General Company Questions

1. What does A-Tech Circuits do?

A: We specialize in manufacturing Rigid FR4 PCB, Flexible PCB, Metal core PCB, RF/Microwave PCB as well as PCB assembly, mainly focus on the fabrication and assembly services of quick turn PCB prototype, small to middle volume PCB orders.

2. What market do you target for sales?

A: The printed circuit board we manufactured are mainly exported to foreign countries, currently more than 80% of our electronic board products are shipped to Europe. North America and other Asian countries.

3. What certifications your company got?

A: We have been certified to ISO9001:2008, ISO14001, TS16949 and UL certification (UL No: E357001) and complied with the RoHs & WEEE requirements for lead free products through SGS test

4. Will A-TECH Circuits sign a non-disclosure and/or non-compete agreements?

A: Yes, It's in A-TECH's best interest to protect the interests of our customers.

5. What's your payment terms?

A: For the new customers in the initial period of cooperation, basically we use the terms of T/T in advance or COD, for qualified business accounts we use credit payment terms such as net 30 days.

Orders & Quotes Related

1. What information is required for a quote?

A: Please use Gerber data, PCB fabrication notes and array drawing data when you request a quote. This will give you an accurate quote in a short period of time.

2. How long is my quote valid?

A: Your quote is valid for 60 days from the date you receive it via email. If you want to confirm the quote is still valid after the expiry date, please contact your sales representative.

3. What inspection reports are produced to document that items produced comply with customer specifications?

A: We'll ship micro section & COC(Certificate of Quality Compliance) report together with PCB boards.

4. Do you check my artwork?

A: Yes, We check your artwork based on Gerber files or AutoCAD files. We could provide some suggestions to you with free of charge if you need, on our design rules such as increasing clearance, trace width or pad size to decrease cost or make your ordered boards within our manufacturing capability. But it is still up to you to make decisions.

5. What format files can you read?

A: We prefer to receive gerber files with RS-274-X format or DWG/DXF files, but if you can not output in these formats, please send your design data and our engineers will deal with them.

6. What do you do with my Set-up & E-Test cost?

A: The Set-up charge is used for our preparation of tooling and film process. The E-Test cost is used for flying probe test or our preparation of E-Test fixtures, the Set-up and E-Test fixture cost is only charged one time, it means that you will not need to pay them for repeat orders of the same PCB layout files.

7. How do you send the quote to me upon submit of my online quote request?

A: You will receive the quote instantly via your email address, so please make sure that you left a correct and valid email address.

8. How do you ship the boards, what carrier do you use?

A: Normally our shipment terms based on DDU by using DHL, FedEx, UPS and TNT. We also do other shipment terms which required by customers, such as FOB (Hong Kong).

9. Do you have Minimum Order Requirement (MOQ)?

A: No, we don't have MOQ, the fabrication of quick turn PCB prototype is one of our most important services, even one piece is acceptable for us.

10. How quickly do you respond to a PCB quote request?

A: Normally we will respond to a PCB quote request in 2 hours during our working time, however, complex PCBs may need more time for an accurate quote. In this time, we will assess your data and specification for manufacturing suitability and evaluate the availability of non-standard materials.

11. What lead times can you offer?

A: We have quick turn services for PCB prototype, for detailed lead time please refer to Manufacturing lead time，Most orders with small up to middle volume PCBs could be delivered 8 to 15 working days, depending on your requirements and the complexity of the order and volume ordered.

12. What can I do if I receive unsatisfied PCB?

A: Please refer to following steps if you receive unsatisfied PCB

1. Contact us about the defect within one week upon receiving the parts
2. Send a digital photo and description of the defect.
3. Our QA engineer will review your request and if the parts are non-conforming per customer specifications or acceptance standard of IPC-A-600 Class2, we'll process your request.
4. Upon your approval, we'll address the problem and re-run your order based on the original order request. There will be no additional charge.
5. If you request for a refund, we will refund 100% of your order amount.

PCB Technical Questions

1. Why should circuit boards be electrically tested?

A: Electrical test is very important after the processes of PCB manufacturing, because this is the only way for any PCB manufacturer to ensure the PCB board shipped have zero shorts or opens. Visual inspection can never be 100% effective. Especially, if the defect is under the solder mask, electrical test is the only way to catch it.

2. What should be shown in drill file: Drill diameter or finished hole diameter?

A: Please provide finished hole diameter in your drill files.

3. What is your standard specification PCB?

A: The following is used for our standard specification boards: FR4, 1.6mm thickness, 1oz copper weight, white silkscreen, green solder mask, HASL/HAL(Lead free) finished.

4. What solder mask do you use for PCBs?

A: We use Liquid Photoimageable (LPI) solder mask for the standard process of PCBs.

5. Are there any other colour options for the solder mask?

A: Although green is the standard colour we use for PCB prototype, we can also provide the following colours: red, white, blue, black, yellow, etc.

6. How to reduce the cost of circuit boards?

A: The PCB price is related with many factors, such as layer counts, raw material, board thickness, copper thickness, surface treatment, min hole size, total hole quantity, min trace width/spacing etc.
If you want to get the lower price, please design your circuit board as simple as possible.

7. To what acceptability standards do you build?

A: All our printed circuit boards are built based on the acceptance standard of IPC-A-600 Class2.
For special requirements, we can also produce PCB comply with IPC Class3.

8. Can you manufacture my PCBs from a picture file?

A: No, We can not accept BMP, GIF, TIFF or JPG pictures as the manufacturing file as these formats are not good for PCB manufacturing. But you can use these files to request a quotation.