Professional Cable Assemblies and Wire Harness Design for Excellent Electronics Manufacturing2/26/2018 The quality of your cable assembly and wire harness subsequently determines the quality of your PCB assembly and manufacturing. For EMS providers, it is hence important to design best-in-class cable assemblies and wire harnesses. Let us regulate certain aspects that are favorable to the flawless design of cable and wire harness. These factors if taken care of well can make professional cable and wire harness manufacturers achieve flawless designs.
Ease of Installation and Assembly Cable Assemblies and wire harnesses enable easier installation of complicated wire hookups. They also reduce the chance of failure by enclosing the wires together in shielding bundles providing precise cable connections and saving them from damages that may be caused due to heat or water. The choice of a cable assembly and wire harness must, therefore, enhance the quality and ease of assembly. It must be among the top priorities. If the quality of the cables and wires is not up to the mark, the complete effort of PCB manufacturing and assembly will be impractical. And if the assembling is not simple enough, the PCB will not be safe from indemnities due to the complex assembling. Cost-Effective Manufacturing Electronics market is driven by cut-throat competition and ever-increasing customer demands. There is a constant pressure to increase the profit margins. Cost effectiveness and ease of manufacturing are two factors that must be at the core of any cable and wire harness design strategy. A cable assembly or wire harness not optimized for manufacturability adversely effects the cost and dependability of the PCB assembly and manufacturing. Experienced Professional Partners Choosing an expert cable assembly and wire harness manufacturer must be made after systematic thought and estimation of the cable and wire harness manufacturers’ features such as competences, specialty, and reputation, etc. From manufacturing products focusing only on a niche market to manufacturing wide range of products, the experience among manufacturers may vary. In the prior case, the probability of producing your product is high since the manufacturer is producing a large assortment of wire harness and cable assemblies in several shapes and sizes. In the latter case, your needs must fit the niche market that the cable and wire harness manufacturers are producing. If this matches your requirement, you are good to go with them. If not, be sure you are not their very first customer. Cable Assemblies and wire harnesses facilitate easier installation of complicated wire hookups. They reduce the probability of failure by encasing the wires together in protective bundles. Consequently, they must be flawlessly designed to have the best-in-class PCB Assembly and manufacturing.
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For high class electronic devices functioning at high capacity, it is vital for the printed circuit boards to have proper working. From design of manufacturing to material sourcing to testing, all the courses included must be carried out with extreme skill and know-how to sanction top class end-product. Enterprises in ownership of large scale manufacturing facilities can carry out the PCB manufacturing and assembly on their own. It is, however, best to opt for a professional company for PCB manufacturing and assembly. Let us look at the reasons why?
1. Possibility and Variety – A professional PCB manufacturing company can offer several varieties. To add to this advantage, it can also customize the PCBs as per the needs of the application. 2. Quality, the Significant Factor – In any business, it is the quality of a product that ultimately matters. A professional PCBA company guarantees to produce the best results and high-quality products. The quality at the right time decides whether the product is ordinary or exceptional. 3. Save on Money – When you have entrusted your PCBA needs to a professional company, neither you must spend on buying equipment nor on hiring staff. This turns out to be a cost-effective solution where you can re-plan your finances and focus on other core business issues. 4. A Stitch in Time Saves Nine – When a professional is taking care of your PCBA manufacturing, you have one chore less to perform. This saves a lot of time and gives you the opportunity to focus on elevating the quality of your product. 5. Perfect Design Makes Perfect Products – Professional designers from PCBA manufacturing companies use the best software tools and graphics to develop and test the schematics of the PCBs. This eliminates the chances of defects in the initial phase as well as in the final product also. 6. Experience Counts – Experience matters. And the name of the company in the market gives it reliability. Vast experience of PCB manufacturing and assembling means the company is well versed and expert in the process. Incorporating all these advantages, a professional partner, with vast experience would strive to offer the best PCBA services to the clients. From Design of Manufacturing to material sourcing to testing, professionals offer end to end support services to deliver quick turnkey PCB manufacturing and assembling solutions. Electronic manufacturing industry is a flourishing industry today. And in this age of struggle, there still are a lot of upstarts lacking experience and equipment required. It is important to know how to identify the best from the rest. If you want the best PCB assembly service, you need a reliable and efficient PCB assembly service partner. When a company gets into electronic manufacturing, hiring an EMS partner seems more reasonable than setting up one’s own plant. Since one needs to incorporate facilities to handle PCB prototype creation and other components, the up-front costs of maintaining one’s own production center becomes too high for most operations.
So, the next best thing to do is procure a partner for electronic manufacturing services. Considering the amount of trust and responsibility that you have put in their hands, it is important for businesses to make a vigilant decision. Once you hire a professional partner, many of your electronics manufacturing and design related headaches will be gone, and you will be able to focus more on other aspects of your business thus giving a chance to yourself to make significant profits. Not all of us are, however, lucky to choose a professional partner. This wrong choice can begin to creep in causing considerable losses with time. The more they linger, the more they damage. Thus, to your best interests, it is important to abandon the wrong partner as soon as you see their true colors. We present 4 such signs which when you see in your partner must immediately drive you to take the decision of abandoning them. 1. Recurrent Hidden Costs If at any instant you feel that your partner is charging you for trivial items and services time after time, do not hesitate to say goodbye. The costs that you incur may seem genuine but if they are not mentioned beforehand, you cannot be sure they are reasonable or a money skimming scheme. Always read the contract carefully before signing and if the costs are not aligning with what is written in the contract, say goodbye to your partner without much brooding. 2. Lack of Security Concerns The security of your intellectual property must be one of the biggest concerns for you as well as your partner. And there must be a hard proof for it. Prototype designs are valuable and there is lot of money in its black marketing. Your partner must give you tangible assurance—in writing and including information about penalties and restitution for non-compliance. Also, an auditing system which you can access must be in place. If you identify any lapse regarding stringent security concerns, do not be shy to say goodbye! 3. Supply Line Inflexibilities When your PCB prototyping is moving into full production, the supply lines feeding it must meet your requirements. You would certainly not want to stay behind from your competitors with inflexible processes incapable of adapting to change. After making an investment, if all that you achieve is delay, then adios is the best word to say! 4. Duplicate or Substandard Components The last thing that you would want to see is counterfeit parts making way into your supply chain. They can ruin your prototype, and leave your designers into trouble where they would be unable to even recognize the reason of the prototype failure. If your partner is unable to assure you that your product will have nothing but simply genuine, guaranteed parts; you must be able to say goodbye to them. Conclusion Almost always, making the wrong choice is worse than making no choice at all. Because sometimes, it is like a break-even situation without any service where you do not invest anything and do not, of course, get anything in return. But with the wrong partner, your investments go into the wrong place from where there is no ROI, rather the losses become more and more unbearable as time goes by. There are several instances when PCB repair seems imperative. The simple reason being, for a small defect it is neither profitable nor sensible to change the whole PCB. When such a situation arises, electronic manufacturers can repair and rework on the PCBs to enhance their quality to meet the set standards.
The market is replete with electronic manufacturers skilled at making 1-tier PCBs irrespective of their simplicity or complexity. However, achieving cent per cent perfection is not possible every time. A fault will pop up once in a while that may have a long term or short-term implication on the functioning of the PCBs. An issue is not a major one if it is a part of a larger production run. But when the PCB is unique like a prototype or any other custom purpose, heavy investment would be required to repair and rework on it. Proceeding with a defective prototype will be disastrous in the long run. In these cases, rework and repair of PCBs is the best alternative. To protect an investment from failing, several electronics production services have incorporated repair and rework as their one of the main services along with assembly and manufacturing. Moreover, PCB repair services are a cost-effective alternative and can save resources in the long run when there is an issue. Let us now see how professional rework and repair services bring value to your PCB assembly and manufacturing. Maintenance and Support Expertise If you have outsourced different teams for production and support, the team allocated for the support will have to start from the beginning, learning the hardware and software specifications from scratch. With professional expertise in rework and repair, support and maintenance can be done in a cost-effective and time-efficient manner saving resources for future and for other activities. Cost-Effective Repair Against Replacement It is extremely cumbersome to send out entire new units to deal with relatively simple hardware defects. This costs heavily on time and money since products need to be shipped to a manufacturer who fix them and then ship them back. With professional repair and rework services actual repairs are cost-effective and done in a time limit fitting the needs of the customers. Apart from that, it means not compromising on critical cases when the device may be customizable or might have data on it that is irreplaceable. Preventive and Corrective Failure Analysis Professionals in repair and rework services can build very accurate estimates of failure rates per component. This allows preproducing just the extra components that might be needed. This is obviously better than over-producing everything. It can facilitate buying precise and cost-controlled components with greater prospects for higher ROI. In-Depth Feedback Integration Electronics sector has complexities and uncertainties of their own. Engineers do predict the failure rate of components, but things do not always happen as planned. Professional services allow a direct and deeper feedback between post-sale support and the manufacturing engineers. If a component has frequent customer complaints, the information gets to the engineers quickly allowing them to refine the design for the future production runs. The inclusion of PCB rework and repair services play a crucial role in PCB assembly and manufacturing, as it addresses a huge ongoing cost in electronics manufacturing decisions. It is significant in achieving long term value for your PCBs. Electronic devices without a printed circuit board (PCB) are unthinkable. Thus, the PCBs must be faultless for the proper functioning of the electronic devices. Most of the times, PCBs fail because proper testing methodologies were not followed. Professional PCB manufacturers and assemblers always make sure that the proper testing methodologies are followed.
The Significance of PCBs in Electronics PCBs are used extensively in almost every electronic device. Be it computers, mobile phones, televisions, stereos, microwave ovens, digital clocks, synthesizers, musical instrument amplifiers, toys and games; nearly every device includes printed circuit boards and requires professional PCB assembly services. Let us take a computer, for instance. When you open your system unit, you will notice a mounted board at the sides. It is the mother board of your computer which is simply a high functioning PCB, the heart of your computer. If you think that the mother board is the only PCB in the system, you are outright in folly. Other components such as the RAM card, video cards, and modem also fall in the category of PCB. The importance of these PCBs can be gauged by the fact that the entire electronic device will stop functioning if any of these PCBs become faulty. Considering the time and resources required to try to fix the problem, wouldn’t it be wonderful if we could ensure immaculate PCBs into the electronic device right from the very beginning. Eliminating Malfunctions Right from the Beginning Would you believe it that the major percentage of PCB malfunction occurs due to the fact that no effort for testing the functionality and quality of the PCB was made early in the development stage. This is one of the many reasons why most of the electronic device development companies turn to professional PCB manufacturers and assemblers. Professionals perform regular checks for the quality, efficiency, and resilience after manufacturing or assembling their PCBs. A professional will carry out the exhaustive testing of the PCB to eliminate any and every issue in it. The electronics market today is filled with myriad devices. This has increased the demand for quality PCBs at a surging rate. To ensure a high level of quality in the PCBs is the prime focus of the PCB manufacturers. It is indeed the quality of the PCBs that ultimately influences the functionality of the electronic device. That is why professional PCB manufacturers and assemblers start working on the layout much before the beginning of the project. They customize the PCBs so that it fits into the specifications of the electronics easily. To make sure that the quality specifications are followed precisely, all the PCBs go through the same testing process. PCB Testing Forms an Integral Part of Electronic Manufacturing PCB testing is an integral part of electronic manufacturing services. It enhances the quality, functionality, and performance of the printed circuit board. Testing the PCBs includes high-voltage E-test, X-ray gold thickness test, back lighting test, automatic optical inspection, copper thickness test, photo electricity balance test, and more. So, in your best interests, whenever you choose a PCB manufacturer or assembler, make sure to enquire about their testing procedure for quality assurance. Professional PCB manufacturers and assemblers guarantee all the components of the PCB are tested in an all-inclusive way. This makes sure that the PCBs run without faults and malfunctions, guarantying flawless electronic devices. Flawless products will save you from incurring losses because your products will be at par with the industry standards of quality, consistency, and performance giving you the edge required in a competitive market like the electronics. A norm has been observed nowadays where small and mid-sized companies are outsourcing their electronics needs to professional electronic contract manufacturing companies. There is, however, no dearth of electronic manufacturing companies in the market. And naturally, they are all not equal in terms of the services they provide. One must take the foremost decision of partnering with a professional partner to get the maximum out of their electronic manufacturing services. Let us take a look at certain aspects that are the must-haves for a professional partner in the electronic manufacturing services industry. The age of manifold In these modern times, there is an expectation among clients to procure one stop electronic services and solutions. Being aware of this fact, a professional brings multiple services for its clients. A professional company will be the one that not only provides manufacturing printed circuit boards but also perform the design process, rework schematics, and repair the devices that have become defective. State-of-the-art processes The mark of professionals is the vision and proactive approach that they harbor. Never ever would you find any professional relying on dated methods and processes. They instead leverage cutting-edge design and manufacturing processes. Professionals have the best equipment Battles are not won by the righteous, but by those who have the best weaponry. On a serious note, professionals possess the best machines and equipment. With the evolution of technology, machines and equipment undergo enhancements. A professional partner is someone who is keen-eyed to observe these enhancements and incorporate them into its services and operations. Deadlines are meant to be observed When you have entrusted a portion of your work to a third-party professional partner, you are at a risk of transgressing deadlines because of your partner. Therefore, it is extremely important to partner with a professional who have proven its ability to complete projects on time. The value of profound experience It is always desirable to procure services from a partner who is aware of the ins and outs of the industry. So, it is important to partner with someone who you think will be able to handle your task. And the certificate to this expectation is the skillset and the extensive experience of your partner. Adherence to industry standards What if you procure the best services but at the cost of ruining your company’s reputation? Naturally, you are skeptical and shaking your head to gesticulate No! One key feature to differentiate a professional from a non-professional, irrespective of their services is the fact that a professional will easily prove its compliance and will be happy to do so, while a non-professional would not. Never ever associate yourself with a partner who is incapable to prove its compliance with industry standards both for quality and safety. Testimonials have the power to influence People easily believe what comes out from the horse’s mouth! A professional contract manufacturer will be able to provide you with a long list of current and future clients who were or are extremely happy with their services. It is smart thing to know further about these references and have a complete knowledge about your would-be electronic manufacturing services partner. Excellent repair & rework We often speak a lot about manufacturing while keeping repair, modification, and rework services on the back burner. The truth is for one simple faulty component no one will invest upon the entire machine system. A professional partner has this realization and will be geared up to issues related to faults and defects in your system. With these 8 qualities, you are certain to find a reliable partner. Although this list is not exhaustive, it can help you to go a long way to procure quality services for your electronic manufacturing needs. The electronics manufacturing spectrum has never been in short of skilled professionals building perfect circuit boards no matter how small and complicated they may be. And it is a universal fact that 100 per cent perfection is not possibly achievable. For large production runs, a small number of defects do not pose threat as such. However, when the demand is for a customized circuit board or a unique prototype, the cost to recreate it would be huge. And proceeding with the defective piece would be disastrous. In such cases, PCB repair and rework is one of the best options to save an investment from being a failure. PCB repair services in fact can save money and resources in cases of failure.
Introducing Reverse Engineering There are several reasons to carry out reverse engineering services of a Printed Circuit Board (PCB). One amongst them is that industries invest huge capital on machine systems. Many a times, these expensive machines can go down simply because of one component in a PCB. It makes logical sense that when a company invests in an expensive machine system, it would be imperative for it to utilize it for many years. In many cases, it has been observed that an original equipment manufacturer (OEM) goes out of business while the machine system developed by them is still running. Now a machine on which so much of investment was made is left without the facility for support and an inability to get it repaired. In the electronics manufacturing sphere, it has been observed that in a time span of 15 to 30 years after a machine was installed, only one or two components or PCBs become defective requiring replacement or repair. Reverse Engineering: A Systematic Process The process of reverse engineering may include the following: 1. Perceiving specifications and engineering sketches This is done to identify and analyze the components of the machine and their relationship with one another. 2. Electronic analysis of the system This constitutes analyzing each component’s electronic aspects like, electromagnetic interference, radio frequency, control loops, and communication and contacts between parts. 3. Obsolescence analysis of components This allows companies to make room for spare parts and support for components such as circuit boards that have become obsolete years ago. 4. Component Information analysis Information is extracted when components and their interrelationships are thoroughly studied. The diagrammatic representation of the information discovered proves to be of great help in the process. 5. Process variation of the reverse engineered system The diagrammatic representation facilitates creating a physical version by reassembling the different parts and components. Reverse Engineering vs Repair & Rework Reverse Engineering when compared to repair and rework is quite a different approach altogether. They, however, serve the same purpose. And that is making the components or PCBs or the whole machine systems free from defects. Reverse Engineering comes into play when repair, rework, or modification for a machine system becomes difficult or impossible. For instance, when a machine system whose OEM is out of business fails due to a defect in one or two components, it becomes necessary to carry out reverse engineering. Moreover, reverse engineering also facilitates research and development of electronics. So, both repair and rework, and reverse engineering have their own significance in the electronics manufacturing industry. Rather than having a comparison between the two, it is better to look at both as systematic processes being parts of a diverse discipline. The electronics market is constantly evolving. Excellent products must be relevant and relevant products excellent. This has facilitated the need for faster time-to-market for products. PCB prototype assembly and testing, if not taken care of properly can end up becoming bottleneck in the process. Latest software and features must be tested as quickly as possible to stay in sync with the evolving electronics market. This is possible only when your manufacturing partner can produce quick working prototypes. If this process takes a lot of time, it will have a detrimental effect on the quality and relevance of the product. This has made it necessary to look for a PCB manufacturing and assembly partner who will not only work with you throughout the process, but also produce prototypes as rapidly as possible. Let us now look at certain ways in which quick PCB prototype assembly can facilitate better electronic products:
Quick Prototype Turnaround It is neither desirable nor feasible to wait for weeks to build a prototype. Top manufacturers with integrated services and on-demand surface mount circuit creation are capable of creating prototypes in less than a week. CEOs and top people in the management are in dearth of time and would not wait too long to see the evidence of a working product. Refined Design with More Iterations Prototypes produced in the design phase add to the quality of the final product by allowing you to test ideas before making a final commitment. The ability to create prototypes in short intervals of time, say a week, will facilitate more feedback from the board and the test users. This will give you the opportunity to discover and fix design flaws before the production build goes live. Refined Design with More Iterations Prototypes produced in the design phase add to the quality of the final product by allowing you to test ideas before making a final commitment. The ability to create prototypes in short intervals of time, say a week, will facilitate more feedback from the board and the test users. This will give you the opportunity to discover and fix design flaws before the production build goes live. Diversified Product Line Quick prototyping allows introduction of more hardware variations in the same product line. Businesses and customers prefer hardware designed to their specific needs. And with greater product line diversity, they can be introduced to more products with varied sizes, features, color, and price. Integrated Software Testing Integrated software testing works hand in hand with quick prototyping, and allows the onboard software to be designed with the hardware it is intended for simultaneously. This integrated development without relying upon third party to design software after the hardware is finalized is both cost-effective and time-efficient allowing a reduction in time-to-market. Irrespective of the magnitude and proportion of businesses, quick prototyping and testing services have made a multi-product electronic manufacturing a possibility. In an open and evolving market, this gives a competitive edge to PCB manufacturers and assemblers. Complicated wire hookups demand easier installations through cable assemblies and wire harnesses. The reason? They minimize the probability of failure. How? When the wires are encased together in protective bundles, the chances of damages due to heat or water is considerably reduced. So, what are the specific factors or characteristics that professional Wire and Cable Harness Manufacturers must take care of?
1. Quality, at an All-inclusive Level: If the quality is not up to the mark, the whole effort of PCB manufacturing and assembly will be useless. One of the best ways to measure both the experience and quality of the cable and wire harness professional is to check for the industry-specific certifications they have. Possessing the relevant certification ensures that they have been certified to manufacture at the industry’s quality standards. For industries not having any industry-specific manufacturing certifications, you can look for broad level manufacturing certifications like ISO 9001:2008. 2. Ease of Assembly: If the assembling is not simple, the PCB will not be safe from damages due to the complicated assembling. A simple litmus test with respect to this characteristic is: A professional will make complicated systems simple, while a non-professional will make simple systems complicated. 3. Cost-effective Solutions: In a market driven by cut-throat competition and obliging customer demands, there is constant pressure to increase the profit margins. Among the several variables in the design of cable assembly and wire harness on the engineering checklist, an important variable that needs to be on the top is cost effectiveness. 4. Ease of Manufacture: A cable assembly or wire harness not optimized for manufacturability will have an adverse effect on the cost and reliability of the PCB assembly and manufacturing. After the basic specifications are laid down, factors such as types of wires and connectors; use of jacketing and shielding; type of cable ties and labe ls, and their placement; and the overall tolerances have an important part to play in ascertaining the material and manufacturing costs, and the long-term reliability of the assembly. 5. Experience Counts: Experience counts the most. From manufacturing a wide range of products to focusing only on a niche market, manufacturers may have varying experiences. In the former case, the likelihood of possessing the experience to produce your product is high since the manufacturer is producing a large variety of wire harness and cable assemblies in various shapes and sizes. In the latter case, your requirements must fit the niche market the cable and wire harness manufacturers are producing for. If that matches, well and good. If not, make sure your product is not the first of its kind that they will make. 6. Single Point Manufacturer: Another aspect to look out for is whether your manufacturer is a single point supplier or they outsource their manufacturing. Because if they outsource, there will be a huge difference in the quality of the products. For cable assembly and wire harness manufacturing, it is always preferable to have a single point manufacturer. The quality of your cable assembly and wire harness can ultimately determine the quality of your PCB assembly and manufacturing. For EMS providers, it is thus important to design perfect cable assemblies and wire harnesses. Being independent is a desirable aspect. Businesses are not divergent from this fact. Business owners may tend to keep all their processes in-house and feel proud about this fact. However, what if hiring design, assembly, testing, and other Electronic Manufacturing Services from contract manufacturers brings more value to your business? The truth is; a large number of companies are having recourse to contract manufacturing services as a means of improving their existing business models. And in most of the cases, it is a viable option that can improve the electronic manufacturing processes.
Why Hire a Contract Manufacturer?
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