Apparatus for supporting a recording/reading head and assembling a flex circuit in a disc drive

An apparatus for supporting a recording/reading head and assembling a flex circuit in a disc drive preferably includes a suspension having a first end and a second end, and a stiffener coupled to the suspension at the second end, the stiffener extending substantially in parallel with the suspension. The apparatus further includes a flex circuit having a first portion and a second portion, the first portion is coupled to the suspension, and the second portion is coupled to the stiffener. The stiffener extends along the flex circuit. This allows one to readily locate the flex circuit in a subsequent process, such as a disc drive stack build process, so that the fabrication of the disc drive can be highly automated.