PCB Assembly Success – 5 simple tips for a successful PCB Product!

If you aren’t on the Printed Circuit Board (PCB) much, then you might be unaware of the fact that printed circuit board manufacturing, and printed circuit board assembly are two different disciplines. Each of these specialist disciplines is typically handled by different companies, owing to the technicalities, unique procedures, and altogether different toolset requirements. The printed circuit board manufacturing refers to the generation of bare PCB, whereas, assembling the different components onto the PCB is what is referred to as printed circuit board assembly.

Here we are going to see some essential steps that should be followed to help you come up with a top quality and affordable PCB assembly process. So, without wasting any time let’s get started:

  • USE PCB assembler as a resource:

A common mistake that most businesses, especially start-ups do is to ignore the importance of PCB assembler as a resource. This can be a costly mistake to make!

Just like you would like to talk about various aspects with a PCB manufacturer (something we highly recommend as a quality PCB manufacturer), you got to take the PCB assembler as your resource too. Ideally, you should consult PCB manufacturer simultaneously while you are in negotiations with PCB manufacturers. This will help you to come up with a clean and effective PCB board designs, quality of materials, and product techniques. Together, PCB manufacturer and assembler can help you get the best of all the worlds for your quest to best Printed Circuit Boards.

  • Offshore PCB assembly comes at their own risks

Ok, outsourcing the PCB assembly to save on cost is surely tempting. However, you got to incorporate various risk factors that you might face in the longer run. Firstly, going for an offshore PCB assembler comes with the inherent risk of delayed communication due to various reasons, including logistics, communication gaps, etc. Secondly, you don’t have the control of quality, while you outsource PCB assembly to an offshore business. There is always a possibility that the business to save on cost using below par, or imitation parts which may lead to board failures in the longer run. This will badly offset your initial savings. So, while lower assembly cost might be a lucrative factor for many, there are always hidden risks associated with offshore low-cost business deals.

  • Reliance on the sole supplier is risky

Diversification is always the key to success. Reliance on a sole supplier for parts of boards might lead you to troubled water, as any production or operational delays on their part might lead to costly delays for your business. Furthermore, if the supplier you relied on deciding to “End-life” of that part in future, you would be in deep trouble. Thereby, when choosing the parts, or supplier, choose wisely.

  • Maintain Label Consistency

You surely double-check all the markings over your design document, however, that’s not it. You got to stay vigilant and double check the markings on components as well. This is especially important because of different markings used by different manufacturers. So, make sure your components label markings stay consistent throughout.

Ideally, you should mark, label, number, and match all different components are sending along with your design package and documentation. Oh, and make sure these markings are easy to read (there should be a difference between o and 0).

  • Understand the Trade-offs

Well, the technology is moving fast, and you got to stay vigilant to be able to efficiently utilize the power of PCB. There is an increasing evolution in PCB design. People are looking to pack more and more features into smaller boards, and this isn’t always a compatible situation.

So, before you begin with board designing, make sure you describe all desired functionalities you want to incorporate into the board. Are you looking for higher power output? Do you want strong transmission? Well, you got to list all that you want out of the board and discuss it with PCB manufacturer as well as the assembler. To be able to get optimum results, you might need to scale up or scale down, but it’s always easy to change at an initial stage, isn’t it? Initial consultation with PCB assembler can help you come out with an effective design.

 

Ok, that’s it. These are some simple and effective tips that can help you come out with a viable, and efficient PCB product.

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