A: The first step in the manufacturing process is for our engineering team to create a “recipe” on how to manufacture our customer’s design. To do this, they review the customer’s design and other fabrication drawings, documents, etc. If we miss a requirement and create a bad “recipe”, then even if we perform every process correctly, the project won’t meet the customer’s requirements.

If our engineering team creates a good “recipe” but one of our operators doesn’t follow the manufacturing instructions correctly, then again, the project won’t meet the customer’s requirements.

So, I would say the most common problem we face during the manufacturing process is human error. We’re constantly working to reduce human error by automating as much of our engineering and fabrication processes as possible. This is done by investing in newer, smarter equipment, and by creating software driven processes to eliminate data entry errors and other mistakes.

A: We offer summer internships to students in college programs and would consider high school students completing their senior year. Those interested could send an email to: jobs@bacircuits.com.

A: Yes, we perform every printed circuit board manufacturing process, from start (raw material) to finish, in our Fremont facility.

A: We are what some consider a “job shop”, meaning, customers deliver their designs to us, and we manufacture according to their specifications. We do not manufacture or market products of our own, so the development/design part of the process is not something we are intimately involved with. In general, an electrical engineer would use a PCB design software application to create their design before exporting the design to a standard manufacturing format that can be read by a PCB manufacturer like us.

A: It’s our job to ensure that the PCBs we manufacture not only meet our customer’s specifications, but they also meet the quality and performance standards established by IPC, our industry organization. We do this through a combination of machine testing (examples: automated optical inspection, flying probe testers) and human inspectors. The machines we utilize are effective for ensuring that something like an electrical trace is functioning as expected, whereas human inspectors will do a lot of cross referencing between the customer’s specifications and the fabricated PCBs to ensure they meet the requirements (ex. Customer specified that they want green PCBs and inspector ensures the correct color was used).

Additionally, we are an ISO-certified company which is essentially a written quality procedure that dictates policy and procedures across the entire company. We perform internal audits to ensure these quality policies are followed.

A: There’s no single step in the manufacturing process that is overly difficult, however, completing the many manufacturing steps perfectly to result in the desired end product, presents the larger challenge. If any single process isn’t performed correctly then the result is a lot of wasted time and cost.

Yes, we do offer training for operators. Experience isn’t mandatory to enter our industry, however, we do place a lot of value on other qualities or skills of the individual such as critical thinking, problem solving and communication skills.