Surface mount assembly of PCBs - or printed circuit boards - refers to electronic components being mounted onto the surface of the PCB in accordance with the applicable contact pads. The components are usually secured in place via soldering, with the finished PCB assembly often being referred to as a surface-mount device.
Modern surface mount assembly is largely an automated process, which results in lower production costs for manufacturers. This can come in especially useful during high volume production and owing to the development of automated assembly in this area, it may not be best-suited to prototyping and lower volumes. Some electronic components may also be too large to surface-mount onto a PCB and in these instances, through-hole assembly may need to be considered. Surface-mount assembly may also be unsuitable for components that will be subjected to a large amount of stress, such as vibration.
As well as cheaper costs, surface-mount assembly is also quicker than through-hole assembly, as fewer holes will need to be drilled. For these reasons, surface-mount is often seen as the preferable assembly method; however, its limitations do need to be taken into account when production methods are considered.
