldering in the reflow ovens at SMT. In addition, the through-hole technique requires soldering on both sides of the board – in contrast to surface mounting, where usually only one side of the board is processed.
Technical feasibility check obligatory: A watchful eye on every project
Of course, we have testing and inspection procedures that you are welcome to use. But we always do more than just “work to rule”: If we receive development data from you that make us wonder, we will get in touch – we promise! Sometimes we as assemblers have a different technical view than your developers. Then we can go into revision together again. These can be questions like: Are components too close to the edge? Are there components that protrude over the edge and are not properly secured? In doing so, we also keep an eye on the benefits.
Do you need a company that offers more than just assembly?
Then find out more about us here – or contact us directly without obligation. Then we talk about future projects and how we can grow together.
