Many teams split fabrication and assembly between different suppliers, which often creates delays, extra coordination, and yield problems. Flexible materials move during production, and assemblers who lack experience with these shifts can struggle to align parts correctly.
Working with a flexible circuit manufacturer, like All Flex Solutions, that also offers assembly, creates a more controlled path from raw material to finished part. The same team monitors each step, understands the nuances of flexible circuit construction, and maintains continuity throughout the build. The result is a smoother process with fewer surprises.
Why Work With One Flexible Circuit Manufacturer for Fabrication and Assembly?
The first and most realistic answer is ease of working with a single supplier. There is no additional coordination of shipping to other locations, sourcing components and communicating with multiple suppliers. Everything is done in one facility, one team of Engineers with truly a single source purchase. This makes sourcing your parts much easier and more convenient for you.
Having your flexible circuit or flexible heater fabricator assemble your parts, will save you time as well. They typically stock the components most often used in flexible circuit assemblies, from low-cost commercial connectors, to high-value long lead time military connectors, thermistors, resistors, capacitors and all the other components to bring your product to life.
How Does Material Movement Impact Flexible Circuit Assembly
There are other compelling reasons as well. Flexible circuits are always moving dimensionally. The polyimide materials used to build these circuits are hygroscopic. They absorb water from the surrounding environment. And because they are very thin, they are also susceptible to movement during temperature fluctuation as well.
Flexible circuit manufacturers invest in equipment, technology, software, and engineering skills to accommodate those forces during the manufacture of your parts. Those same tools and skills are used to improve the assembly yields on your parts.
One example of assembly issues caused by material movement, is surface mount assembly of components onto a circuit. The pads and features on a surface mount technology flexible circuit are almost never at your nominal values.
Unlike rigid boards, with glass reinforced layers to stabilize the PCB, and limit dimensional shift, flexible circuits and heaters move quite a bit from nominal. Material suppliers typically recommend accommodating movement up to .001” (0.025mm) per inch of material in both the X and Y directions.
If your assembler creates a stencil with features that are nominal, the printed solder paste will not match the parts, and the solder deposit will not be on your pads.
Experienced assemblers know that to succeed, they must measure the parts for shift from nominal and scale the image accordingly. They are also aware that repetitive builds are not identical, and each lot needs to be measured and accommodated. However, many assemblers are not aware of this essential accommodation, and don’t understand why their circuits are not perfectly aligned to the stencil.
Flexible circuit manufacturers are accustomed to handling very thin materials, which can be a challenge to assemble with high yields. They can incorporate frames, arrays, pallets, and/or stiffeners that improve the assembly process by keeping your circuit stable.
Why Assembly Scrap Risk Is Lower With Your Fabricator
A final advantage to using your flexible circuit manufacturer to assemble your parts is scrap. Your circuits are inspected prior to assembly and inspected again after assembly, and all scrap during the process resides with the fabricator at no additional charge to you.
Partner With All Flex for Fabrication and Assembly
Keeping fabrication and assembly with one flexible circuit manufacturer brings consistency to every stage of the build. Dimensional movement, material behavior, and inspection criteria are handled by a team that understands how each factor influences yield. This continuity reduces variation and helps avoid the complications that can appear when multiple suppliers are involved. With All Flex, you gain a more controlled process that supports dependable performance throughout the entire build.
To learn how these advantages extend across a full range of design and production options, explore All Flex’s flexible circuit capabilities today.