How Much Does PCB Assembly & Cost? 5 Expert Tips to Reduce Rates and Pricing for Design Companies  

Joining electronic components to a wiring circuit board by PCB assembly thus turns a bare PCB into a working product. The cost of PCB assembly and design services is highly variable and depends on differing materials, complexity, volume, and even assembly technology used. Knowing this going in helps ensure that you’re neither a struggling startup nor an established design company fighting to stay black.

This article will delve into PCB assembly costs and identify five expert tips that help design companies reduce rates while maintaining high standards.

🚀 Table of contents

Understanding PCB assembly costs

To effectively manage the cost of PCB assembly, it is important to understand the factors that influence it. The major contributors to the overall cost for engineering companies include:

• Board complexity: The complexity of the PCB design, for example, the number of layers, component density, and type of components directly influence the cost of assembly.
• Component costs: There is a huge range of electronic component prices due to the myriad of specifications and sourcing of these devices. The most expensive and hard-to-source components contribute significantly to the cost.
• Type of assembly: There are two general types of PCB assembly available: Surface Mount Technology (SMT) and Through-Hole Technology (THT). For the same application, the performance of SMT is better, with shorter lead times and lower overall costs. THT has greater labor content and, therefore, increases the cost.
• Volume of assembly: Large volume orders are generally more economical because higher volume runs keep economies of scale in effect; smaller runs are normally associated with higher per-unit costs.
• Lead times: A longer lead time often means a higher price. Excellent lead times often translate to better savings for non-time-sensitive projects.
• Testing and quality control: Quality and functionality are ensured with thorough testing like ICT and FCT, which entails additional costs but is required to avoid expensive mistakes or recalls.
• Labor and overhead: Costs for PCBs to be assembled depend on the labor rates in different regions. Surprisingly, cheap labor is mostly available in countries like China, India, and Vietnam, and Western countries are more costlier.

Now that we have all that out of the way, here are five best practices that design houses can use to see lower-cost PCB assembly without cutting into quality.

Design your PCB for DFM

Design for manufacturability (DFM) services is an engineering practice aimed at making designs that are not only easy to manufacture but also low in cost. An improperly designed PCB can cost the assembly process a lot while resulting in higher rates.

Some of the DFM best practices are:

• Minimize layers: Multi-layer PCBs offer numerous layers; however, that also can increase the manufacturing cost by many folds. Try to minimize the number of layers. This might be achieved by optimizing route paths and proper utilization of board space.
• Standardize components: This will reduce lead times and costs. Avoid proprietary or hard-to-source components that can push up the procurement costs.
• Optimal space: Always keep enough space between components to allow the automatic assembly machines to put them in without any effort. A design that is too dense requires extra hand labor, meaning that the PCB assembly cost will be higher.
• Panelization: If your PCB design is very small, then you can panelize several boards together into a single larger board. Panelizing makes it more efficient to assemble the boards, and it also cuts down the setup.

Investing in a well-thought-out design upfront helps avoid costly mistakes and also saves considerable amounts of time in the assembly process.

Source the components wisely

The components you use may represent the biggest cost driver when it comes to PCB assembly. Hence, proper sourcing of components is considered an essential smart strategy.

Key strategies comprise the following:

• Bulk purchase: Supply procurement in bulk leads to lower prices from suppliers. Design houses can further reduce costs by partnering with good assembly houses and suppliers.
• Use alternative parts: Use other parts or equivalents that have long lead times and are expensive. If there is a match between the two for performance, then it can be considered an alternative. Now, some of the EDA tools help find alternative parts during the design cycle.
• Check component lifecycles: Choose components that are not near the tail end of their production lifecycle. Such products are usually costlier and less accessible than others. More modern components with longer lifecycles will save you money on redesigns.
• Partner with a turnkey PCB manufacturer: Turnkey PCB manufacturers manage all aspects of production, which includes component sourcing. Of course, with huge volumes being bought, purchasing can become cheaper, and therefore, component costs may reduce the total assembly costs.

Manage your component sourcing process actively; you can dramatically reduce the overall assembly costs for your product design company.

Use assembly automation

Automation in PCB assembly mainly reduces labor costs and increases accuracy and efficiency. Automated assembly lines, including SMT-based ones, are faster and require fewer labor hours than manual assembly.

These are some of the factors to exploit automation:

• SMT over THT: Surface Mount Technology is less costly than Through-Hole Technology because of its highly automated nature. If your design allows SMT components, then go for this technology to reduce labor costs.
• Pick-and-Place machines: The machine could make absolutely precise placements of the component onto the board automatically. Reducing manual placements lowers human errors, which get translated into costly rework or scrap.
• Automated inspection: AOI and X-ray inspection systems can quickly and accurately detect defects or misalignments in assembly, reducing costly post-production testing and rework.

Investing in assembly automation is particularly profitable in high-volume production where savings earned from automation far outweigh the cost of initial setup. Consider using design for assembly services to make sure that you’re getting expert help on your project.

Leverage production volume

Production volume has a direct impact on the cost of assembling PCBs. Generally, increasing the volume of production brings down the cost per unit more for the sake of economies of scale.

Here’s how you may take advantage of the production volume to leverage cost reduction:

• Batch orders: Where a number of designs are ordered together, all under one large batch run, it saves on the setup fees and increases the efficiency of the assembly process. This is very suitable for companies where several different PCBs are being produced.
• Negotiate with manufacturers: Volumes of larger sizes can usually be negotiated with manufacturers for better rate reductions. Be clear with the manufacturer about future production plans since manufacturers are generally open to accepting companies with long-term production needs at better prices.
• Plan for scalability: If you know you need high volumes in the future, it is helpful to communicate this to your assembly partner up front. They can then help ensure your design is scalable and ready to be manufactured in large volumes without significant redesign.

By optimizing your volume of production, you can greatly reduce the cost per unit for your PCB assembly for your manufacturing firm.

Consider offshore manufacturing for cost reduction

The labor cost is among the primary reasons for the assembly of PCB. Offshore manufacturing based on regions having lower labor costs can be a good practice to avoid high expenses. Asia has such regions, including China, Vietnam, and India, which provide competitive pricing for the assembly of PCBs due to their full manufacturing infrastructure and low rates of labor.

The following are the determinants for offshore manufacturing you should opt for:

• Labor: Since the labor rate for countries like China or India is a fraction of that in Western countries, it can really help you save a lot of money if an assembly process is labor-intensive.
• Shipping and import duties: Offshore manufacturing helps reduce production costs; however, shipping costs, taxes, and import duties applicable to the completed PCBs will have to be considered while shipping them back to your location.
• Communication and time zones: Offshore manufacturing may create communication problems because of language and different time zones. It is always best to look for a manufacturer who maintains clear communication methods and keeps you updated regularly.

When finding an offshore manufacturer, always do very thorough research and look to work with a manufacturer who has a history of producing quality and reliability.

Wrapping it up

The cost of PCB assembly depends on the board’s complexity, the source of components, the type of assembly methods used, and the production volume. By following the five expert tips discussed in this article—optimizing your design for manufacturability, sourcing components wisely, leveraging automation, optimizing production volume, and considering offshore manufacturing— consumer product design companies can significantly reduce their rates and pricing without sacrificing quality.

Proper handling of the cost of PCB assembly will impact a firm in the long run as demand for electronic products increases. Changes in the PCB industry and keeping abreast of the latest manufacturing techniques will benefit a design company and help it stay competitively ahead of others in the market.

By employing all these strategies on your PCB assembly, you will end up saving a lot, increasing efficiency, and delivering quality products to your clients at more competitive rates.

How Cad Crowd can help

The cost of PCB assembly is always a big turnoff for most clients. Good thing that there are several tips that can help design companies lower their pricing and rates. Cad Crowd will be happy to connect you with trusted and reliable designers who can keep your PCB assembly costs easy on the pocket. Request a quote today.