{"id":651,"date":"2019-12-18T10:04:48","date_gmt":"2019-12-18T02:04:48","guid":{"rendered":"http:\/\/www.bestpcbs.com\/blog\/?p=651"},"modified":"2019-12-18T10:04:53","modified_gmt":"2019-12-18T02:04:53","slug":"is-automated-assembly-always-better","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/www.bestpcbs.com\/blog\/2019\/12\/is-automated-assembly-always-better\/","title":{"rendered":"Is Automated Assembly Always Better?"},"content":{"rendered":"<div class=\"yzp-no-index\"><\/div>\n<p>As a matter of fact, PCB experts will always know the major benefits of automated assembly processes: reduced errors, increased output and consistent quality, however,&nbsp;is automation always better?<\/p>\n\n\n\n<p>The usage of SMT line machines has become standard practice in <a href=\"https:\/\/www.bestpcbs.com\/products\/pcba.htm\">PCB assembly<\/a> and is thought to be more efficient; however, SMT machines are not appropriate for every job.\u00c2\u00a0Manual assembly is a better option for assembling boards in low quantities or low-volume orders using\u00c2\u00a0components with unique properties.<\/p>\n\n\n\n<figure class=\"wp-block-image\"><a href=\"https:\/\/www.bestpcbs.com\/blogimages\/2019\/12\/18\/1-b.jpg\"><img decoding=\"async\" src=\"https:\/\/www.bestpcbs.com\/blogimages\/2019\/12\/18\/1-s.jpg\" alt=\"SMT Machine\" \/><\/a><figcaption>SMT Machine<\/figcaption><\/figure>\n\n\n\n<figure class=\"wp-block-image\"><a href=\"https:\/\/www.bestpcbs.com\/blogimages\/2019\/12\/18\/2-b.jpg\"><img decoding=\"async\" src=\"https:\/\/www.bestpcbs.com\/blogimages\/2019\/12\/18\/2-s.jpg\" alt=\"Manual Assembly\" \/><\/a><figcaption>Manual Assembly<\/figcaption><\/figure>\n\n\n\n<p><strong>Volume Limits<\/strong><\/p>\n\n\n\n<p>Volume can be a determining factor of whether or not to assemble by hand. Orders of 10 or less boards, are often best assembled by hand-&nbsp;for&nbsp;reducing production time and faster turnaround.<\/p>\n\n\n\n<p><strong>Characteristics of Component Choices<\/strong><\/p>\n\n\n\n<p>The characteristics of chosen components should be taken into consideration&nbsp;before assembly. Careful and potentially time-consuming SMT calibration is required to minimize the risk of damage when using components with:<\/p>\n\n\n\n<p>Heat sensitivity<\/p>\n\n\n\n<p>Unusual shape and center of gravity<\/p>\n\n\n\n<p>Inadequate packaging and\/or documentation from the manufacturer<\/p>\n\n\n\n<p>Therefore, low-volume orders using components with unique properties and insufficient packaging or documentation should be manually assembled by a skilled technician.<\/p>\n\n\n\n<p>In general, it is best practice to manually assemble boards with a volume limit of 10 or less, simple technology, and when there are a few individual components per board. <\/p>\n\n\n\n<p>SMT lines are preferred for large-volume assembly because they consistently produce quality <a href=\"https:\/\/www.bestpcbs.com\/products\/index.htm\">PCBs<\/a> and reduce the possibility\u00c2\u00a0of error associated with manual assembly. The key to ensuring quality of manual assembled boards is having a well-defined manual process, which is bound to passing through\u00c2\u00a0failsafe quality checks that hold hand and automated orders to the same standards. <\/p>\n\n\n\n<p>Anyway, before starting your project, it is highly recommended that you should consult with your PCB service provider regarding your <a href=\"https:\/\/www.bestpcbs.com\/products\/pcba.htm\">PCB assembly<\/a> options.<\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"<p>As a matter of fact, PCB experts will always know the major benefits of automated assembly processes: reduced errors, increased output and consistent quality, however,&nbsp;is automation always better? The usage of SMT line machines has become standard practice in PCB assembly and is thought to be more efficient; however, SMT machines are not appropriate for [&hellip;]<\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":623,"featured_media":0,"comment_status":"open","ping_status":"open","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"_acf_changed":false,"_uf_show_specific_survey":0,"_uf_disable_surveys":false,"footnotes":""},"categories":[37,15,3,17],"tags":[107,106],"class_list":["post-651","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","hentry","category-faq","category-our-news","category-pcb-news","category-smt-technology","tag-automated-assembly","tag-manual-assembly"],"acf":[],"aioseo_notices":[],"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.bestpcbs.com\/blog\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/651","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.bestpcbs.com\/blog\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.bestpcbs.com\/blog\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.bestpcbs.com\/blog\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/users\/623"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.bestpcbs.com\/blog\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/comments?post=651"}],"version-history":[{"count":1,"href":"https:\/\/www.bestpcbs.com\/blog\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/651\/revisions"}],"predecessor-version":[{"id":652,"href":"https:\/\/www.bestpcbs.com\/blog\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/651\/revisions\/652"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.bestpcbs.com\/blog\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=651"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.bestpcbs.com\/blog\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=651"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.bestpcbs.com\/blog\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=651"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}