There are many industries in America that can be confusing to those that are on the outside looking in. Some of these industries are very basic and can include mechanic work done to your car or even health insurance. However, there are also plenty of industries that are very complex in nature including that of the printed circuit board industry.
The world of printed circuit boards, or PCB, can be complex and that is why engineer’s make solid money for their work. The average salary of an engineer can vary anywhere between $50,000 to $150,000. Also, know that the revenue of the circuit board and electronic component manufacturing industry in the United States was estimated to be about $44 billion in 2014.
Understand that this is a complex industry and if you are not a professional or someone with a very high level of knowledge you can easily end up lost. For instance, most do not know that transistors will continue to grow smaller until they reach the size of a single nanometer, which is equal to 10 back-to-back atoms in terms of thickness. If you would like to know more random facts about PCB prototype assembly, then continue to read on.
Small batch PCB, turnkey PCB, and PCB fabrication are all different parts of the overall system of PCB prototype assembly. Board designers will utilize computer design systems that have a special type of software to help layout the circuit pattern on a board. The spaces between electrical conducting paths are often 0.04 inches or smaller. Understand that PCB prototype assembly as an industry became a $7.1 billion industry in the year of 1995. This was nearly 50 years after the introduction of printed circuit boards to the world. Five years later in 2000, they managed to become a $10 billion industry then in 2012 they became a $60 billion industry across the world.
Multilayer boards on average include four layers, six layers, eight layers, and even ten layers. There are some boards that involve over 42 layers but those are only used in extremely complex electronic circuits. Printed Circuit Boards with the copper thickness of more than 3 oz in inner or outer layers are referred to as Heavy Copper PCB. Circuit boards that are double sided connect the circuits on each side using one of two different methods, either through-hole technology or surface mount technology.
Any problem that is caused by printing technique can make up 70% of all surface assembly quality issues without consideration of PCB design or quality of components and printed boards. Before software was developed for PCB prototype assembly, clear Mylar sheets were used to design printed circuit boards. These Mylar sheets are nearly four times bigger than the circuit board itself.
In Conclusion
If you are a business-oriented person looking to make an investment into the world of PCB prototype assembly, then you will definitely make some money in return. While I am no investment expert, based on the revenue created by this industry and the fact that the industry is only growing as time goes on, it is simple to understand that technology is really the future. However, make sure you work with or at the very least consult with experts in the field so that you may get the best positioning and return of investment that is worth your while, and helps your wallet in the long run.
