Front-End tooling (Genesis)Production Engineering (PCP2000)Quotation GenerationBOM GenerationManufacturing support

Stevenage Circuits, a small to medium manufacturer of printed circuits, enjoys the position of being one of the UK's leading pcb manufacturers, with a diverse product range and technical ability, allowing them to produce specialist circuits as well as more conventional product. In the role of Technical Engineer, my functions are to produce detailed process route cards for the production facility, ensuring that the manufactured product complies with all aspects of the customers' requirements and specifications. I also act as a technical quotation engineer, taking raw (often prototype) data, loading this into our CAM systems and producing a detailed quotation, generating a bill-of-materials and ensuring adequate stock provision. This entails analysis of the data for manufacturability and the examination of drawings and specifications to ensure that the quotation is accurate and that the product is within the company's capability. This process also requires me to liaise directly with customers (both internally and externally) to advise on layout, material selection, give stackup details, DFM requirements and provide any impedance calculations. As a fairly high percentage of product is for use in medical or other advanced equipment, particular attention is given to compliance with internationally recognised specifications (IPC, UL etc.).As many of the products are unique, I also liaise with production and other departments to ensure the passage through manufacture is as smooth as possible, and that any specialist processing is advised before commencement.I am also currently responsible for liaising directly with Underwriters Laboratories to update our UL listing with new materials and processes.Systems and equipment used include :- Frontline Valor Genesis (CAM system), Printed Circuit Professional (PCP, a MRP system), Polar Si8000 (and CITs measurement station), Perfecttest (a scaling and registration tool), Microsoft Office suite and other peripheral tools.

Sales oriented technical support to new and existing customers, focussing on Design For Manufacture and related topics.

At Anglia Circuits, the prime resposibility was to ensure that the product was Engineered in as short a time as possible, as much of the revenue was generated by quick turn work. The technology level was generally limited, requiring very quick response and manufacturing times and the use of offshore manufacturing facilities for volume production. As part of a small team I also assisted in other departments resolving issues and defining processing parameters.Anglia use UCAM as an engineering tool and PCP for the production of process routes.

produced low to medium volume rigid printed circuit boards, mainly for the aerospace, communication and commercial markets.Any large volume orders were often sent for sub-contract manufacture in the Far East, usually after producing a small prototype quantity in house. As Supervisor for the front-end department, my role was to oversee the day-to-day activity in the area, ensuring the efficient utilisation of staff and resources to ensure that product was engineered in an accurate and timely manner. This meant assigning tasks, training, and acting as an intermediary between senior management and production personnel.As a primary contact point for customers (internal and external), I dealt with many issues and liaised closely with the production team to ensure a smooth product flow through the manufacturing cycle, as well as developing working relationships with operators and other staff. A (growing) percentage of the product was sent for offshore manufacture, requiring the production of data packs, the validation of manufacturing processes and procedures and the inspection and test of product prior to shipping to the final customer.Coretec used Valor Genesis as the primary engineering tool and AIMS for the production of process route cards.