AURORA CIRCUITS BLOG – Updates on PCB Manufacturing and Assembly

Treat Your Suppliers Like Gold

Treat Your Suppliers Like Gold

Treat your suppliers like Gold. We all know about how important it is to treat our customers like gold, but what about our vendors and suppliers? Gone are the days when we could pull out that old capitalist golden rule: “He who has the gold makes the rules.” That just...

read more
How the Other Half Lives

How the Other Half Lives

Semiconductor development and manufacturing in the US has been getting quite a bit of attention lately; the shortage in late 2020 that remains today opened the eyes of all stakeholders across a large bandwidth of industries that depend on chips.  Automotive, consumer...

read more
Automation is our Future

Automation is our Future

The current challenges finding labor is going to drive us to do something we should have done a long time ago in the PCB industry: automation. There are already a few PCB fabrication houses that are as automated as any PCB shop can get these days, with more moving in...

read more
Working With Your PCB Supplier

Working With Your PCB Supplier

After working with customers over the years, I have compiled a list of some of the things in my career that foster a positive PCB fabricator/customer relationship. Here’s a short list of steps you can take that will make your partnership with your PCB supplier more...

read more
Working Smarter

Working Smarter

So many times over the years we have experienced the frustration of losing a major order because of price and thought: “Well, let the other guy have it, he’s going to lose his shirt building it at that price.” It was easier to rationalize and walk away from the...

read more
The Canary

The Canary

Profit is a key component to the free market equation, so how in the world did we go wrong in the US? Before the governmental response to the COVID-19 pandemic, we assumed our economy was humming along, witnessing the longest economic expansion on record with 128...

read more
It’s The Little Things

It’s The Little Things

There are many ways to not only save money but time as well. If you take the time to examine everything we do when it comes to providing our customers with better products and services you will always find a way to save time and yes sometimes, most of the time, money....

read more

RECENT NEWSLETTERS

Newsletter: April 2023

Newsletter: April 2023

We are investing in the future at Aurora Circuits as we plan on major capital equipment expenditures in the coming months, along with our commitment to achieving IATF 16949 certification by the end of Q3 2023.

Newsletter: March 2023

Newsletter: March 2023

We had a great time at APEC in Orlando. We were able to meet so many new faces and catch up with some that we haven’t seen in years.

Newsletter: February 2023

Newsletter: February 2023

We are getting ready for the APEC show in March. If you’re attending and would like to stop by our booth or schedule an appointment, please reach out. The exhibitor hall will be open at 5pm on Monday, 3/20, 9-4:30 on 3/21 and 9-2 on 3/22.

Newsletter: November 2022

Newsletter: November 2022

We are definitely seeing an uptick in orders and companies looking to keep their innovative IP safe. As we inch towards more financial upheaval in the next 6-12 months…

Newsletter: October 2022

Newsletter: October 2022

We are definitely seeing an uptick in orders and companies looking to keep their innovative IP safe. As we inch towards more financial upheaval in the next 6-12 months…

Newsletter: September 2022

Newsletter: September 2022

We are definitely seeing an uptick in orders and companies looking to keep their innovative IP safe. As we inch towards more financial upheaval in the next 6-12 months…

Newsletter: August 2022

Newsletter: August 2022

We are starting to shift our business model at Aurora Circuits to better accommodate…

Newsletter: July 2022

Newsletter: July 2022

The supply chain continues to affect growth across our industry. Because we continue to battle…

Newsletter: June 2022

Newsletter: June 2022

We’ve been plugging away the past month on some exciting new projects, fine tuning processes…

Newsletter: May 2022

Newsletter: May 2022

We at Aurora Circuits continue to battle supply chain issues like the rest of the manufacturing and consumer world–hopefully…

Newsletter: April 2022

Newsletter: April 2022

The weather in Chicagoland this month has been challenging (snow one day, high 60’s the next) and we…

Newsletter: September 2020

Newsletter: September 2020

The Spring and Summer season was a busy one for Aurora Circuits. Although the manufacturing industry saw a downturn in bookings and production during Q2…

Newsletter: August 2020

Newsletter: August 2020

News and insights from Aurora Circuits: Ultra-heavy Copper PCB Webinar replay; the RAM Act (HR 7594); the PCB industry in this volatile market

Newsletter: July 2020

Newsletter: July 2020

We’re on a roll! Life as we know it has seemingly eased back into its normal routine (for the most part), and Aurora Circuits is seeing…

Newsletter: June 2020

Newsletter: June 2020

Aurora is heating up and we’re not just talking about the June weather! Over the course of the last two months we have successfully…

Newsletter: March 2020

Newsletter: March 2020

Customers who for whatever reason want their boards built here in the U.S. scout around and find PCB fabricators that meet…

Newsletter: February 2020

Newsletter: February 2020

News and insights from Aurora Circuits: How buy local applies to high-tech and a sneak peek interview from iConnect007

Want the latest news delivered to your inbox? Sign up for our newsletter.

FEATURED CIRCUIT BOARD STORY

US Car Manufacturer Sitting Pretty With 67% Cost Savings

By reengineering this auto manufacturer’s PCB, the cost dropped to 33% of the original amount, saving over $375,000.

In late 2015, Aurora received an opportunity to quote a LED vanity mirror for a major, fully electric car manufacturer circuit board.  The initial design was a plated-through-hole version that was fairly sophisticated for the application. The Manufacturer also required a production commencement in 60 days to prevent a shutdown of the production line.

The engineering team at Aurora Circuits suggested, after reviewing the manufacturer’s original design, that a redesign to a single-sided board would drastically save turnaround time and expense when starting production. The original design would sell for $2.25 each and require two separate printed circuit boards per vehicle. This particular part was reengineered into a single-sided, common version for less than $0.90 each, thus saving $2.70 per vehicle. When applying this to the production volume, Aurora Circuits is saving the manufacturer over $375,000 on a model year basis.

Also, to prevent any production line start up issues, Aurora Circuits built a small quantity of the plated through hole version until the single-sided version was fully tested and in full production.

Could your costs use a makeover? Let's talk.