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Matthew Turpin

Recent Posts

All-In-One Contract Electronic Assembly Lowers Your Costs

Posted by Matthew Turpin on Thu, Aug 27, 2015 @ 07:00 AM

Sometimes, it just makes sense to keep your business under one roof.

Demand is higher for electronics today than ever before, and at the same time, electronics manufacturing requires ever-greater levels of skill and precision to deliver top-quality products.  Older methods of outsourcing different aspects of production are having trouble keeping up with this, as the layers of sub-contractors often cannot coordinate sufficiently well to produce a truly high-quality end product.

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Topics: Contract Electronic Assembly, electronic assembly

Is Your PCB Prototype Assembly Process Slowing You Down?

Posted by Matthew Turpin on Wed, Aug 26, 2015 @ 06:01 PM

Anyone trying to bring a new piece of electronics to market faces a major balancing act between trying to arrive at-market before the current generation of technology becomes last-gen, while still giving the product enough care and polish to appeal to buyers.  The ever-speeding rate of new tech introduction has only made this harder, and we see the result all the time in stores and at trade shows:  Half-baked products either rushed to market without proper testing, or being held back by design decisions that have already become antiquated.

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Topics: pcb assembly, PCB

Major Consumer Trends In Assembly Electronic Devices

Posted by Matthew Turpin on Thu, Aug 20, 2015 @ 07:00 AM

The market for consumer electronics is constantly changing, as well as constantly looking for the next-best-thing on the horizon.  In certain ways, this makes it easier for companies looking to enter these markets to find an entry point.  All the prognostication usually lays out very good ideas for introducing new products, and what features will be expected.

So if you're looking for markets to focus on for an upcoming product, these would all be good bets to target.

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Topics: assembly pcb, assembly electronic

Rework Options In SMT Manufacturing

Posted by Matthew Turpin on Tue, Aug 18, 2015 @ 07:00 PM

Circuit boards manufactured with Surface Mounting Technologies have revolutionized electronics manufacturing, thanks to their ease of construction and the much higher component density they make possible.  SMT construction allows for devices which are smaller, more feature-packed, and (very often) cheaper to produce.

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Topics: SMT Assembly, smt manufacturing

How Surface Mounting Technology Builds Better Products

Posted by Matthew Turpin on Thu, Aug 13, 2015 @ 06:00 PM

Surface Mounting Technologies have revolutionized modern manufacturing, and every year, businesses are discovering all the benefits it can bring to their products.

Unlike older "through hole" circuit board design, SMT allows for components to be directly mounted on the surface of the board.  There's no need to have wires directly connecting the top and bottom sides.  This brings a wide variety of new options to circuit design and printing, with very few disadvantages.

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Topics: surface mount technology, through hole technology

A Single-Source Contract Electronics Manufacturer Streamlines Your Products

Posted by Matthew Turpin on Tue, Aug 11, 2015 @ 08:00 AM

One unfortunate byproduct of the offshoring boom of the 90s-00s was the maze of sub-contractors it often created.  If you've gotten stuck in this trap, there are alternatives!

The Many Problems With Multi-Sourced Electronics Manufacturing

It's something we see a lot of clients dealing with, when they come to us.  They've got one contract electronics manufacturer handling prototyping, and another group handling manufacturing, and another one developing software, and (usually) yet another party handling their post-sale support work.  Sometimes even minor aspects like documentation end up outsourced to third parties or freelancers.   On top of that, many of those contractors may have sub-contractors of their own which the original client may or may not know about.  

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Topics: contract electronics manufacturer, contract manufacturing

Important Elements That Add Up To Great EMS Electronics Design

Posted by Matthew Turpin on Tue, Aug 04, 2015 @ 07:00 AM

EMS Electronics design becomes more and more difficult to do well, as we continue to push both density and speeds higher when it comes to circuit design.  High-RF designs require highly precise and controlled manufacturing to produce boards capable of standing up to lengthy use, and with sufficiently low failure rates.

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Topics: ems electronics, ems electronics services

Demand More For Your Money From Assembly Electronic Services

Posted by Matthew Turpin on Thu, Jul 30, 2015 @ 07:00 AM

Contract electronics manufacturing has finally grown up, and it's time more people knew about it!

For the past twenty years or more "assembly electronic services" have largely meant cheap overseas production, taking pre-made schematics and churning out whatever is in them.  Companies employing such manufacturing partners usually had to do all the other leg work themselves, commissioning designs and prototypes and system software from other companies.

This made it very hard for all but the largest of firms deploying such methods to create products of the same quality that consumers demand, and frequently led to significant transportation issues, communication errors, and other unforeseen issues.

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Topics: assembly electronics solution, assembly electronic services

Keep Your Contract Electronics Manufacturing Safe By Staying Local

Posted by Matthew Turpin on Tue, Jul 28, 2015 @ 06:25 PM

We spotted a new story this week that once again highlights how risky it is, outsourcing contract electronics manufacturing to China.  It's just another example of why modern businesses need to be looking to manufacturing centers with strong IP protections.

Stories of failed Kickstarter projects are a dime-a-dozen, but the saga of The Dot is slightly different. The pitch was simple:  Affordable < $100 Bluetooth earbuds stored in a self-charging tube roughly the size of lipstick.  The Kickstarter reached its funding goal within a matter of hours, and was on track to have plenty of excess funding.  Then the entire project was shut down, and all pledges refunded, because Kickstarter decided that The Dot was a re-sold Chinese product.

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Topics: contract manufacturing, electronic manufacturing

Major Considerations When Choosing Electronic Interconnect Cables For Your PCB

Posted by Matthew Turpin on Tue, Jul 21, 2015 @ 07:00 AM

When new clients come to us asking for assistance in bringing a product to market, it's often because they've become overwhelmed by the sheer number of options when it comes to PCB assembly and manufacturing.

Rapid technological changes have created an environment where even seemingly-minor issues like those of electronic interconnect cables are far more important than they seem.

Electronic interconnect cables are exactly what they sound like.  The wiring on the underside of a PCB is designed to carry current, not data.  So on a modern PCB with multiple processing units and other "smart" components, they need additional wiring to carry the data between those components.  Additionally, they're needed to carry data to/from any external sensors, displays, or other components the user may interact with.

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Topics: Electronic Interconnect Cables, interconnect cables