Turn-key Production
We offer the capability to perform turn-key design and manufacture or consignment manufacturing. Provide us with your Bill of Materials and any special instructions and we will purchase the material and assemble your product. |
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Bare (unpopulated) PCBs are placed into magazines and the full magazine is placed on a Board Unloader at the start of the automatic assembly line.
The boards are transferred individually onto a conveyor that spans the entire length of the assembly line. Usually the individual boards are panelized into an array of PCBs so that several boards can be built simultaneously. They are then separated later in the process. |
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Once unloaded from the magazine, the conveyor takes the board through a solder paste screen printing machine. This machine places solder paste onto the boards. A custom stencil that matches the pad layout on the PCB is used and a squeegee loaded with solder paste runs over the stencil, placing the correct amount of paste in the appropriate places. The screen printer controls the conveyor to automatically advance to the next board in the line when it is ready. |
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Once the solder paste is in place, the boards travel to a pick and place machine, known as a "Chipshooter". The chipshooter is a robot that takes reels of tiny resistors and capacitors and places them on the PCB. Solder paste acts as a glue to hold them in place while the boards travel down the assembly line. Next, an IC Placer places the larger ICs on the PCB. |
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Each board is inspected after it comes out of the pick and place machines. If everything looks good on the freshly populated board, it is sent through an Infrared (IR) reflow oven. Here the entire board is heated until the solder pasted melts and permanently welds the components to the PCB. |
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After reflow the boards are washed in our new Aqueous Tech Trident III board cleaner. The boards are washed in batches in a solution of heated water and a specially formulated saponifier that dissolves and removes flux and residue. De-ionized rinse water is then sprayed onto the assemblies until the desired cleanliness level is achieved. Assemblies are dried via the on-board convection and radiant forced air drying system. |
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For assemblies destined for harsh environments Amber Waves uses silicone based conformal coating applied by our PVA1000 conformal coating machine. The flexible overhead gantry system delivers conformal coating precisely where it is needed. The PVA1000 offers motion in all axes simultaneously, allowing the programmer to contour application heads around intricate devices and adjust the spray pattern width on the fly. The conformal coating is cured in a humidity controlled oven resulting in protection from moisture and other chemicals. The assembly is now ready for final test and packaging. |
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EQUIPMENT
Amber Waves, Electronics Division operates a complete in-line surface mount contract manufacturing assembly line in an environmentally controlled environment. Our surface mount equipment can handle fine pitch assembly work, and standard package sizes at high rates of speed to IPC standards. Amber Waves has chosen to use the finest insertion equipment from Fuji.
We also offer complete through-hole and mixed technology service. Amber Waves employs experienced supervisors and inspectors, along with a team of experienced line workers who are enabled with state of the art equipment. |
