How a longtime PCB supplier became a contract manufacturer.

More than a handful of US-based printed circuit board fabricators offer some degree of assembly in order to meet customer demand. Often, these companies are flex circuit manufacturers which add in-house SMT as a strategic advantage so they can offer a one-stop supply model.

Recently, however, a Chicago-area supplier of bare PCBs took a different approach: It acquired, of all things, a full-service EMS company.

As reported in this space last month, Precision Technologies, Inc. in August purchased the assets of MicroPlace, an electronics manufacturing services company located in Elgin, IL, located about 25 miles northwest of Chicago’s O’Hare Airport.

Formed in 1998, Precision Technologies rebranded as Precision PCB not long ago. Up until the acquisition, MicroPlace was among its assembly suppliers. When its owner declared his intention to retire, founder and president A. Jay Rupani saw an opportunity to acquire his own assembly operation.

While MicroPlace, like Precision PCB, caters to various markets, the two entities coincidentally had no overlapping customers. And while EMS companies made up some of Precision PCB’s customer base, Rupani sees an opportunity to retain them even while offering assembly services himself. A fair number of contract assemblers count larger EMS companies as customers, as the latter rely on them for overflow orders.

“Electronics assembly is a competitive industry, but I think it boils down to being transparent, communication and listening to customers’ requirements and accommodating their requirements by offering competitive pricing and technical knowledge.”

A. Jay Rupani, left, and David Magana oversee operations at Precision PCB’s EMS plant in suburban Chicago.

A Focus on Assembly

Getting to the point where Rupani had his own operation took time and quite a bit of tenacity.

In 1998, the domestic market was booming. Three years later, the bottom fell out. Printed circuit manufacturing disappeared to Asia. At any point during that downturn, we asked, did Rupani think maybe there was a better way to make a living?

“It was brutal, Rupani recalls. “But we survived. It was a small operation – a skeleton crew. Chinese vendors came and more customers began importing boards. I was providing more engineering services: front-end engineering, boards, CAM and DfM.”

Now, Precision PCB is a small contract manufacturer specializing in quickturn PCB fab and assembly, concentrating on prototyping, short-term lead times, and mid-volume production. Production orders depend on the board size and typically range from 1,000 to 5,000 pieces.

For bare boards, Precision PCB offers fab for prototype quantities, while volume production takes place offshore. “We manage that part of the supply chain as well,” says Rupani.

Precision PCB can also do small design projects, such as two- to six-layer boards. “It’s not full-fledged, but we provide design support and services, utilizing our design firm in India,” Rupani explains.

“We are a one-stop shop, with a streamlined process, start to finish,” Rupani says. Lead times are currently five to 10 days, with the goal to reach two to three days.

Customers span the end-market spectrum, including medical, automotive, aerospace, DoD- unclassified commercial products. Interestingly, Rupani says most of Precision PCB’s customers are outside the Midwest US. “East Coast, West Coast … all over the place. We have quite a few on the East Coast.”

The ITAR-registered company’s certifications include ISO 9001:2015, with AS9100 in the pipeline.

The plant is running one shift, with engineering onsite, providing DfM support, parts procurement and full turnkey offerings, from boards to box-builds and wire harnesses.

The factory, which is shy of 10,000 sq. ft., holds a DEK Horizon printer, Yamaha YSM 10 and M20 placement machines (the latter for long boards such as LEDs), two Assembleon placement machines and a Vitronics XPM2 reflow oven, with a Pillarhouse Jade machine for selective soldering.

Inspection is performed on an Omron VT-S530 AOI. Precision PCB can build 0.3µm BGAs and 0201s.

“Everything is recycled,” notes production manager David Magana, adding that their solder vendors take back dross and any excess paste material.

The acquisition has given Rupani and Precision PCB the proverbial shot in the arm.

“It’s nice to have our own assembly facility. I think there’s a lot of potential of growth with this acquisition and the existing board fab business. We are very competitive now with our turnkey assembly service. Come on in and see what we can do for you.”

Mike Buetow is president of PCEA (pcea.net); mike@pcea.net.