Ideas For Outsourcing PCB Assembly And Prototype Manufacturing

If you need to produce a few prototypes which need PCB assembly, it doesn’t make sense to purchase high-priced equipment. Instead, you may wish to contract out the production to a dependable vendor. A lot of vendors will offer both PCB production and assembly. I will offer some ideas as to what to watch out for when searching for a contract manufacturer.

Some vendors will have an instantaneous online quote system on their website which will save you save time when picking a supplier. Make certain that the quote system allows you to enter all of the details, such as board material, thickness, copper thickness, milling etc. so that you can get an accurate quote without any surprises later on.

Generally the cost per board will decrease as quantity increases. This is due to the fairly high setup cost of circuit board making and component assembly. Several vendors will use a system where they combine boards from several customers. In this way the setup expense will be distributed amongst a number of clients. When you manufacture a product, you obviously do not wish to have to manufacture a high quantity of boards immediately while you refine your design.

If you are producing a prototype board then vendors will usually only offer particular types of standard materials and thicknesses because they are trying to combine production of your boards with other customer boards. Most manufacturers will charge differently depending on how quick you require them to complete the production. A longer lead time will give the vendor more liberty to slot the assembly. Moreover, they can more easily mix your order with other customer’s orders. You should find that the quote will change based on the lead time when you enter your data in the instant quote section.

Check that your supplier can read your production files which generally would be Gerber files for circuit boards but can also be software-specific files in some cases. A few suppliers also offer in-house PCB design. Even if you design your board yourself, choosing a vendor with design services may prove practical in case there is a problem with your files. In this case your supplier can make fast changes which will avoid costly delays.

Make sure that your vendor can handle the package type of each component on your board if you plan on subcontracting the PCB assembly. You should find a list of which kinds of components your vendor can mount online. Some manufacturers may not be able to mount particular BGA or chip-scale packages. E-mail your supplier if you have questions about what type of components can be assembled. That will avoid problems later on.

A number of contract manufacturers will have in stock an inventory of normal SMT and through-hole components. You will save time if you can pull from your vendor’s stock instead of purchasing each part yourself. When using your vendor’s stock, you need to make certain you indicate which components you are consigning. You can usually specify this in your bill of materials. The BOM which you upload to your vendor’s website must contain this information.

Most vendors will also offer manufacture of the SMT stencil which is needed for PCB assembly. Be sure to order the stencil immediately when buying the circuit boards themselves to avoid delays.

To ensure quality, make sure that your supplier has the usual quality approvals. Also, if your board needs special testing, ensure your supplier has appropriate testing equipment. Some testing will need additional time and cost.