It often does not make sense to invest in high priced production equipment if you just want to spin a handful of prototypes and alternatively outsource your PCB assembly and prototype manufacturing to a trustworthy vendor. I will give some recommendations as to what to watch out for when seeking for a contract manufacturer.
Several contract makers will offer an immediate quote mechanism on their site for manufacture of circuit boards and assembly of prototypes. This will save you time when comparing different vendors. Make confident that the quote system permits you to enter all of the information, such as board material, thickness, copper thickness, milling and so forth. so that you can get an accurate quote devoid of any surprises later on.
Commonly the cost per board will reduce as quantity increases. This is due to the pretty higher setup price of circuit board manufacturing and element assembly. Some vendors will use a system where they combine boards from quite a few prospects. This way the setup price will be distributed amongst various customers. When you manufacture a product, you definitely do not want to have to manufacture a significant quantity of boards suitable away although you refine your style.
1 limitation with smaller-quantity prototypes though is that the selection of materials and material thicknesses will be limited. If you are employing a unique material then probabilities are there won’t be any other clients making use of the identical material. In addition, lead time plays a big part in determining cost. A longer lead time allows the manufacturer much more freedom in slotting your production. This is normally reflected in reduced charges which you will see in the quote section. Of course if you are in a rush and want to be moved to the top of the pile you will need to devote a lot more revenue.
Make certain that your contract manufacturer will help the file format for manufacture that you supply. The most prevalent format for PCB manufacture is the Gerber format but some vendors will also accept board files from prevalent PCB computer software merchandise. Some suppliers also offer you in-house PCB style. Even if annular ring , choosing a vendor with design and style solutions may possibly prove valuable in case there is a issue with your files. In this case your vendor can make swift adjustments which will avoid costly delays.
When subcontracting PCB assembly, guarantee that your vendor can assemble all of the package forms that your board utilizes. Some vendors can’t assemble certain sort of IC packages such as BGA, chip-scale packages or incredibly little element kinds. If in doubt be confident to speak to your vendor ahead of time.
Some contract companies will carry an inventory of typical SMT and via-hole components. You will save time if you can pull from your vendor’s inventory rather than purchasing each component yourself. Make sure to specify which elements you wish to consign oneself when you upload your bill of components.
Most vendors will also offer manufacture of the SMT stencil which is expected for PCB assembly. Be sure to order the stencil right away when ordering the circuit boards themselves to steer clear of delays.
