PCB Assembly Services

As one of the UK’s leading PCB assembly and soldering companies, our comprehensive suite of cheap PCB assembly services mean you needn’t involve yourself in the painstaking job of sourcing or mounting components to a fully designed and manufactured printed circuit board.

Instead, the skilled, qualified and highly trained PCB design and assembly UK team at ABL Circuits can take care of any aspect of the assembly process you’d like them to – from component procurement and mounting, to physical soldering and testing. Our staff have decades of hands-on experience in this area, and are experts at giving fully functional form to your precise briefs and specifications.

We pride ourselves on getting the job done right the first time, every time – even on our PCB assembly express and fast PCB assembly services. Moreover, our turnaround times and your satisfaction are guaranteed.

Let’s take a closer look at what this part of the service involves.

Component sourcing for PCB assembly

Sometimes, a client will prefer to be responsible for supplying these components themselves. This is often the case when using proprietary parts to produce devices for a particular brand, or in accordance with a specific patent.

For many projects, however, clients often prefer to trust the judgment of our expert assembly teams when it comes to procuring components. At ABL Circuits, whether it’s a prototype PBC assembly or a full batch run, either approach is of course fine with us. We’re always happy to produce and assemble PCBs using client-supplied parts, often working under strict NDA conditions as required – but we’re equally comfortable with planning and sourcing the ideal component load-out for you.

If the latter is your preference, we can often liaise over bulk pricing deals to an agreed budget where appropriate. With more than 30 years of experience in our field, we’re exceptionally well connected when it comes to procurement in today’s fast-moving tech industry supply chain.

What are the main differences between SMT and THT assembly?

Surface Mount Technology (SMT) involves soldering components in their required locations directly on the board’s substrate. Through-Hole Technology (THT) means passing the conductive ‘legs’ – fine wire leads – of your components through small apertures machined into the substrate at specific points, then soldering them to pads on the reverse face.

• SMT is often preferred for applications that don’t require quite such robust mechanical bonds on the finished PCB.
  • It’s a faster process than THT, and can be made even more efficient by using a Pick And Place PCB assembly machine to arrange all the components accurately prior to soldering.
  • Components designed for SMT layouts also tend to be smaller and cheaper than those made for THT builds. This means that SMT is often more suitable for PCB assembly where low cost and space-saving is a priority, as the components can be arranged at higher densities.

• THT can be an ideal option when a sturdier physical bond is important at component solder points. Certain types of connectors or hardware devices can benefit greatly from this, depending on their intended application.
  • It can take slightly longer to produce a finished circuit board using THT assembly, as there are additional steps required at both the design and manufacturing stages.
  • The actual soldering on a THT-assembled board can again be done entirely manually, or automated to an extent using a dedicated Insertion Mount Machine.
  • Components designed for THT mounting are often larger and command slightly higher prices than their SMT equivalents. This is in part because they need to be produced with the necessary conductive ‘legs’, such that they can be inserted and secured through the PCB substrate.

Looking for support? You can always contact a member of our team for a chat about your next project, or register your interest and receive a free, lightning fast quote for any part of a design and build process.