We love parts on reels. Who doesn't? But reels aren't always practical - and it's not just about cost. Cost is, of course, important, but there may be other factors to consider. Say, for example, you need 20 2.2K Ohm,... Read more
Manufacturing, especially small volume one-time-only builds (like a prototype) is hard. It's not wise for most people to actively seek out chaos, but that's what we do, and we do it wisely. That's what we've been doing since 2003. We... Read more
There's a lot of buzz floating around these days, about "Personal Manufacturing." Screaming Circuits has more than a decade of bringing personal manufacturing to engineers. We pretty much started the category in the electronics industry, so we're quite familiar -... Read more
My prior blog covered the Screaming Circuits Manufacturability Index. It's something I'll be using from time to time when discussing new components I run across. I've got a few examples to put the numbers into context. On the low side... Read more
Screaming Circuits Manufacturability Index Ranks the difficulty of assembling a component. Index is one to five, with one being easiest, and five being the most complex Sub index: a, b, c a: Not a challenge within the number rank b:... Read more
Before we (or any old assembly house) go about putting surface mount parts on your board, we need to program our assembly robots. I'm oversimplifying, but essentially, the machine program needs to know the X / Y coordinates, relative to... Read more
Small component packages seem to be a recurring theme with me. It's understandable, I guess. Super tiny packages are becoming more and more common and we build a lot of product with them. The smallest we've built is 0.3mm pitch.... Read more
As a Maker, you really need a decent price, with good quality, and good service. Contrary to what many people think, you don't need to look outside of North America for this. You can keep your gaze West of the... Read more
My last post mused on the affordability of assembly at Screaming Circuits for the maker/very small business/kickstarter community. My hypothetical Arduino-compatible dual motor driver Kickstarter came out to $9.81 per board at a quantity of 250. That's probably more than... Read more
Yes, a Maker can get 250 custom-design Arduino-compatible boards built for about $10.00 each at Screaming Circuits. How can Screaming Circuits, a full-service assembly provider, compete with a low-cost assembly house? Upon first thought, it might seem like Screaming Circuits,... Read more
