4PCB
Advanced Circuits, Inc. (ACI)

Advanced Circuits, Inc. (ACI) & 4PCB History

Leading PCB Quick Turn Manufacturer for a Quarter of a Century!

Since 1989, Advanced Circuits (also known in the industry as 4PCB) has been the leading the PCB industry as a quick turn manufacturer specializing in both small quantity PCBs and production quantities.  Advanced Circuits operates divisions in Aurora, CO, Chandler, AZ, and Maple Grove, MN and is ranked among the 3rd largest circuit board fabricators in North America.  Advanced Circuits is MIL-PRF-31032, MIL-PRF-55110G, AS9100C, ISO 9001:2008 Certified, IPC 6012 Class 2, 3 and 3A Qualified, as well as ITAR Registered.  They serve diverse industries that depend on their high quality printed circuit boards, delivered on-time. Their customers rely on them for the PCBs they need for military, aerospace, defense, medical and many more critical applications. Advanced Circuits is  one of the few PCB suppliers that is able to manufacture for DOD Contracts in the United States.

Advanced Circuits Quick Turn Capabilities are Exclusive to Fit All of Your Needs!

Advanced Circuits is well-known for their reliability, excellent customer service, free exclusive services, plus their early and on-time shipping record.  They're also known for their Same Day Turn, Weekend Wonders, scheduled out deliveries, and no minimum quantity.  With their same day and weekend turns, they can help their customers with all of their expedited printed circuit board requirements! With over 10,000 active customers, Advanced Circuits is the industry’s preferred choice for all your PCB and PCB assembly needs! 

Our PCB Artist™ - The Best FREE PCB Design Software in the Industry!

We offer Exclusive PCB Services, FREE Design for Manufacturability checks at www.FreeDFM.com and FREE PCB Layout Software downloads at www.PCBArtist.com. To watch PCB Artist™ tutorial videos, please click here to visit our Youtube Channel. For more information, call 800-979-4PCB (4722).  

 Click Here for the latest update on our New "Universal Circuits" Acquisition.

 Click Here for the latest update on our "Circuit Express" Acquisition

Expanded History

Advanced Circuits PCB Manufacturer since 1989

For Advanced Circuits, "business as usual" simply means delivering a quality printed circuit board on time…EVERY TIME…with the industry's best customer service and convenience. From their inception in April 1989, they continue to out pace the industry in sales growth and innovation and have consistently focused on anticipating customers' needs, developing partnerships with them, and responding with services that make their lives easier.

Quickturn, Small Quantity Printed Circuit Boards

At the beginning Advanced Circuits transformed the industry by developing a new way to build low quantity prototypes with a quick turnaround times. Later, Advanced Circuits introduced a "first" in the industry, with instant online web quoting, ordering, and status. No longer did customers have to rely on fax and long quote turnarounds, and the term "Quick turn" took on new meaning, as customers were able to quote, track, and receive boards faster and more reliably than ever before.

In 1998 after moving to a new building in the Majestic Commerce Center near Denver International Airport, the first fully automated plating line in Colorado was installed after which sales growth began to really take off. In 1999 Advanced Circuits was named to Deloitte & Touche's prestigious Technology Fast 50 Program and gained the distinction of being one of the "50 fastest growing technology companies in Colorado." As a side note, the company has been named to this list every year, and in fall 2007 they received their 9th consecutive award, only one of two companies to ever receive this distinction. Also of distinction, Advanced Circuits has been a consistent Environmental Gold Award winner, a distinction shared by few Colorado companies.

In the summer 2001, Advanced Circuits introduced the famous "$33 Each" Special that made quickturn, small quantity PCBs affordable to not only all professionals, but also hobbyists and students alike. Production orders followed every quickturn/small quantity initiative, and Advanced circuits experienced record sales growth of 77% in the industry banner year of 2000. Even in the recession years that followed Advanced Circuits continued to innovate and grow.

The bells and whistles to your service really set you apart from competitors

What a great service you have. The bells and whistles to your service really set you apart from competitors. Interactive quoting lets me dial in quantities and lead times to get the best bargains and it's great to see your FreeDFM™ pick up the double vias that Orcad leaves behind. Your site is also a great place to keep up with the latest trends in technology and RoHS requirements. It's about time to see a board house enter the 21st Century."  

-P.R., NBS Card Technology 

Expanded Capabilities

Now ranked in the top three board manufactures in North America, Advanced Circuits has vastly expanded their capabilities and have made strategic acquisitions to expand technical capabilities and production capacity...most recently into the high tech military and aeronautical workspace. Advanced Circuits has the largest customer database in the industry and customers include Boeing, Hewlett Packard, National Semiconductor, Raytheon, General Dynamics, Lockheed, Honeywell, Intel, Microsoft, and NASA among others.

FreeDFM™ - upload your files before manufacturing starts

In 2002 Advanced Circuits' exclusive FreeDFM™ was introduced. FreeDFM™ allows customers to upload their files and get a complete file check for manufacturability before they place their orders. This enables 48% faster total thru-put from order placement to shipment and eliminates many of the issues that cause orders to go on CAM Hold. More than one customer has referred to this service as a "lifesaver"!

PCB Artist™ - Download our FREE Layout Software

In June 2007, Advanced Circuits released “PCB Artist™,” the industry’s most comprehensive FREE PCB Design Software for printed circuit board design. It rapidly became the #1 most requested PCB software on download.com and is now extensively used by designers and major OEMs. It features include schematic to Printed Circuit Board layout design, Free autorouter, gerber format, multi-page schematic & Netlist import as well as a huge library of over 500,000 parts. Free live tech support is also provided.

BareBones™ PCB's

In March 2003, despite the industry still in recession, Advanced Circuits expanded their manufacturing facility to over 62,000 square feet, reaching a new level of sophistication and responsiveness to technology and customer requirements. At the same time as it added and refined it capabilities, the company again addressed the most basic proto customer with a new offering called "BareBones™" which eliminated price as a barrier to proto purchase, and caused the industry to take an aggressive stance against increasing offshore competition. The Company also initiated a new focus on contract manufacturers as many OEM's began turning to turnkey solutions for their board and component requirements. Both initiatives have been very successful and Advanced Circuits continues to gain market share in not only small quantity PCBs but also Production sales volume.


More than state-of-the-art equipment and technical capabilities, the "secret" of Advanced Circuits is its people and the emphasis given to "taking care of customers". This customer focus begins at the top with the CEO and senior management, and extends on down to the last person that touches an order. At Advanced Circuits "taking care of the customer" means more than just customer service; in the words of President & CEO John Yacoub: "It means customer excellence in every transaction…every day!"

This emphasis on customers is also matched with a genuine concern for "taking care of the employee." This makes for an unbeatable combination of spirit and enthusiasm that makes Advanced Circuits different from other PCB companies. Advanced Circuits empowers their employees by providing the best benefits possible…and makes them business partners with profit sharing programs. Without a doubt, it is the loyalty, commitment, and enthusiasm of employees combined with a hallmark reputation for quickturn reliability that has kept Advanced Circuits consistently growing. At a time when PCB companies across America have continued to close their doors…unable to keep up with changing markets and offshore competitors, Advanced Circuits has continued to grow with the industry.

Significantly, 30% of new customers come from referrals…the highest possible compliment for the customer excellence Advanced Circuits works so hard to provide, and the vast majority of customers continue to place repeat orders. Securing new customers is the lifeblood of Advanced Circuits business, and marketing efforts are the most aggressive in the industry. Not only does the company have the industry's most visited website, but also it maintains a consistent direct mail program and exposure via press releases and media articles.

Another strong initiative taken by Advanced Circuits has been to help strengthen the U.S circuit board infrastructure. Advanced Circuits has reached out to smaller PCB companies to help them take care of their customers, by taking on the quickturn orders these small companies are not able to provide. In so doing, the smaller companies are able to satisfy their customers' quickturn requirements and still accommodate the larger production orders they are better able to handle.

In a complex and changing industry, Advanced Circuits is positioned for long-term success. The state of the U.S. economy and the turbulent state of world conditions has led to increased last-minute planning and implementation requiring quickturn solutions…not readily available offshore. Regardless of how many board shops will be around in the next 10 years, Advanced Circuits will be the leading PCB Manufacturer, a position consistently validated by customer feedback.

As one new buyer recently emailed the President of her company: "Advanced Circuits worked a 'miracle'!" Another customer reported: "You guys have never let me down…you have been on the ball with each and every order I ever placed identifying problems and correcting them before the boards got fabbed." But perhaps one Texas engineer said it best: "I am very pleased with the ease of doing business with Advanced Circuits and the quality of your product. Even though there seems to be more and more PCB proto houses; in Texas we have a saying…'like the old dog that I am, I return to where I was most comfortable the day before.'"

Making customers successful…as well as comfortable and worry free…will ensure Advanced Circuits continuing success, and we welcome the challenges and opportunities of the future!

 Click Here to View a Brief History of the Printed Circuit Board.