PCB prototyping is important before mass production so that you can understand the quality response of the product in advance. Not only this, PCB prototyping reduces the defects in the precise manufacturing and guarantees quality. Also, it eliminates any wastage and reduces the production time of the final product.
Though PCB prototyping offers several benefits, business owners are hesitant in hiring this service. According to them, prototyping is just a waste of time and money and they should jump on final processing. Also, they have the mindset that quality is not guaranteed and risk during mass production is unavoidable even after prototyping.
If you are concerned about the cost, you should hire a Cheap PCB Prototype Manufacturer. But if you are worried about quality, you should understand the process followed by prototyping companies to ensure accuracy.
Inspection of the files
The PCB prototyping begins with planning on countless aspects. A PCB prototype manufacturer checks the board design and prepares the circuit board following the instructions laid out for fabrication. After checking the design, the engineer converts the details into a data format for manufacturing.
The data prepared after the inspection is also used in the final board so it’s given a unique tool number. With this tool number, it’s easy to keep the track of the printed circuit boards through the building process.
Photo Plotting
With this step, the production of PCB prototyping starts. After inspection and preparation of data format, the manufacturer begins photo plotting. The photoplotter utilizes a laser to plot the patterns, silkscreens, and other primary images. The images/photos plotted in this step are required for the PCB prototyping.
Even a Cheap PCB Prototype Manufacturer utilizes good quality laser for photo plotting.
Lamination and drilling
If you’re hiring a prototype PCB service for manufacturing multi-layered PCBs, then lamination is an important requirement. It’s required to fuse the multiple layers together. Typically, the process is performed using heat and pressure.
After lamination, experts use drilling systems to drill holes precisely and accurately into the boards. Drilling isn’t a manual process; experts program the systems as per the drilling requirements. With this, there is no human error during the PCB manufacturing process.
Copper deposition and plating
A conductive copper layer is deposited through electrolysis which is essential for the functioning of all prototype PCBs. The copper is plated or deposited via a plating bath, making PCBs officially conductive surfaces. The conductive copper tracks are required to connect two points within the PCB.
With these four steps, the process of the PCB prototype is complete and the product manufactured. But before delivering to the clients, the PCB Manufacturers test the board for quality assurance. Also, they fabricate the boards into cross-sections and inspect them for cleanliness. In case of any defect found, they repeat the manufacturing process.
After knowing the steps followed by the PCB prototype manufacturer, we hope you wouldn’t doubt the accuracy of the product and place the order for the PCB prototype without hesitation.
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