Advanced Circuits Inc. - Introduction

Introduction

21101 E. 32nd Parkway
Aurora, Colorado 80011
U.S.A.
Telephone: (303) 576-6610
Toll Free: (800) 289-1724
Fax: (303) 418-2334
Web site: http://www.4pcb.com

Private Company
Founded: 1979 as Seiko Circuits
Employees: 250
Sales: $36 million (2004 est.)
NAIC: 334412 Printed Circuit Board Manufacturing

A private company based in the Denver suburb of Aurora, Colorado, Advanced Circuits Inc. is one of the nation's few thriving printed circuit board (PCB) manufacturers. While most PCB manufacturing is now done overseas, Advanced Circuits has found a niche by specializing in the quick turnaround of engineering prototypes and limited production runs, the kind of jobs that the larger offshore PCB manufacturers are not suited to service. A PCB is a thin plate containing chips and other electronic components. A typical computer includes a main PCB, the motherboard, as well as smaller expansion cards, adapters, controllers, interfaces. To ensure that a PCB works as intended, designers turn to Advanced Circuits to produce prototypes for testing purposes. The company has a solid reputation as a reliable vendor in its field, boasting an on-time or early delivery rate in excess of 99 percent. As a result, Advanced Circuits has many loyal customers, including major companies such as IBM, Apple Computer, Lucent, and Texas Instruments. The company is more technically advanced than the competition, and has for several years provided quotes over the Internet. More recently it launched FreeDFM.com, a free Internet-based program that allows engineers to check designs for flaws that could lead to unnecessary delays in manufacturing. In addition, the program provides a quote to help drum up new business. Advanced Circuits also has succeeded in developing an attractive company culture and enjoys a 98 percent employee retention rate, one of the highest in its industry. It has a solid reputation for complying with state and federal environmental regulations, a problem for PCB manufacturers, which work with a number of toxic chemicals.