E&A exhibition - Jaarbeurs Utrecht - 28-30 may 2013 - booth 8E042

Also in 2013 you will find Eurocircuits at the E&A exhibition. Many visitors have already registered for a free entry ticket and for the gadget "Helios". The last 3 editions of the show (2007-2009-2011), Eurocircuits customers visited the show and our booth in great numbers. Thanks to them we were successful in the marketing cup.

For this edition we are again counting on your support. Register now for a free entry ticket and do not forget to opt in for the gadget as quantities are limited. All customers that visit our booth with their Eurocircuits entry ticket may expect a nice give away.

Eurocircuits presents:
"Eurocircuits goes Visual" extended. After PCB Visualizer and PCB Checker we are now proud to present PCB Configurator. PCB Configurator is currently running in beta test phase. During E&A we will be able to demonstrate all of its powerful features. More info coming soon ...

Eurocircuits participates:
• show gadget "Helios" - we make and sponsor all the bare boards
• traceability seminar - we explain how and why we apply full traceability at Eurocircuits
• design for excellence seminar - we elaborate on the influence of the design on the PCB quality

And last but not least there is of course the "live line", the many pavilions (PLOT, DEVclub, ...) and double the number of Belgian exhibitors against 2011. More later ...

As a good tradition of the last years we continue our cooperation with tbp electronics: tbp takes care of their nice café booth and we make sure they serve various lovely Belgian beers. We hope that with our booths side by side we will again form the centre of the atmosphere during this years edition of E&A.

Don't forget to register for a free ticket. See you at E&A.

The new generation eC-reflow-mate reflow oven delivers better soldering control and more comfortable operation.

Since we shipped the first units in April 2011 we have delivered more than 300 eC-reflow-mate reflow ovens to designers, SMEs and research establishments across the whole of Europe.  At Eurocircuits we strive to make continuous improvements on all our products, hardware and software.  Our goal is to make each product more effective in meeting customer needs as well as easier and more secure to use.  So, when we needed to manufacture a new batch of reflow ovens, we first sat down to review the full range of customer feedback.  We looked to see what improvements we could make to the design and operation of the next generation of the eC-reflow-mate.

We looked at three areas in particular:

1. Better control of the oven temperature, especially to ensure the most even soldering across the board
2. Smoother and more reliable drawer opening
3. Safer and more comfortable operation

PCB Checker shows design rule check results directly on your PCB before you order.

At Electronica 2012 Eurocircuits launch PCB Checker, the latest update to their highly praised PCB Visualizer PCB data verification software tool.

Watch the Evertiq interview on electronica with our managing director Dirk Stans

PCB Checker – the next level of PCB designer support.

PCB Checker takes PCB Visualizer’s pre-order design rule check (DRC) to the next level. It provides a graphic display of the DRC results directly on your PCB layout.

Using PCB Checker’s clear menus and displays you can immediately filter the errors and view each type, stepping through from worst first. Correct your design data to enhance the manufacturability of your PCBs and to make sure that they fit into our lowest cost pooling service. You save time, you save money, and you save a frustrating search.

PCB Checker and PCB Visualizer allow you to check your designs prior to placing your order, using automated tools otherwise only available in professional front-end engineering software. You can place your pre-checked order confident that the data-set is complete and correct to the order and that your design data matches the most cost-effective of our pooling services.

Production data.

As soon as our engineers have completed the tool data preparation (see front-end-data-preparation) they now put the finished data back into PCB Visualizer. You can see every detail of the production data as it will be used to make your PCB.  If our engineers have found any issues you can see exactly what they have queried, ensuring clear and effective communication.

Try PCB Visualizer and PCB Checker here.

Overview of our first seminar 22-03-2012 and dates for future seminars.

We started with a warm welcome and the registration of our participants accompanied by a cup of coffee. 19 out of 20 preregistered participants found their way to ARCOSS for our first seminar on reflow soldering of SMD PCB prototypes.

Dirk Stans spoke a word of welcome and gave an overview of the planning for the day. Dirk continued with the Eurocircuits history for the last 20 years followed by a brief overview of Eurocircuits services.

The introduction of the eC-prototype-equipment was the next item on the agenda. Here Dirk explained why Eurocircuits have entered into this venture and explained the two machines eC-stencil-mate and eC-reflow-mate and their specification in detail. Special focus was laid on the difference between reflow chamber soldering and its solder curves and reflow soldering in a throughput oven.

U kan nog tot donderdagmiddag, 30-08-2012, voor de PCB Visualizer van Eurocircuits stemmen!

Tijdens de week van 25-28 september is het weer zo ver en kan u ons vinden op HET Instrument 2012, in Amsterdam, Hal 1 stand B031.

Deze beurseditie hebben we besloten mee te dingen naar de nominatie: "Noviteit 2012 van de branche Industriële Electronica (IE)". Hiervoor hebben we onze nieuwste ontwikkeling "PCB Visualizer" als noviteit ingediend.

Waarom geloven wij dat PCB Visualizer een noviteit is?
PCB Visualizer, analyseert uw PCB data en vergelijkt deze met uw order data en toont uw print online op het scherm. De analyse gebeurt met dezelfde technische software en regels die wij intern gebruiken om uw print productieklaar te maken. Zo geeft de analyse, ook al loopt deze volledig automatisch, een realistisch beeld van mogelijke onduidelijkheden met uw order. Bovendien, en dat is wellicht meteen ook de grootste troef, gebeurt dit alles nog voor u de bestelling doorstuurt. U kan dus zelf, op voorhand, mogelijke anomaliën voorkomen. Bovendien staat PCB Visualizer in uw Eurocircuits klantaccount 24/24 en 7/7 ter beschikking zodat hij voor u werkt wanneer u dat wil. PCB Visualizer is een Eurocircuits software onwikkeling die technische CAM software en onze e-business software met elkaar integreert. Wil u meer weten over PCB Visualizer, lees dan onze BLOG over PCB Visualizer of ga direct naar de stempagina op de site van Het Instrument. Daar vindt u eveneens meer info en kan u direct uw stem uitbrengen. Stemmen kan tot donderdagnamiddag. Wij rekenen op u!

Zie de Eurocircuits PCB Visualizer in actie

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Vergeet niet te registreren voor een gratis toegangsbewijs voor de beurs.

Dat kan u hier meteen doen. Op deze manier steunt u ons ook voor de ranking in de marketing cup! Dank bij voorbaat.

Gadget. Terwijl u registreert kan u zich eveneens aanmelden voor het Gadget 2012, de "compass clock". De compass clock,is ontworpen door YMIF engineering en de printen komen van Eurocircuits. Zeker doen!

Meer over hoe te registreren en over het aanmelden voor het gadget, vindt u in onze BLOG over HET Instrument 2012.

Verder willen wij u nog attent maken op het beursseminarie: "Design Automation & Embedded Systems" dat plaats vindt vrijdagochtend 28 september, zaal G104. Eurocircuits zal er een presentatie geven over "Eurocircuits goes visual" waar PCB Visualizer een wezenlijk deel van uitmaakt.

Wij kijken er naar uit u in Amsterdam te ontmoeten en hopen dat u voor ons STEMT en via ons REGISTREERT.

Met vriendelijke groeten,

Eurocircuits NV

Today sees the release 1 of our PCB Visualizer project. What we want to do is to enhance customer value and customer convenience by providing faster, clearer and more comprehensive feedback with on-screen interactive possibilities.

Release 1 gives you the functionality to view the data you have uploaded and to check that it conforms to the board you want to order. Is this the right data? Is all the data in the package? Has the CAD output worked correctly?

To use PCB Visualizer, follow the normal “Calculate and order” procedure: fill out the boxes, calculate the price, and attach the data. Then “Add to basket”. Immediately you will see your job in the Shopping basket. The new Visualizer columns will show a spinning wheel and “Processing”. Within a few seconds (depending on the size of the data), the text will change to “Visualizer”.

A red flag in the Status column means that there is an issue with the data.  Click on “Visualizer” to review it and avoid an exception when the order is placed.  A green icon means that the automatic checks we have run so far indicate that the data matches the order.  An exclamation mark (!) indicates a non-critical difference between the data and the order.  It also warns that the system could not complete an automatic analysis. If this happens place the order as usual and our engineers will run the checks interactively.

Click on “Visualizer” and you will immediately see an image of your finished PCB with your selected solder-mask colour, the build-up, a birds-eye view and an interactive viewing area.  In the viewing area left click to zoom in and right click to zoom out or use the scroll wheel on your mouse.  Click and drag to pan around the image.  Click on the layers in the build-up to see each layer individually.

On the left you can see three functions: Import, Plating and Order details.  If you see a red flag then there is an issue under that heading.

Click on Import and you can view each layer with pan and zoom facilities as above.  You can also view combinations of layers using [CTRL] select.  This is useful if you uploaded your data as an EAGLE V6.2 BRD file.  You can combine the separate EAGLE V6.2 data layers (place, value and shape) to see how your component legend (or silkscreen) will look.  In a later release it will be possible to build your own legend and save it for the order.

Click on Plating to view the copper density distribution of your outer (plated) layers.  The measured figure for the plating index tells you whether the copper distribution is within the limits demanded by good plating.  A red index means that there is a potential problem of over- or under-plating.  For more on this topic go here.

Click on Order details to confirm that the data provided matches your order.  Typical issues may be that the board size in the order is wrong, or the order calls for one component legend but there is data for two - or none, or the minimum hole size is too small for the chosen service.  You can also review every part of your order.  Is the board thickness correct?  Have I chosen the right surface finish?  Does the board need UL marking?  …..

To return to the full colour board view and build-up screen, click on the text “Order details” or any of the sub-headings.

If you need to correct your order, close PCB Visualizer and click on the Modify button on the left of the screen.  Make the necessary changes and put the order back in the basket.  PCB Visualizer will then check it again.

How to get the best out of PCB Visualizer Release 1?

PCB Visualizer Release 1 is the first release of the Input Processor and Data Analysis stages. We will introduce modifications and refinements, based especially on your feedback (see below).

It is important to understand that the data input and analysis is entirely automatic. It is based on sophisticated algorithms that have been tested on thousands of data sets over the last 8 – 10 years, but a few simple rules will ensure that you get the best out of PCB Visualizer.

1. Input only Extended Gerber (RS274X) and Excellon drill files with embedded tool sizes, or EAGLE V6.2 data. Of course, if your job uses standard Gerber with a separate aperture table or Excellon files with a separate tool list we can still accept it.  Just input your order via the normal Order process, not via the basket.
2. Use clear layer naming to ensure that you get the right build-up displayed. See our guidelines.
3. Remember that PCB Visualizer is showing the raw Gerber and Excellon data layer by layer.  The drill data is combined into the overall view, but no other mechanical features like slots and cut-outs.  These will be added by our engineers later in the front-end engineering process.  And the data will not be panelised unless you have uploaded panelised Gerber files.
4. At this stage we have not yet run an in-depth Design Rule Check, so there may still be data issues later on (but PCB Visualizer will soon help with those as well, see “Next Releases” below).  More on the checks we carry our on your data

Feedback

When you close PCB Visualizer you will see a feedback form.  Please take a moment to share your feelings and remarks with us so that we can improve the Visualizer program.  Did it work properly on your job (give us the job number so we can tweak the algorithms if necessary)?  Did you find it useful? What additional functionality would you like? …..

Next releases

We will continue to add functionality including more interactive options.

At the Input Processor/Data Analysis stage new functionality will allow you to modify your order on the fly, correct the build-up, and build customer delivery panels on screen.

The next step will be to provide feedback and interactive functionality at the Single Image stage, that is after our engineers have processed the data (see more information on how we process your data here).  You will be able to see the real in-depth DRC values for the job.  Where our engineer has raised an exception and proposed a solution you will be able to view the exception and accept or reject our solution without the need to go back to your CAD system or re-upload the data (unless we have been unable to provide a solution and you need new data).  More information on repairs.

These are our plans but we will also respond to your feedback and to your suggestions for new functionality.  Our goal is that PCB visualizer will enhance customer value by providing a faster design feedback and DRC verification service, customer cost where Design For Manufacturability checks flag areas where the designer can change to a more cost-effective class, customer convenience by providing a fast visual check without the need to open his CAD or Gerber files, and customer communication by illustrating the engineer’s report and any subsequent discussions with interactive graphics.

See the Eurocircuits PCB Visualizer in action

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An assembly solution for the wider electronics engineering community

At Eurocircuits we are already well-known for our powerful offer manufacturing prototype and small batch PCBs for electronics engineers.  We have already extended this back into the design process with our links to EAGLE and to Altium.  But what about assembly?

We are often asked if we can assemble boards and several of our competitors offer this service.  The following diagram illustrates powerfully why we should not.

Prototype and small batch assembly requires a heavy investment in equipment and expertise.  So it has a high cost of service.  On the other hand, customers are driven by price.  The value of the service is perceived solely in price terms, cutting prices and lowering margins.  The pure prototype assembler risks getting caught in the mouse-trap where low prices mean that he can no longer cover the cost of his service.  Two ways of increasing margins have emerged over over the last few years.  Some assembly companies have stayed with small batch assembly but moved into very high technology markets like defence, aviation, medical or high-end communications.  Others have moved into high-volume assembly, only making prototypes as a loss leader to land large contracts.

At Eurocircuits we have evolved our business model to handle medium technology prototype and small batch PCBs quickly, reliably and cost-effectively.  We are not in the very high technology market nor are we volume producers.  So offering a “me too” prototype assembly service would not work.  And in any case it doesn’t make business sense to compete with our customers.

Subscribe to “Firmware” electronics design digital magazine through your Eurocircuits account.

As specialist prototype and small batch PCB manufacturers, we see our role as more than just making PCBs. Our goal is “added-value service”. We recognise that time-to-market is critical for our user-community. That is why in 2011 we cut our base-line delivery for small batches (anything under 50 dm2) from 10 working days to 7.

But faster fabrication is only part of the story. Were there, we asked ourselves, other areas where we could help to speed time to market? We set up a direct link with EAGLE CAD so that designers could get prices and place orders in seconds without manual data entry and without leaving their CAD PC. We developed PCB Visualizer so that they could check their data the minute it was uploaded. We launched our bench-top stencil-printer and reflow oven which can cut in-house assembly times by 80% compared to manual assembly.

These steps can make a measurable quantitative difference, but what about a qualitative difference: could we help designers design boards that would get into production quicker and were easier, faster and cheaper to make? In January 2012 we stepped up the publication of technical blogs and white papers on our website. These deliver tips and advice on Design for Manufacturability and how to present clear, unambiguous and accurate production data. Within 8 months they had received more than 60,000 hits. We backed these with DRC templates for EAGLE and Altium so that designers could be confident that their designs would meet the requirements of the most cost-effective pooling service.

A third-party digital magazine offering in-depth treatment of design-critical topics is the next step to add yet more value for our customers. We looked for a journal with genuine technical content rather than continuous sales-oriented press releases. “Firmware” was our first choice. First published in 2005 by Inware Edizioni, “Firmware” has established itself as the leading technical publication for electronics designers across Italy. It is now being launched as an international publication and have arranged that our registered users can get the first 3 English language issues free of charge.

To access your free issues, log in to your account and click on the new “Firmware” tile on the left of the screen.

If you are not a registered user, click on the “Firmware” link here to get free access to 30 pages of each issue or to link to the Inware website and take out a subscription.

Eurocircuits marketing strategy

Historical background

For our first 10 years we subscribed to the sales pitch “you name it, we make it”.  This was an expensive strategy which required heavy investment in plant, processes and expertise.  By 2000 – 2001 there was little or no added-value margin left to sustain the investment; the recession and the migration of PCB manufacturing to lower cost areas in the Far East had driven prices down to an unsustainable level. Many PCB manufacturers either went out of business or became brokers with most of their turnover deriving from imports from China.  The survivors specialized, either by moving into high-technology marketplaces where high prices would compensate for their ongoing investments or by finding ways to lower their costs.  We adopted the latter strategy, introducing a clear, pre-defined offer combined with order pooling and online ordering and administration.

Eurocircuits marketing philosophy

In 1960 Jerome McCarthy proposed the 4 ‘P’s marketing model  This describes what a company has to offer in terms of Product, Price, Promotion and Place.  At Eurocircuits we have always used Robert F. Lauterborn’s 1993 four ‘C’s model. This is based not on how the supplier sees the market but how the market, the customer, sees the supplier. The 4 ‘C’s are Customer value, Cost to the customer, Communication and Convenience.

Eurocircuits customer value

What is the value of our offer to the customer?

1. We specialize in PCB prototypes and small series on short deliveries.  Here the customer has two paramount requirements:

-       The service must be always available

-       Deliveries must be always on time

To achieve this we measure our performance constantly and our factories are rewarded accordingly.  Our customers trust us – the trust model.

2.  We have a clear offering: standard technology rigid boards produced on pooling panels with the widest choice of technology options in the market.  We give the customer certainty right across the range of his requirements – the safe harbour model.

3.  We are one of the largest specialist suppliers of prototype and small batch PCBs in Europe.  Our size, growth and ongoing investment policy are our customers’ guarantee of quality, of continuous service availability, and of ongoing development to meet their changing needs.  Each customer can enter into a long-term relationship with us, confident in the future - the safe harbour model.

4.  We are not brokers; all our boards are produced in our own factories under our own control.  We produce to IPC A-600 class II classification.  Our quality system is certified to ISO 9000.   Our customers can rely on us to deliver a consistently high level of quality across all their orders – the trust model.

5.  Although last year we handled over 53,000 orders for more than 6,500 customers, each individual order is 100% verified in our front end engineering department.  Each design is checked for manufacturability and for obvious mistakes in the layout. We report any anomalies to the customer and make suggestions how to resolve them.  Our manufacturability analyses can help customers cut their board costs by up to 25%.  Nothing is changed without the customers consent.  Our customers are confident that the board we deliver matches their intended design – the trust model.

6.  We use visualisation to convey as much information as possible.  Right at the outset we generate a visual image of every design showing how it will look after production.  The customer can spot anything that doesn’t look right before production starts - the trust model.

7.  We already have full batch traceability which the customer can access quickly online.  We are now extending traceability to individual PCBs and individual machines and processes.  This gives us closer control over our production facilities and gives the customer another guarantee of our quality – the safe harbour model.

8.  Our eC-soldering-equipment, the solder paste printer, eC-stencil-mate, and the chamber reflow oven, eC-reflow-mate, are the first two of a series of machines developed to save our customers time and money assembling their prototypes.

Eurocircuits cost to the customer

How does the customer perceive the cost of our services?

1.  Order pooling (combining several orders on the same production panel) reduces the production cost per order.  Our customers trust us to give them the best and fairest prices – the trust model.

2.  Pooling means that we don’t have heavy set-up costs per order, so we don’t charge for tooling.  So design iterations carry no cost penalty – the trust model.

3.  Our public calculator makes our prices accessible to the whole marketplace, customers and competitors alike.  This means that our pricing must be consistent, stable and competitive – and our customers know this – the trust model.

4.  Transport costs for multiple orders are recalculated at shipment to keep them as low as possible – the trust model.

5.  In the unfortunate event of a delay due to us, we reschedule the order and recalculate the price according to the new delivery term – the trust model.

6.  Online pricing and ordering using streamlined menus requiring minimum data saves the customer time and money, cutting out traditional communication costs – the trust model.

Eurocircuits convenience to the customer

How do we bring our service to the customer?

1.  Our customer interface is available 24/7  It is not just a website for getting prices but an open window into our complete e-business offering.  The customer has streamlined access into the whole business process, his user profiles, quotations, orders, invoices and payments, both current and historical.  Production data is stored indefinitely – the safe harbour model.

2.  All board data and documents can be quickly retrieved and easily visualized.  The customer can readily download the production data, for example to order third-party stencils – the trust model.

3.  The online interface offers the customer a window into our internal administration.  This guarantees the customer transparency towards his orders with Eurocircuits – the trust model.

4.  Interaction with Eurocircuits can be 100% online but personal support is also available.  Eurocircuits has a professional sales force based in the head office in Mechelen Belgium and in sales offices throughout Europe. The trust model.

Eurocircuits communication

How can the customer find us and what we offer?

1.  We have a clear and well-maintained website which is regularly updated to improve its clarity and ease of use.  It contains a wealth of technical information on our services and how to get the best out of them.  Other documents show how to design a PCB to keep costs down and ensure that the order goes rapidly and safely through our process.  This is backed by a series of videos showing how we make a PCB – the safe harbour model.

2.  We have our own YouTube, blogs and social media channels to keep our customers up to date on what we are doing.  Transparency is the key to customer trust – the trust model.

- via our blog: http://www.eurocircuits.com/index.php/eurocircuits-printed-circuits-blog

- via our YouTube channel: http://www.youtube.com/user/eurocircuits

- via Twitter: https://twitter.com/eC_PCB

3.  We have local support in all major countries and a large multilingual team in Belgium.  Our customers know that they can get support whenever they need it – the safe harbour model

4.  We inform all customers about important service upgrades and events we will attend by email.  We put the same news on the web site. Of course every user is free to opt out of this service – the trust model.

5.  For the last 10 years we have attended all major exhibitions in our field in Europe so that our customers can meet us face to face in their own countries.

To produce your board we use your design data in Gerber or EAGLE format and first perform the necessary front end actions as described in our white paper: "What do PCB fabricators do with your data before they make your PCBs?".

When this is done and your board is ready for production, we save your board’s production data in your account.  This data we call the job’s "single image" data.  “Single image” means the data we load onto our order-pooling production multi-panels, so it may refer to a single circuit image or to a delivery panel if this is what you have ordered. This is the data that is visualized in the PCB image.  You can download the full set from within your customer account.

What do PCB fabricators do with your data before they make your PCBs?

This year's D&E event in Holland was followed by a webinar. For Eurocircuits this was the first webinar in our history. It took place on 20 June launched from the premises of XWebinar in Holland.

We announced the webinar to our customer base with the working title, "Front-end data preparation". This raised a lot interest among our customers and around 140 were online when we started at 11H00. An hour and 20 minutes later over 120 were still with us. We would like to thank all those who took part.

The content of our webinar, "What do PCB fabricators do with your data before they make your PCBs", can now be found online as a white paper.

The white paper covers all aspects of the presentation we made during the webinar. It has the added advantage that it contains links to the in-depth information on the web site for all the technical issues discussed. This means that it reads more smoothly than the presentation itself. However, if you wish to review the recording, you can do so here...

“What do PCB fabricators do with my data before they make my PCB?”

An understanding of the front-end data preparation process is important for two reasons, speed and cost. PCBs for time-critical applications need to be delivered fast and on time. If information is missing from the data set supplied or if it is ambiguous or unclear we lose time while the issues are sorted out. The new white paper explains how we verify that the data is complete and clear, to make sure that we deliver the board that you want. Above all, it contains tips on how to present clear and unambiguous data and avoid some of the common traps which can delay deliveries.

Our pooling services have been developed to deliver prototype and small batch PCBs cost-effectively as well as fast and on time. The specifications of each service are based on a robust level of manufacturability to ensure the quality of the finished product. This is reflected in the cost structure: TECH pool is more expensive than STANDARD pool. The white paper outlines how we check that each design fits the specification of the chosen service. If it doesn’t, we report back the data issues (raise an exception). Are there simple steps which you as a designer or we as fabricators can take to avoid having to use a more expensive option? If so we will propose them. Are there repairs we can make to bring the board back within specification and improve its manufacturability? In many cases we can make these repairs as part of the data preparation process and the white paper has links to more detailed information. Design for manufacturability tips highlight some critical areas. The white paper also links to the free design rule sets which can be uploaded form our website into EAGLE and Altium CAD systems to help ensure that your design meets the specifications of the most cost-effective pooling service.

Although the white paper follows our internal procedures and includes the names of our front-end data preparation stages, our data preparation process follows industry best-practice. So throughout we relate what we do and our design tips to the wider PCB fabrication world. Our goal is to provide a broad set of technical information which will benefit not just our users but also the wider electronics engineering community across Europe.

Download the Eurocircuits-frontend data preparation white paper in PDF format.

To preserve the environment and to make use of the many embedded links to articles on our web site, we recommended that you read this white paper in its digital form.

Visual communication enhances PCB procurement: Eurocircuits goes visual

Go visual - why?

• Make real-life PCB information available to everyone involved in board design, procurement, manufacture, assembly and testing.
• Images are:
  • Convenient – ease of use
  • Clear – avoid misunderstandings
  • Open to all collaborators  - not everyone can read PCB layout data

Go visual – what?

• Visualize customer data online as soon as it is uploaded
• Visualize the PCB in every step of the Eurocircuits e-business process
• Keep the PCB as an image in the data base for future use:
  • Look up whenever needed
  • Repeat orders
• Show an image of the PCB in documents

PCBs – layout to finished board – the workflow

• Calculate a pooling price online or request an On demand price
• Pre-analyse – online analysis and full visual display of:
  • EAGLE native format data
  • Extended Gerber data
• Order and produce:
  • Design Rule Check
  • Data anomalies – visual report back to customer
  • Single Image ready – finished PCB image
  • Make panel and produce
• Deliver – PCB passport including finished PCB image
• Archive - make available for future use
  • Repeat orders
  • Look up as needed

Eurocircuits has been an active participant and supporter of the D&E event organized by the FHI since 2003.

2012 will be no exception; we will be there. We will give a presentation "Visual feedback on your PCB design from data entry to finished PCB". The presentation will take place at 11H15 on Thursday 24 May.  You can find an overview of the complete presentation program here.

Registering for the event is free and can be done here.

Following the D&E event, Eurocircuits will give a webinar on PCB data preparation, what happens to your data when it arrives at Eurocircuits. We will take you step by step through our internal data preparation flow.  The webinar will focus on the influence of design on the quality and manufacturability of the PCB.  It will include tips on how you can design for a more robust and lower cost finished PCB.

This webinar will take place on 20 June at 11H00. Subscribe through this link.

We would like to welcome you on 24 May in the Evoluon and on 20 June from behind your PC.

See you there.

The Eurocircuits team

Large boards and pooling – new guidelines

Over the last 12 months we have received an increasing number of boards in our pooling services at the maximum size allowed 425 x 425 mm.  These are not genuine single circuits but panels made up of many smaller circuits.  To get around our specified maximum panel size 350 x 250 mm, the individual circuits on these oversize panels are not profiled out.  In that way the users can describe the panel as a single circuit, though we know, of course, that they will subsequently cut out the individual circuits.

This practice raises two serious issues.

Registration is open now

From the 25^th until the 28^th of September of this year we will have the pleasure of meeting you at the exhibition centre, RAI Amsterdam in Holland, Hall 1 Booth B031, for “HET Instrument 2012”.

While registering for a free entry ticket, you may also choose to register for a free gadget that you can collect on the exhibition.

This years gadget is the “compass clock”. The gadget is designed by our customer “YMIF engineering”. The realization and sponsoring of the gadget is again a broad cooperation between FHI member companies of which Eurocircuits sponsors and produces the PCBs.

eC-workshop - Belgium  March 22, 2012

Eurocircuits are organizing a workshop on using the eC-reflow-equipment for the reflow soldering of SMD PCB prototypes.

Already 160 Eurocircuits customers throughout Europe are using our eC-reflow-equipment, the eC-stencil-mate and the eC-reflow-mate. Let us convince you of the ease of use, the quality and the reliability of our equipment at a dedicated hands-on workshop on SMD reflow soldering using our equipment.

The workshop is free. It will take place at 10:30 on 22nd March, hosted by our reflow soldering partner "ARCOSS" at Looiend 60 - 2470 Retie -Belgium

Specialists from Eurocircuits and ARCOSS on the eC-reflow-equipment and SMD reflow soldering will be on hand to demonstrate the equipment and to answer all your questions on the reflow soldering of surface-mounted devices.

To register for this event or to request additional information complete this form.

Registration for the workshop will close on 15 March or earlier if the maximum number of attendees is reached before this date. In this case we will arrange a second workshop on a later date.

More detailed information on our eC-reflow -equipment can be viewed here.

Eurocircuits integrates EAGLE CAD software

Eurocircuits have been appointed pan-European Value-Added Reseller for CadSoft’s EAGLE PCB design software.  Now you can buy EAGLE CAD software licences and upgrades directly from our website on your Eurocircuits account – no need to set up new accounts and payment procedures.  How?

Why do we offer a CAD package?

We want to offer our customers more than just a top quality prototype and small batch PCB service.  We want to help them speed up their development cycle and get their products to the market faster.  The key to this is integration.  We want to provide the tools for an integrated workflow from design to assembled product. Whether you are a prototype designer or a small batch manufacturer, an integrated workflow will deliver faster product development with less risk of error and lower costs.

Downstream we have integrated our PCB and stencil products with reflow soldering.  This is already showing benefits.  Customers report that using our bench-top stencil printer they can cut assembly time by up to 75%.  In particular the eC-registration system aligns the board and stencil fully automatically, cutting out the time-consuming manual alignment needed on traditional printers.  Our bench-top reflow oven completes the process.

A CAD package allows us to integrate upstream.

Why EAGLE?

Presentation of the sales results 2011

Sales

2011 was a good year. For the first time our PCB turnover exceeded 15M€. The total consolidated group turnover including equipment sales amounts to 16.9M€.

Overall sales increased 3.57% against  2010. Our online pooling services showed a healthy  growth in sales value of 14.14 %.

The turnover evolution in PCB sales over the last 5 years is as follows :

• 2007 - 11.9 million  €
• 2008 - 11.8 million  € 
• 2009 - 11.8 million  €
• 2010 - 14.8 million  €
• 2011 - 15.4 million  €

20 years of evolution - one graph explains it all

The first 10 years

Started as Europrint, right from the beginning, we were active in the market of prototypes and small series. Our goal was to serve our customers with any wimp they had: “You name it, we make it”. This requires a rather costly organization and does not leave room for optimization in the business process or in the production process.

The constant decay of PCB prices and the declining appreciation for service “old style” went hand in hand and were accelerated by the disappearance of the layout and board specialist at the customers’ organization. With the disappearance of specialization, the prices collapsed over the years. Leaving a high cost of service for a lower price to kill the margins and finally leading to a loss and the inevitable end.

The next 10 years