How much to charge for PCB assembly?

PCB board industry is expected to be valued at more than $89 billion by 2024. Whether your firm manufactures medical equipment, cellphones, laptops, or other electronic goods, you must ensure that you have consistent, dependable PCBs to charge consumers.

Working with a PCB assembly company might be beneficial in this attempt. Finding the correct PCB manufacturer is not always straightforward. You must have confidence that the items you get will match your exact requirements and quality standards.

PCB production costs include personnel, technology, turnaround time, part packaging costs, and the number of PCBs required. A PCB manufacturing cost calculator will assist you in determining the cost of the production and operation.

Overall, the cost of the PCB production process might vary greatly depending on the printed circuit board manufacturer. Below, we'll look at some of the elements that influence the PCB manufacturing process's total assembly cost and how they might be lowered to save money.

Charge for your Tech:

Another critical part of PCB assembly cost is the technology employed. On the one hand, because installation costs are cheaper and automation is substantially engaged, surface mount technology (SMT) can bring cost benefits to manufacturers. However, SMT components may necessitate through-hole drilling to accommodate more surface mount devices (SMDs), raising prices.

Advantage on pricing for producing in large Quantity:

Higher volumes result in reduce costs of PCB assembly owing to economies of scale in production. In other words, as a product is manufactured on a bigger scale, the unit price of each PCB falls dramatically. This economic phenomenon occurs because many of the elements that hike up assembly prices, such as starting expenses and programming, only affect the first units produced—all subsequent units may be manufactured without incurring these costs.

Increasing the amount of PCBs manufactured can save businesses money in the long term by avoiding one-time charges that do not need to be repeated. As a result, you should constantly look for manufacturers who can handle huge orders.

The Lesser Turnaround Time, the more you can charge:

When we're asked, "How much does PCB assembly costs?" one of the first questions that come to mind is, "How long is the estimated turnaround time?" The time necessary to finish the manufacturing process and meet the buyer's request is referred to as turnaround time. Faster turnaround times usually come at a higher assembly cost.

Buyers that need quick turnaround times might increase the cost of PCB assembly by up to one-third (i.e., 33 percent or more). Short turnaround times tend to raise assembly pricing since it frequently necessitates businesses to put existing orders on hold to prioritize yours. Similarly, expedited shipment, which reduces turnaround time, is more expensive than expedited shipping.

Charge as per the cost of labor:

The cost of labor varies depending on where you live. Labor is relatively inexpensive in certain locations, but not in others. Locations with greater labor costs might thus serve as an important element that has a significant influence on printed circuit board total cost.

So, if the PCB manufacturing base is in a high labor cost region, the cost will be greater as a result; the opposite is true in low labor cost locations. So, if you want to get a lower assembly costs PCB created with high profit, you must first grasp the market in which it is based. A little window browsing around the area might help you identify a more cost-effective choice.

However, if the manufacturing base is located too far from the location where it is required for inclusion in the device, the low labor cost may be offset by the high transportation of overall cost. As a result, both criteria, such as production site and application location, must be considered.

Technology and PCB fabrication cost:

The technology utilized to manufacture PCBs has a significant impact on their cost. If the technology is too automated yet has a cheap set-up cost, the cost of PCBs may be below. SMT, or surface mount technology, is in strong demand, however, it must be supplemented with soldering techniques. Some PCBs with components with varying degrees of heat resistance necessitate a selective soldering process. Laser and press-fit methods are employed in other, more common applications. Press-fit is the most cost-effective of these methods.

The importance of technology in determining the cost is determined by the following factors:

1.    How secure it is for all of the parts that must be set

2.    How simple or difficult the floor space layout need is

3.    If it encourages the use of cost-effective setting equipment, and so on.

 Comprehensive material’s bill:

The bill of PCB materials must be planned down to the last component. A checklist can assist in creating a complete bill. Replacement components should also be mentioned. Having said that, there should be no quick fixes when it comes to testing. A thorough design inspection and testing strategy may save a lot of embarrassment later on, as well as assist reduce customer unhappiness, which is far more important than PCB assembly cost.

Cheaper Materials can help you in charging better:

Glass-reinforced FR-4 is still the preferred material for PCBs, and DiCY-free or halogen-free variants with a range of thermal properties are now available. Although there are less expensive materials available, such as paper phenolic, their performance may not fulfill the electrical and thermal requirements for the completed PCA. More costly and exotic materials with various resins and reinforcements for high-speed or low thermal expansion applications are at the other end of the range.

For a double-sided, multilayer board, the influence of laminate type on board cost is the most significant cost component, behind only order volume.

Charging as per the counts of the board:

These decide how much material is needed and are used as the starting point for any pricing quotation. Because PCB fabricators construct panels and then cut them (depanelize) into individual boards, there is a clear benefit to optimizing panel usage because you are paying for the complete panel. Suppliers will collaborate with their clients to optimize board size, board spacing, and panel layouts by nesting and rotating to reduce unwanted space.

Layers are added by designers to give greater space for signal routing, especially when the total board size is limited. Higher board thickness can lead to higher PCB costs, in part due to the slightly more laminate required, but also due to the demand for nonstandard copper-clad core material thicknesses.

Drivers of Process Costs:

When the design rules utilized surpass the commodity design rules that comprise the standard costing matrix, the specific cost drivers come into play. However, if it surpasses the standard, a cost is connected with the real worth up to the point where it exceeds their normal procedures. Design rules may transcend this limit, but only until a 'cut-off' point is reached at which the process will no longer work. Each supplier's cost drivers will be unique!

The logical manufacturing cost drivers for a PCB plant are

1.    Processing of the inner layer 

2.    The process of laminating

3.    Exploration and drilling

4.    Processing of the outer layer 

5.    Solder mask is a kind of dermatological cream.

6.    Printing of visuals

7.    Removal of panels

8.    Electrical testing and final testing

9.    Other unique procedures 

10.  These are appropriate for a PCA plant.

11.   Printing with solder paste

12.  Surface-mount component installation

13.  Thermal reflowing

14.  Using through-hole technology

15.  Wave soldering

16.   Component installation by hand

17.    Electrical testing and quality check

Charge for your testing protocols:

It's not worth lowering expenses if it means lowering product quality as well. As a result, you must always test and check your product to ensure that no bad PCBs reach the market. Otherwise, you may discover that the expense of processing refunds and repairing client relationships surpasses any cost savings gained by avoiding rigorous inspections.

To correctly manage the temperature of the traces in the PCB's internal and exterior layers, utilize a trace width calculator. With the right inspection procedure in place, you can reduce long-term risk for your firm while also ensuring that your circuitry is responsive and adaptable to diverse temperature settings.

Conclusion:

By the end of the first quarter of the 21^st century, the printed circuit board (PCB) market is estimated to be worth billions of dollars. Therefore,  Whether your company makes hospital supplies, telephones, desktops, or other electrical goods, you must have reliable, trustworthy PCBs to charge customers. Working with a PCB assembly business may be advantageous in this endeavor. Finding the right PCB manufacturer or buyer is not always easy. You must be certain that the things you get will meet your stringent specifications and quality standards. To earn profit and charge in an effective way you must remember the above-mentioned points.