A Passion for PCB Prototypes: Accurate Circuit Engineering—'Good People Doing Something They Love'

Estimated reading time: 1 minute

Founded in 1983, Accurate Circuit Engineering (ACE) in Santa Ana, California, is a PCB prototype manufacturer and industry leader in radio frequency (RF) and microwave boards. It started as a family company and still adheres to those values by knowing its staff well and tailoring work and education to encourage them to stay at the company.

George Zell and Charles Lowe founded ACE as a small circuit board shop with five employees. Four decades later, it has expanded to three buildings and 72 employees. ACE was incorporated in 1985. James Hofer joined the company in 1999 as director of operations and is now a partner.

“ACE is good people doing something they love,” James says. “I am passionate about what I do, and ACE allows me to pursue that passion. I came from a flex and rigid-flex background, so when I joined the company, I decided we needed to find a niche. I thought I would change ACE into flex and rigid-flex, but they were running a lot of thick backplanes and ATE test boards. So, we decided to go with RF, microwave, and antenna, matching the lines and equipment already in place.”

ACE is a successful boutique business with repeat customers. They like it that way. “We’ve been offered incentives to increase running production orders,” James says. “We’re not interested. We get frequent emails to be acquired by the big conglomerates, but we refuse. We want to remain a small shop where people know where their product is being built, and they know the operators and the inside team building that product.”

In this industry, everything changes rapidly, and it’s important to stay updated. “Being a prototype manufacturer means our company needs to keep our finger on the pulse of the industry,” James says. “Being a member of the Global Electronics Association community allows us to keep abreast of the market. The Association offers us training, guidance, and insight that just can’t be found elsewhere. In my opinion, being a member of the Global Electronics Association is a must.”

Continue reading this article in the Summer 2025 issue of Community Magazine, a joint publication of I-Connect007 and the Global Electronics Association.