PCB Tech - Things to consider before mass production PCB

It's another new year, do you have a new design prototype to be delivered to PCBA assembly? Perhaps you are even more determined this year to put a piece of hardware design into mass production, but it may still be difficult to complete this work for the first time! In this article, I want to share eight things that must be considered before PCB design mass production.

1. Before selecting parts, consider the design scale

Board size, cost, and design time, which is more important? Large boards are easier to design, but the production cost is higher, and small boards are cheaper to produce, but they may also increase in price due to the need for more layers, and it may take a long time to design.

2. Part size and cost

As far as passive components are concerned, components with a size of about 0603 are the most cost-effective and the best to handle. We can handle 0201 components, but not all manufacturers do. In addition, 0603 is also easy to repeat processing, and there is no problem if manual welding is necessary.

3. Check for the latest components.

Recently, some components can only be used in BGA or QFN with very small wafer specifications. Check your integrated circuit to see if it is the specification you are used to.

Eight things that must be considered before mass production of printed circuit boards

4. Confirm whether rare components can be obtained

If the design prototype is about to be completed, but you need to wait for a part, it is very troublesome. If your design will use rare components, consider alternatives that have similar functions and are relatively easy to obtain.

5. When designing the circuit board, pay attention to the temperature problem during production

Large components and small components side by side may cause problems. Large components are like radiators, which may cause the solder of small components to fail to melt smoothly during soldering. The same problem may also be encountered when the internal copper sheet of the circuit board covers only a part of the small components.

6. The name and polarity of the object should be particularly clearly marked

The labeling of the name of the object should be very clear, and the polarity labeling should not be confusing. Be especially careful with LEDs. Manufacturers sometimes interchange the polarity symbols. The positive symbol may mean negative on other LEDs. In addition, try not to mark near the guide hole or other places that may be erased.

7. Before sending the PCBA production materials for production, please confirm the file again

Please confirm again that the version of the design file sent is correct. The bill of materials is likely to be affected due to some outdated data and cause delays.

8. If you want to send it in the form of a kit, please confirm if there are any missing components

Please read it again and make sure that each kit has PCB component numbers and names marked on it.

The production process is actually just putting a bunch of components on the board. It sounds simple, but there are still many intermediate variables. Through some confirmation processes, the error rate can be reduced a lot!