EZ BoardWare surface-mount products cut assembly costs

Wendy Bourne, Technical Support Engineer at Harwin, comments: "Often, relatively simple issues can frustrate good board design and cause manufacturing delays and costs. Traditional methods used to solve cable management, test and EMC problems often require secondary, manual processing. EZ BoardWare components can all be surface-mounted, along with other components, saving space as well as reducing time and costs.

"If we consider EMC, shielding cans are usually soldered to the board as a secondary operation after the main automated assembly process. However, EZ-Shield Clips can be surface-mounted, allowing a shielding can to be simply pushed into place during final assembly. Also part of the EZ BoardWare range, EZ-RFI Fingers are very versatile - allowing for a sliding or wiping contact and simply facilitating electrical contact between PCB and metal cases, etc - yet save manufacturing costs when compared to using grounding finger strips.

"When it comes to cable management, EZ-Cable Clips are much smaller and lower-profile than equivalent plastic devices. They are placed directly onto solder pads, thus negating the need to drill retaining holes in the PCB, offering further space and cost savings.

"EZ-Jumper Links can enable designers to eliminate through-hole vias and multi-layer construction. Surface-mount assembly reduces costs, and quality is improved through using proven, controlled manufacturing processing.

"Lastly, EZ-Test Points provides technicians with easy-to-see test points and minimise the risk of PCB damage by incorrect test methods. Again, surface-mount assembly cuts costs."