PCB Tech - Skills to quickly complete the production of PCBA samples

With the rise of the global hardware innovation wave and the upgrading and transformation of the national economy, hardware innovation entrepreneurs have sprung up like mushrooms. But most of these teams face pressure and difficulties from various resources, such as capital, personnel, technology, and so on. Among these difficulties, the problem of sample production is one of the most headaches for developers, and it cannot be circumvented and must be solved, otherwise development will not start.

In the process of PCBA sample production, have you encountered the following difficulties?

1. The quantity is too small, the manufacturer does not accept the order

2. Sky-high start-up costs and engineering costs

3. The order is small, the factory does not pay attention to it, and the quality is not guaranteed

4. The speed is slow, which delays the progress of the project

This can be solved!

The following will tell you how to quickly complete the production of PCBA samples from the two aspects of "preparation" and "selecting suppliers".

What developers need to do

1. Standard project file output

Standardized project file output

a) Standard electronic BOM production

BOM is one of the most important documents for design and development output, and is a necessary document for subsequent purchase of materials and placement. This requires that the output BOM file must be standardized, and the relevant material information must be clearly and comprehensively listed. The content that needs to be clearly marked in the electronic BOM includes the component name, component specification, component position number, component PN code (material number), component shape, required quantity, and substitution relationship; if there is a brand demand for the component, the brand requirements and components must be listed MPN (manufacturer part number).

Standardized electronic BOM production

b) Standard PCB production file output

The PCB board is a very important component. There are many production processes. The production cycle is between 4-9 days according to the number of layers. No modification can be made after feeding, otherwise it will only be scrapped and the development progress will be delayed. Therefore, PCB production documents must be accurate and clear.

c) Standard patch file

SMT is the most important part of verifying the hardware design function by attaching components to the PCB. Whether it is smooth or not will seriously affect the development progress and development effect. Because it involves a large number of components, the equipment is sophisticated, and any non-standard and inaccurate documents will lead to Bad, affecting progress. Therefore, to ensure that the project files output to the placement factory must be standardized and accurate. The main requirements are as follows:

1. The BOM should be accurate and standardized, including the information required for the BOM production mentioned above;

2. The PCB file or Gerber of the board factory is used for the opening of the steel mesh and the coordinate guide for the placement program.

2. Lead Time Management of Key Components

A hardware product requires dozens of components and hundreds of them. There are many suppliers. Regardless of the demand, even one less will cause samples to fail to be produced; and the procurement cycle of each component is also different. Therefore, it is particularly important to manage the leadTime of materials well, in order to solve the problems caused by the lead time of the components.

1. The design should try to use the mainstream devices in the current market. The mainstream devices are relatively easy to buy, and the cost is also low. There are many channels for obtaining mainstream device information, such as Shanghai Huaqiang Electronic Network or Huaqiang Core City, etc., which can be quickly and comprehensively understood;

2. Identification and management of key components During the development process, designers must identify which are key components, because these are mainly chip-type components and have poor substitutability. According to experience, the purchase of these materials will often become a bottleneck. Lead Time management is particularly important. Developers must consider the procurement cycle of key components when formulating the development schedule;

3. Look for a large component platform for cooperation. Large platforms have the advantages of sufficient supply, wide channels, and excellent prices. For the development stage or small batch production stage, when the purchase volume is not large, it is the best choice to find a large platform to cooperate.

How to choose a supplier

A suitable electronics manufacturing supplier can well meet R&D needs and have the strength to make satisfactory samples, which saves time and worry. How to choose a supplier? The following points should be noted:

1. Process capability

The supplier's process capability is directly related to the quality of the samples.

2. Good coordination, focus on quality and service

PCBA sample production is based on quality and speed, and good communication with electronics manufacturers is the catalyst. If the communication is smooth and the two parties cooperate well, the production efficiency can be greatly improved.

Three, can be delivered quickly

It usually takes 5-15 days from the design plan to the return of the PCBA samples. If the control is not good, this time may be extended to 1 month. If there is a time delay caused by human factors, it will have a great negative impact on the project schedule.

The preparatory work is done well, and then a suitable supplier is selected. The problems of "small quantity, no order", "quality insecure", "slow speed" and so on can be solved. PCBA sample production is based on quality and speed, and good communication with electronics manufacturers is the catalyst. When an electronic product company has such a concept, it can gradually form a stable cooperative relationship and good design habits to maximize the smooth progress of the project.

If you have any questions or ideas about PCBA sample production, please contact us to discuss together!