Let’s imagine you live in Northampton, for example. There’s an industrial estate a few miles down the road which houses a PCB assembly specialist that manufactures printed circuit boards, cables and electro mechanical assemblies.

What kind of skills do you think that company would be looking for when taking on staff for PCB assembly at its Northampton plant?

Most manufacturers will be looking for recruits with at least some experience of PCB assembly before they consider them for a role at their Northampton base.

Recently some companies have been placing ads with recruitment agencies for a PCB and cable assembly operator.

In this advertisement the employer’s requirements for the PCB assembly post included a person who could solder conventional components to IPC-A-610 or J Standard, hand place surface mount components, pre-form, insert and crop component leads using hand tools such as cutters, pliers, etc.

Not only that but anyone carrying out the role of PCB assembly, whether they’re from Northampton or anywhere else in the UK, also needed to understand component identification such as resistors, capacitors and ICs and work from assembly drawings and Boms (Bill of Materials).

Generally, anyone who takes on a job in PCB assembly needs to understand the general requirements for PCB assembly and ESD.

Say that Northampton manufacturer is planning to expand its operations and needs more PCB assembly staff.

The company might be looking for soldering technicians with high levels of soldering skills to add to the PCB assembly team and build PCB products to IPC level two and three.

A good PCB assembly specialist who joins the Northampton based company needs to understand orientation and component types and always be able to follow written instructions.

By doing this the chances of getting an order wrong is greatly reduced and productivity levels can remain healthy and high.

That’s why if you’re looking for a PCB assembly expert in Cambridge or any other city or town in the UK you should be prepared to do your homework if you want the job completed safely.

Firstly, ensure you take a good look at the PCB assembly company in Cambridge you’re thinking of employing.

Take a close look at their website to make sure they can handle your PCB assembly requirements in Cambridge.

What fields are they involved in? Are they a PCB assembly expert that works in several areas in Cambridge? In electronics manufacturing a reputable business may be involved in several areas such as defence electronics and petrochemicals, for example.

Generally if a PCB assembly specialist in Cambridge works in this high pressure environment with mission critical situations then it’s a good indicator that they will be able to easily handle your requirements.

How much experience has the potential supplier got in PCB assembly in Cambridge? Some UK companies have more than 50 years’ electronic manufacturing experience which should give a good indication of a healthy track record.

You should also check that the manufacturer about to conduct PCB assembly on your behalf in Cambridge can provide you with client references so you can talk to people that have real experience of what it’s like to work with them and will give you an honest opinion on the quality of their work.

Follow these simple rules and you stand a much higher chance of picking a respected, trusted firm to carry out PCB assembly in Cambridge to the highest professional standards.