Process

All Gerber files are checked prior to manufacturing. This eliminates any potential problems which may occur during production. The tooling required is output using Genesis software, with NC, AOI and test data as well as plot files, which are sent to our Silver Writer to laser plot the photo tools.

Our drilling department has 20 drilling spindles and 8 profiling spindles, all operated by Sieb & Meyer software controllers. The drills range from 2 to 6 spindle machines – ample capacity for low, medium and higher volume orders.

A horizontal direct metallisation line deposits a conductive carbon layer in the hole of the PCB ready for the copper plating process, which is achieved by an 8-cell copper plating line, with pulse engines and side-to-side rectification.

The dry film department has 2 Western Magnum Laminators to apply the dry film, which is printed with Cirgraphics vacuum frames. The photo tools are punched via a 50x magnification camera to achieve maximum registration accuracy when the boards are printed.

The silk screen department has a spray coater and manual benches for ink application, with refrigerated Colight exposure machines to print the image of the photo tools onto light sensitive ink.

We can apply a number of finishes in-house, including leaded and lead-free HASL / EN / immersion gold and silver / OSP and electrolytic tin. We can subcontract additional finishes to match the customer’s specification.

We use flying probes in the testing department to ensure all products are thoroughly tested before being despatched. We also use AOI for inner layers and more complex copper layers, to improve yield rates and reduce product wastage.

The last stage of the process is a 100% product inspection with the inspection pack generated at the start of the job. We also have inspectors carrying out intermediate and final inspections (using a Lynx System with up to 80x magnification).

Every product is wrapped in acid-free tissue and vacuum packed. Bubble-wrap is used within the packaging to ensure safe arrival of a perfect product.