A Z-axis assembly process was described for producing optical fiber based connectorized optical interconnection circuits (COICs). The required split connectors were injection molded from heavily filled PPS material. Reproducible mechanized fiber stripping as part of the Z-axis assembly process was incorporated and successfully tested with good results. The COICs have shown good uniform optical loss performance. It is expected that the integrated Z-axis assembly as described in this paper would prove cost effective in producing the much needed optical backplanes for large and wide-band switching, communication and computing systems.