A Seven Point Checklist for Deciding on a Printed Circuit Board (PCB) Assembly Manufacturer

When it comes to choosing a contract manufacturer to outsource your printed circuit board (PCB) assembly jobs, there are seven areas to consider when deciding upon the optimal PCB Assembly corporation:

1. Location: Picking a contract manufacturer that is within a drivable distance from your business enterprise provides you more flexibility and agility to adapt to changing circumstances in particular when a deadline is imminent. A PCB assembly business that is in your regional region also is more hassle-free when web-site surveys need to have to be carried out and when a shortage of materials and components occurs.

2. Functionality of Manufacturing Equipment: The functionality of the manufacturing equipment of a PCB contract manufacturer is vital to their capacity to fulfill the contract’s needs. Do they have new or obsolete gear? Are the pick-and-location machines, reflow ovens, and wave soldering equipment well maintained? Reviewing their maintenance logs can give you the confidence that the corporation is really serious about high quality. This builds trust in the company partnership.

3. Assembly Employees Certifications: To make sure the PCB contract assembler can total your production run on schedule requires not only effectively maintained gear, but also a certified employees of assembly technicians. So, assessment the education and certification records of the assembly staff. Guarantee they have obtained the technical credentials to enable them to execute their assigned tasks. For these staff members who are not certified, verify on their progress in the certification course of action.

4. Quality Systems: Does the assembly corporation have a high quality system in place such as ISO 9001:2008? This should really be the minimum certification attained by the company to guarantee they can provide a quality product. If it has yet another high-quality method in location, is the business currently certified by a licensed registrar? Lastly, would the PCB assembly organization agree to invest in becoming certified to the identical excellent program as your business? By undertaking so, it indicates the enterprise is committed to a lengthy-term business enterprise connection with you.

5. Shipping Deadlines: The capability to meet shipment deadlines is a important metric for you to figure out if a contract manufacturer has the capacity, personnel and sources to meet your business enterprise requirements. When possible, receive records from the PCB manufacturer regarding their capability to meet deadlines. Acquire a detailed understanding of who is manufacturing the PCBs and where they are created.

6. Components Procurement: Conduct a overview of their procurement division. Do they keep an sufficient in-house inventory? Are their vendors local, regional, or geographically diverse and what is the nature of those vendor relationships? Are the relationships close adequate such that expense discounts can simply be passed down to you? How does their procurement division deal with challenging-to-fine or obsolete components? Do they have procurement specialists who have experience in sourcing substitute components for obsolete components? Can they take your schematics/drawings and create a Bill of Components with little or no assistance by you?

7. Price Effective Pricing: Given that labor rates differ, you need to obtain an itemized breakdown of the total price of manufacturing. Verify what is incorporated in the manufacturing fees. Then flexible pcb ought to conduct a cost comparison study to identify if their costs are commensurate with the business typical and their competitors. Make certain you have and precise comparison of all fees and the bottomline price.

By applying the 7-point checklist above, you can accurately identify whether a certain PCB Assembly Property is a good match for your business and PCB assembly needs.