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Ten things you probably didn’t know about EMS

By 16.04.2021June 26th, 2023Knowledge Hub
We gathered 10 interesting facts and curiosities about the EMS (Electronics Manufacturing Services) industry and reveal them to you here.

1. The invention of EMS was accredited to...

scientists in the 1800s, who discovered that they could pass electricity through gas from one metal electrode to another.

 

Paul Eisler, an Austrian inventor, who developed the first PCB when working on a radio set in 1936.

2. Printed circuits technology has been evolving since 1936 …

…with SMT (Surface Mount Technology) replacing the through-hole method as the most common manufacturing technique.

 

PCBs have become much smaller, faster and more efficient to build.

3. Using Surface Mount Technology it is possible to….

  • design PCBs up to 1/10 of the size of through-hole circuits
  • place 136,000 components an hour
  • place a component so tiny on a board, you would need a microscope to see it

4. PCBs are almost always green because….

  • they are made from a glass-epoxy, which is naturally green and gives them the iconic green color.
  • the US military found that green was the most effective color for PCB, especially in adverse situations, deciding that green would be the norm.

5. PCBs utilize traces, not wires, to transport electrons as…

… copper traces are a lot smaller and flat taking up less space and proving to be more efficient when connecting small components on a circuit board.

6. Flexible PCB technology is continuously growing...

Flexible printed circuits have reduced the total cost of electrical wiring by up to 70%.
It is predicted that in a near future, one-third of all PCBs manufactured will be flex.
Flexible PCBs are built on flexible high-temperature plastic like Kapton.

7. Biodegradable circuits are becoming a reality...

  • A group of U.S. researchers set out to create a fully functional PCB that is biodegradable and disintegrates when exposed to water.

  • They developed flexible, water-repellent graphene circuits for washable electronics.

  • New graphene printing technology can produce electronic circuits that are low-cost, flexible, highly conductive and water repellent.

Manufacturers prefer LED lighting because it lasts longer and generates less heat

8. Lighting is critical when it comes to PCB inspection

The PCB inspection or rework requires 1000 lumens of lighting during production

9. The EMS industry workforce is changing as…

  • women make up roughly 27% of the manufacturing workforce and the percentage continues to grow.
  • over the past few years, Chinas’ factories cut human workforce by an average of 50%, due to the increased prevalence of robots.

    • 10. The revenue forecast for the EMS industry is….

    Under a stable macroeconomic environment, the EMS industry is expected to grow from a total value of 506309 Million USD in 2019 to 638429 Million USD in 2025.

    Sources:
    https://www1.hkexnews.hk/listedco/listconews/sehk/2020/0110/9125620/sehk19093000818.pdf;
    https://www.industryresearch.biz/enquiry/request-sample/16785579;
    https://svtronics.com/blog/how-did-printed-circuit-boards-become-the-standard-green-that-they-are-today/;
    https://www.pcbtrain.co.uk/blog/12-cool-facts-about-pcbs-that-you-probably-didnt-know;
    https://www.autodesk.com/products/eagle/blog/e-waste-conundrum-can-biodegradable-printed-circuit-boards-help/;
    https://linchpinseo.com/trends-in-the-electronics-manufacturing-equipment-industry/;
    https://www.proto-electronics.com/blog/flexible-pcbs-advantages-disadvantages