When looking for a PCB, quality is perhaps the most important thing you’ll look at. But as you consider quality, there are other vital elements that must be factored in to ensure the cost of PCB fabrication and assembly is kept to a minimum. Not only will you save on costs, but the return on investment will also be high as your business realizes profits. Ideally, when ordering a PCB the crucial thing is to ensure you get a reasonable bill or material costs, and that you enjoy the value for the money invested.
Unfortunately, there are some unscrupulous sellers out there looking for points to exploit and charge more for less. In addition to creating components that function to properly, what else can you do to significantly reduce the cost of circuit board assembly? Take for instance, with the introduction of machine assembly in PCB fabrication and assembly, engineers and designers can now assemble PCBs in the least time possible as compared to the use of hand placement. In fact, for most PCB assemblers, the average turn time is 5 days or less, making it 75% faster than the industry average. This means that the manufactured will be of good quality and costs less.
Other than the adoption of machines in PCB prototype assembly, there are other effective ways in which you can reduce the cost of production and they include.
Find the cheapest assembler
By cheaper option, you shouldn’t overrule the idea of professionalism and quality. Because you can find a PCB assembly services that promise competitive costs over their competitors, only to offer poor services. Instead, define and understand your projects timelines and budget, then go shopping for the right assembler. There are several ways to do this and they include magazines, trade fairs, and exhibitions and the internet of course. While doing your search, there are important things you’ll need to look at such as assembler certification, equipment and material sourcing. These elements will help you assess each and every assembler comprehensively.
Components optimization
In order to realize cost reduction in PCB fabrication and assembly, you need to make sure that however complex an electronic board is, it should be made simple. This can be achieved through proper layout count, via tech, surface finish, pad size, size and shape among others. These are the elements that influence the cost of PCBs assembly.
Have a neat and complete BOM
For manufacturing of PCBs, you must have a clear list of all the materials and components needed in the process. This will help you avoid surprise costs during the prototype phase. In addition, it’s important to factor in components replacement in your BOM to facilitate fast component upgrade. Having a BOM ready means that the production stage will start the moment you are satisfied with the items listed.
Finally, ensure that your PCBs are inspected and tested in their manufactured house. Inspections are vital in ensuring a quality final product which would otherwise be costly rectify. And again, inspection at the manufacturer’s site is often less expensive than outsourcing a separate company that only deals with quality checks. If you carefully follow the above rules of thumb, you can be sure to save a lot in terms of time and money without compromising quality.