Glen Arm, MD – Few industries are recession-resistant, and fewer still are actually counter-cyclical. Reverse engineering printed circuit boards (PCBs) seems to be one of the rare industrial categories entering a boom time. “All the new business we’re seeing makes a great 20th anniversary gift,” says John Armistead, founder and owner of Armistead Technologies, a firm that specializes in reverse engineering PCBs.
Armistead believes that technology and the economy have converged to create very favorable business conditions for smaller engineering firms like his own. “First, you have significant technological advances in terms of what can be put on a circuit board,” Armistead says. “Software, for instance, can now reside on the board, and BGAs (ball grid arrays) have more electronic connections to perform more – and more-complex – operations.”
“Second, you have economies of scale that large manufacturers need to maintain,” Armistead continues. “That makes it very cost-effective to release a feature-rich product, but much less cost-effective to manufacture and warehouse a large inventory of spare PC boards to support an extended product lifecycle.”
“Third, the economic downturn has more equipment users looking for ways to extend the life of the equipment they have – the capital just isn’t available to replace it.”
“That’s where reverse engineering firms like mine come in,” Armistead says. “We can make five or ten circuit boards – quantities far too small for larger companies to make a profit on. So, for people looking for ways to keep their old equipment productive, we’re one of the few U.S.-based reverse engineering firms that can handle both the engineering side plus short-run production.”
Also, an increase in equipment repair has attracted business from new quarters. “The spare parts guys are looking at us now,” Armistead says, “not just equipment users and manufacturers. And, we’re doing more work for the government, either directly or through other suppliers.”
“With modern materials and lubricants and other ways to reduce mechanical wear, it’s not at all uncommon to find that the first major component to wear out on a piece of machinery is the electronics,”
For more information about getting re-engineered replacement PCBs, visit http://www.armisteadtechnologies.com/
