Creating custom printed circuit boards in high volume is not just as simple as saying ‘PCBA but on a larger scale.’ High volume PCB Assembly requires a completely new set of standards, automated manufacturing capability, and automated quality control to manufacture hundreds of thousands to millions of PCBs. We will guide you on what you need to consider when considering a High Volume PCB Assembly supplier.
- Volumes- While all the steps must be followed from traditional PCB prototyping (cross discipline collaboration, schematic design, pcb board design and layout, enclosure design, PCB testing, final box build), you should expect the minimums to start at tens of thousands for mass-produced PCBs.
- For a specialty industry application like automotive digital solutions, you may even be looking at millions of boards.
- High volume PCB assembly lives in these kinds of volumes.
- You’ll want a supplier comfortable with PCB mass production.
- Uniform PCB Prototyping- Assume that you are working on refining one PCB for maximum quality and mass PCB assembly.
- You’ll want multiple PCBs manufactured on panels instead of one at a time.
- Workable solutions that might be acceptable in small batch or single prototype PCBA might not be ideal for high volume PCB assembly.
- When a single defect can impact thousands or millions of boards, you need extra care taken beyond manual hands-on testing.
- You have to partner with a PCB manufacturer that can prototype your desired factors, manage mass production manufacturing limitations, evaluate part size and costs, plan stencil paneling and board depaneling, and maximize your Surface Mount Technology (SMT) placing area.
- Components- It is one thing to find a solution to a problem with workable part selection. It is another thing to apply high volume part purchasing into the formula for high volume PCB assembly.
- You must make selections that are not only workable but have some guarantee for consistent part availability through several suppliers and multiple sourcing channels.
- Vetting the longevity of your PCB components is important when a sudden loss of supply might endanger your sale of thousands of hardware products.
- Implement Design for Manufacturing (DFM) principles before prototyping.
- Automated Production- Individual prototypes can be assembled by hand and inspected one at a time.
- To reach high volume demand, you will need a fully automated PCBA production line capable of automatically solder pasting, placing parts, Automated Optical Inspection (AOI), and moving on to the next circuit board.
- You will need to complete rapid reliable production turnaround on delicate circuitry.
- You’ll need to expect capital investment in either your own dedicated PCB assembler machine or expect signing a manufacturing contract with a high volume PCB assembler.
- Depending on your volume, your contract manufacturer may set up a dedicated line for depanelization, Functional Circuit Tests(FCT), and even packaging.
- This means implementing Design for Assembly (DFA) principles before prototyping.
- Automated Traceability- You will need to not only assemble your products automatically, but you also need to automate marking your board with a variety of traceability markings.
- Circuit identifiers, production dates, lot numbers, branding, part numbers, and serial numbers are a common demand of high volume PCB assembly industries like aerospace, military, and medical hardware.
- In-line part testing with Surface Mount Technology (SMT) equipment is needed to track and verify part quality.
- AOI will not only verify a part is placed correctly but that the correct part was placed.
- Traceability allows better quality control, product history, counterfeit mitigation, servicing, and performance.
- When you are producing thousands to millions of PCBs, streamlining and formalizing traceability is a minimum requirement.
- Automated Inspection- Once a high volume PCB is out of the prototyping stage, manual inspection becomes impractical.
- Small batch and single prototype PCBA can afford to manually inspect every board for delivery.
- Even with a dedicated team, thousands to millions of circuit boards need rapid assessment for component placement, soldering defects, stenciling errors, electrical defects, signal strength, and a number of critical assessments.
- Expect to pursue a variety of automated inspection tools like Automated Optical Inspection (AOI), X-ray inspection, and inspection software sensors programmed to identify defects in your board.
- Automated Testing- When dealing with thousands of printed circuit boards you need to automate hardware products under Design for Testing (DFT) principles.
- With single prototype and small batch PCBA, you can afford to test each circuit board for compliance with signaling, power, heat, durability, uniformity, efficiency, and reliability manually.
- Adding test points to the design for probing and applying power and adding vias, openings that allow access to multiple layers of the board, allow fixtures on your board testing passages for ICT, Flying probes, and semi-custom test fixtures.
- This means planning a strategy for automated testing in the design phase.
Advantages of Contract High Volume PCB Assembly vs In House
In house High Volume PCB Assembly might sound attractive, but there are some hurdles you need to overcome before an in house team becomes a practical pursuit.
- Capital Investment- Automated assembly, inspection, and testing require customized machinery.
- Different automated machines might be needed for different size boards and different sized components.
- You risk making a hefty six to seven figure capital investment for one size board. These costs escalate with new hardware products.
- Engineering Lift- Suddenly, you will need to hire expert mechanical engineers, software engineers, and electrical engineers to manage your in house PCB design and production.
- Adding in house design staff is not just hiring some engineers, it is like founding a business inside of your business.
- You risk diverting your resources from growing your business to diluting your purpose by managing this second company.
- Ownership- On top of production you become in charge of defect correction, equipment repair, PCB design improvements, and scaling the brand.
- These come with a lot of management oversight.
- Longevity Risk- You become responsible for scoping the hardware design that justifies your High Volume PCB investment.
- You become responsible for nailing that first prototype for best quality, most cost effective part selection, efficient production, and market longevity.
- You risk purchasing a custom high volume PCB assembler machine and not achieving a swift return on investment.
A manufacturing contract with a High Volume PCB Assembler mitigates a lot of the risks associated with in-house and general High Volume PCB Assembly.
- Single Source Authority- Instead of building and vetting expertise in multiple engineering disciplines internally, a contract high volume PCB assembler comes with authority in those disciplines.
- You guarantee that they take ownership of your PCB design from the beginning.
- You guarantee that your engineers not only cross collaborate on electrical, software and mechanical engineering, you guarantee focused engineering discipline on schematic design, PCB layout and routing, enclosure design, and final box build.
- You make the high level requests for your hardware and leave translation of those requests into technical specifications to your contract engineers.
- Experienced in house PCB design is the smartest avenue from board to one million sold.
- Cost Effective- A manufacturing contract is exponentially less expensive than the capital investment necessary to purchase and operate an in-house high-volume PCB assembly line.
- Your expert contract engineering team guarantees cost effective part selection without sacrificing quality.
- They are accustomed to mitigating costly scoping errors, anticipating defects, and planning for compatible scalable engineering projects.
- They have the architecture already in place to plan modular replacements in your PCBs to keep them upgraded and modern without having to start from scratch.
- They can negotiate bulk production prices from mass production.
- Mutual Investment- You might think the opposite is true, but you would be mistaken.
- When you sign a multiyear manufacturing contract with a contract high volume pcb assembly manufacturer, they commit to the success of your company.
- Your multiyear contract fosters mutual growth, incentivizes a commitment to dollars on your bottom line, and ensures the contract manufacturer grows with you.
- They make choices to improve your hardware, so you renew the contract, plan new product lines, and mitigate issues.
- Long Term Control- A long term PCB assembly contract in the USA guarantees the most control over your manufacturing.
- You won’t be subject to international ‘black swan events’, 3rd party communication issues, cultural barriers, supply chain disruptions, and inconsistent quality common to overseas manufacturing.
- The best intellectual property protection is sticking with one PCB designer and one PCB manufacturer in the United States.
- Turnkey PCB Manufacturing- Thousands to millions of boards represent a monumental dedication to uniform design, consistency in quality, cost, efficiency, even floor space.
- Managing these details takes a lot of specialization, time, and bandwidth.
- Turning to a vertically integrated contract high volume PCB assembler means you can maintain your focus where it needs to be; growing your market share, providing quality products, and putting dollars on your bottom line.
At DEVELOP LLC, we have the investment, capability, and expertise to automate high volume PCBA. Tell us more about your project, schedule a virtual meeting, or call (262)-622-6104 to learn how DEVELOP LLC can bring your PCB prototype to mass production.