Introduction

Printed circuit boards (PCBs) form the foundation of electronics in everything from consumer devices to industrial equipment to aerospace systems. As innovation in European high-tech industries accelerates, having access to advanced, high-quality PCB manufacturing partners is critical. This article profiles the leading PCB manufacturers based in Europe that offer rapid prototyping through high-volume production capabilities.

We examine the capabilities, technologies, and expertise of these premier PCB fabrication companies serving customers across Europe and globally. Whether an engineer needs quick-turn prototypes or mass production of complex HDI boards, these manufacturers enable bringing the most demanding electronic designs to reality.

Top 15 European PCB Manufacturers

Here are the top 15 printed circuit board manufacturers in Europe as we look ahead to 2023:

1. AT&S (Austria)

Headquartered in Leoben, Austria, AT&S is one of the world’s largest PCB manufacturers and the European market leader. They offer an extensive technology portfolio from single-sided to HDI multilayers, rigid, rigid-flex, and high-frequency boards. AT&S serves major OEMs in industrial, automotive, medical, aerospace, and consumer electronics markets from European factories.

2. Schweizer Electronic AG (Germany)

Based in Schramberg, Germany, Schweizer builds highly complex PCBs for automotive, industrial, aerospace, and medical applications. They specialize in embedded power electronics including inlaid copper inlays and thermal management solutions. Schweizer provides full turnkey services from design through volume manufacturing.

3. Elvia PCB Group (France)

Elvia, headquartered near Paris, produces PCBs, backplanes, HDI flex-rigid circuits, and high-speed boards meeting aerospace, defense, medical, and rail industry needs. The company focuses on quick-turn prototypes through pilot runs and small-medium volume production.

4. Epec (Finland)

Located in Seinajoki, Finland, Epec serves customers globally for industries ranging from appliances to automotive to industrial control systems. In addition to PCB manufacturing, Epec offers extensive value-added solutions including design, embedded systems, testing, and supply chain management.

5. Aisler (Germany)

Aisler provides low-volume, high-mix PCB production ideal for R&D engineers. Based in Stuttgart, Germany, Aisler leverages an automated online platform allowing customers to upload designs and receive professionally-assembled prototype boards in under 15 days. Their focus is on flexible small batch manufacturing.

6. RayMing Technology

RayMing offers fast 5-day standard delivery across Europe for PCB prototypes and pilot production from their factory in Finland. They manufacture multi-layer, HDI, rigid, flex, flex-rigid, and metal-based PCBs tailored to the European electronics market. RayMing is focused on supporting startups and academia.

7. Spatial (France)

With headquarters in Saint-Florent, France, Spatial has deep expertise in high density interconnect PCBs. They offer design, engineering and manufacturing services for advanced aerospace, defense, industrial and medical applications requiring sophisticated multilayer boards.

8. Muster Technik (Switzerland)

Muster Technik AG produces high-quality PCBs from their facility in Sarmenstorf, Switzerland. They offer surface finishes including ENIG, immersion silver, and immersion tin tailored to various soldering requirements. Muster Technik focuses on prototype through pre-production volumes.

9. RIGIFLEX (Czechia)

Based in Prague, Czechia, RIGIFLEX specializes in manufacturing flexible circuits based on polyimide and polyester films. They offer a range of flexible PCBs including single-sided, double-sided, multilayer, rigid-flex, and HDI flex circuits ideal for compact devices.

10. Navigation Electronique (France)

With headquarters near Toulouse, France, Navigation Electronique provides high-mix, low-volume PCB prototyping and pre-production services. They leverage digital design flows to accelerate delivery of 2 to 20 layer boards in 5 days for aerospace, defense, industrial, and medical applications.

11. Elmatica (Norway)

Located in Oslo, Norway, Elmatica is a specialized PCB broker providing engineering services to optimize manufacturability and sourcing of customer designs to over 150 qualified partner factories worldwide. They offer quotes within 24 hours on all volumes and technologies.

12. Vikerkaar Circuits (Estonia)

Vikerkaar Circuits produces PCBs in low to medium volumes from their factory in Tartu, Estonia. They offer standard lead times under 15 working days for 2 to 14 layer boards. Vikerkaar specializes in boards for industrial automation, audio equipment, and other Baltic electronics markets.

13. Eurocircuits (Hungary)

Eurocircuits provides fast PCB prototyping and small series manufacturing from Europe. Based in Budapest, Hungary, they offer 15 working day standard delivery for rigid, flex, HDI, and high-frequency boards in volumes from 5 to 500 pieces.

14. Gatema (Czechia)

Located near Brno in Czechia, Gatema is an EMS provider that also offers in-house PCB fabrication capabilities. They manufacture prototypes through medium volumes of multilayer, rigid, flex, and HDI boards optimized for European supply chains.

15. Mekoprint (Poland)

With factories in Lódz and Pila, Poland, Mekoprint manufactures small-batch PCBs focused on protoypes and pre-production. They offer 0.4 mm line/space and 6 mil via capabilities on up to 14 layer boards. Mekoprint supports startups through established companies across industries.

This list provides a diverse selection of leading PCB manufacturers spread across Western and Eastern Europe. They collectively enable innovators to turn designs into physical boards with the quality and lead times demanded by European customers.

Next let’s examine some of the advanced capabilities found at these premier manufacturers.

Technical Capabilities of Top Companies

Europe’s leading PCB fabricators offer extensive expertise and technical capabilities to produce boards meeting advanced technical and quality requirements:

Fine Line PCBs – Many companies offer 0.2 mm line width and 0.15 mm spaced vias on multilayer boards enabling sophisticated component densities.

HDI Boards – Manufacturers like AT&S, Spatial, and Elvia offer blind and buried vias paired with microvias technology to enable high density interconnects.

Rigid-Flex Boards – Elvia, RIGIFLEX and others specialize in multilayer rigid-flex circuits combining standard boards and flexible polyimide sections.

High Layer Count – Layer counts up to 32+ layers are supported by AT&S and Schweizer for complex backplanes and designs.

Flex/Rigid-Flex Boards – Firms including RIGIFLEX and Elvia fabricate flex boards on polyimide and polyester films for high density.

Advanced RF Boards – Special processes deposit ultra-smooth copper to enable high frequency microwave boards.

Quick-Turn Prototypes – Many manufacturers offer expedited production of prototypes in under 7-10 days.

Automated Testing – Some companies provide automated optical and electrical testing for quality and reliability.

Final Assembly – Full turnkey services including PCB population, box build, cabling, and enclosure fabrication.

This combination of leading-edge manufacturing capabilities allows European PCB companies to stay at the forefront of technology and enable customers to realize innovative electronics designs.

Next let’s look at some of the end-user markets served by these manufacturers.

Industries Served by European PCB Companies

The top PCB manufacturers in Europe support customers across numerous industries with their circuit board needs:

Automotive – Automakers and automotive electronics suppliers depend on PCB partners meeting stringent quality and traceability demands for vehicle systems.

Aerospace and Defense – Rigorous quality control and documentation standards are met to supply boards for civil and military aviation, missiles, and space applications.

Medical – Medical device makers require electronics meeting biocompatibility standards and approvals for use in healthcare products and instruments.

Industrial – PLCs, motor drives, HMI systems, and instrumentation rely on industrial-grade PCBs resilient to electrical noise and mechanical shock and vibration.

Consumer Products – Consumer electronics for home appliances, IoT, wearables, gaming, and audio-video systems leverage smaller, higher performance PCBs.

Telecom/Datacom – High speed digital circuits and RF boards for networks and communication infrastructure are manufactured.

Research/Academia – Prototyping services enable R&D engineers and university teams to quickly test circuit concepts.

The wide customer base highlights the diversity of PCB applications enabled by the extensive capabilities found at leading European board houses.

Now let’s examine some of the value-added services offered beyond bare board fabrication.

Advanced Assembly and Metallization Services

In addition to manufacturing printed circuit boards, many of the premier European companies offer specialized services for board population, element packaging, and advanced metallization:

• PCB Assembly – Component population, soldering, cleaning, inspection, and testing
• Box Build – Cabling, wiring harnesses, and electronic enclosure integration
• IC Packaging – Ceramic substrates and embedding for sensors, power and RF ICs
• Injected Electronics – Molded circuits combining PCBs, passives, and connectors
• Press-fit Assemblies – Interposers and sockets with spring-loaded contacts
• Carrier Boards – Custom layouts to interface ICs with test equipment
• ENEPIG Metallization – Electroless nickel, electroless palladium, and immersion gold finish
• Advanced Coatings – EMI shielding, thermal management, and corrosion protection

These additional solutions enable customers to receive complete turnkey services all managed through one European manufacturing partner.

Next let’s explore the global footprint served by some of the larger PCB companies based in Europe.

Global Reach of European Companies

While the companies highlighted here have headquarters and factories across Western and Eastern Europe, many have global operations to serve multinational customers:

• AT&S (Austria) – Manufacturing plants in Austria, India, China, Korea, and the United States.
• Schweizer (Germany) – Fabs in Germany, China, and Indonesia with sales/engineering worldwide.
• Elvia PCB (France) – Facilities in Tunisia and California in addition to France.
• RIGIFLEX (Czechia) – Manufactures in Czechia and Spain; sales offices across Europe.
• Epec (Finland) – Factories in Finland and China plus global sales support.
• GATEMA (Czechia) – Headquarters in Czechia; assembly factories across Europe; sales offices globally.

This international presence allows the companies to build boards closer to end customers worldwide while leveraging quality-controlled factories to ensure global consistency.

In summary, leading European PCB companies offer localized manufacturing combined with design, engineering, and supply chain support worldwide.

Key Takeaways on European PCB Manufacturing

Here are some of the key conclusions regarding the strengths of European PCB manufacturing as we look toward 2023:

• Europe remains a technology leader in innovative PCB fabrication capabilities including fine line, HDI, flex, and packaging solutions.
• Quick-turn prototype services enable accelerated design verification and time-to-market.
• Rigorous quality standards meet European customer demands across automotive, aerospace, defense, industrial, and medical segments.
• Leading manufacturers provide sophisticated technologies and one-stop design through assembly services.
• Large global companies maintain production across Europe while serving international programs.
• Specialized mid-size manufacturers target niche technical capabilities and local/regional markets.

As electronics innovation continues advancing across industries, European OEMs and engineers can rely on the expertise of these premier PCB manufacturing partners.

Frequently Asked Questions

Here are some common questions related to major PCB manufacturers located in Europe:

What are some emerging capabilities being developed by European companies?

Many firms are expanding in advanced semiconductor packaging, power electronics, and embedded component integration along with next-generation materials like ceramic and liquid crystal polymer substrates.

Do European manufacturers offer services beyond bare PCB fabrication?

Yes, leading companies provide component assembly, systems integration, IC packaging, test, enclosures, and complete box build assembly services enabling full product realization.

What design data formats do European fabricators accept?

Most accept Gerber data but many also now allow customer data submittal in ODB++ or IPC-2581 format for optimal design capture and manufacturability.

Are European PCB quality standards compliant worldwide?

Yes, European makers employ globally recognized quality standards including ISO, IATF 16949, AS9100, and ITAR to ensure worldwide compliance.

How can I get pricing and quotes from European PCB manufacturers?

Most offer instant web-based quoting or have sales engineers available to contact customers within 24 hours for pricing on their specific build.