Advice For Subcontracting PCB Assembly And Prototype Manufacturing

Advice For Subcontracting PCB Assembly And Prototype Manufacturing

If you wish to manufacture a couple of prototypes which require PCB assembly, it doesn't make sense to buy pricey equipment. As an alternative, you may wish to outsource the production to a dependable vendor. Many vendors will offer both PCB production and assembly. I will show you what to look out for when selecting a vendor. I will also give some pointers on which services today's suppliers provide.

Some vendors will have an instant online quotation system on their website which will save you save time when selecting a supplier. You should be able to enter all of the board data including board thickness, material etc. and particular requirements such as milling, surface treatments into the quote system. This will make certain an accurate quote without the risk of surcharges later on.

Generally the cost per board will decrease as quantity increases. This is due to the relatively high setup expense of circuit board manufacturing and component assembly. Various prototype vendors will mix boards from different clients to help distribute the setup expense and lower the expense per board for small volumes. When you are still in the design phase of your product, you do not want to spin a high quantity of boards initially. As soon as you refine your design you may slowly want to increase the board volume.

One limiting factor with small-quantity prototypes however is that the variety of materials and material thicknesses will be limited. If you are using a particular material then chances are there won't be any other customers utilizing the same material. The production cost will usually decrease with a longer lead time which will give the vendor more freedom in slotting the production. This is normally reflected in lower costs which you will see in the quote section. Obviously if you are in a rush and need to be moved to the top of the pile you will have to spend more money.

Check that your supplier can read your production files which normally would be Gerber files for circuit boards but can also be software-specific files in some cases. If you pick a manufacturer which also offers circuit board design services then you can rest assured that there won't be any lengthy delays in case your board files have a problem that needs to be corrected.

Make certain that your vendor can handle the package type of each part on your board if you plan on subcontracting the PCB assembly. You should find a list of what kinds of components your vendor can mount online. Some vendors may not be able to assemble particular BGA or chip-scale packages. If in doubt be sure to contact your supplier ahead of time.

If you want to simplify the ordering of board components, you can choose a vendor which has inventory of standard components. That way you only have to consign special types of components. When using your vendor's inventory, you need to make certain you point out which parts you are consigning. You can generally specify this in your bill of materials. The BOM which you upload to your vendor's website must contain this data.

If you plan to buy the SMT stencil from the same supplier, you should purchase it right away when buying the circuit boards to avoid any PCB assembly delays.

If you require testing, make sure your supplier supports the board test methods you need. Some testing will need building of particular test equipment. This will require additional time and cost. In addition, make sure that your vendor has suitable quality management approvals.

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