Understanding PCB Cost Drivers

The assembly cost for circuit boards and electrical gadgets is one of the leading concerns that many electronic companies face. Many PCB cost drivers play a large role in determining the cost of the final product. Also, there is the aspect of designing circuit boards of high quality at a reasonable cost.

Understanding PCB assembly cost drivers helps many executives design circuit boards and panels. Companies must understand the costs of various components before board designing to ensure that they choose the most cost-efficient materials for their products.

What Are PCB Cost Drivers?

PCB cost drivers are the various components and aspects for printed circuit boards (PCB) that will determine the final cost of circuit boards. PCB assembly cost drivers include board size, number and size of drill holes, materials, number of layers, and design complexity, among other factors.

It’s easy for a product design team to create a cost-effective PCB design when they understand how each component can increase the costs of the final products. Being selective about PCB components is an effective cost control strategy to lower assembly costs.

What Things Affect the Cost of PCB?

Several things affect the overall cost of PCB assembly and the product’s final cost. You can pay more attention to the cost drivers to reduce your overall manufacturing costs for electronic products or components. The following aspects can help you reduce lead times and the assembly cost:

Board Designs

Board designs play a crucial role in the cost of PCB assembly. There are various ways that board designs affect the overall cost.

• Large board sizes increase the cost of materials, while small board sizes increase the cost of assembly because they use several layers.
• Flex boards increase costs because they need stiffeners and others require lamination cycles.
• The board design will determine the components you need to produce a high-performance circuit board. Therefore, you need to find readily available components at a low cost to reduce the overall cost.
• Testing board designs before production ensures that you have a board design that performs well and meets all the industry standards. Testing also reveals whether components are well-placed on the board before assembly.
• Reworking unsuitable designs allow companies to remove any harmful components on the prototypes before production.
• Documenting the final board design before it is sent to assemblers for production is a crucial step in the PCB design process. Having clear documentation of your circuit board specifications ensures that the design meets a company’s needs.

Taking ample time to design circuit boards eliminates the costs of producing faulty boards that are unusable. Also, making updates on the board designs mid-production will increase the assembly cost because some circuit boards will need to be reworked.

You should work on a prototype and tweak the components until you have a low-cost, effective design before mass production.

Materials

Materials are an essential component of any product, and choosing rare materials can significantly increase the cost of your circuit boards. Also, the size of your boards can require a lot of materials, increasing overall costs.

Choose readily available PCB materials, like copper, and stick to designs that lower the assembly cost of your PCBs. Design engineers can help you develop an excellent board design using low-cost materials.

Complexity of Design

Complex designs are more expensive than simple ones because they require more work. For example, the number and size of drill holes on a PCB can increase costs. A high number of drill holes or very small drill holes will increase overall costs.

A design with many layers will cost more than one with a tiny layer. Also, a board design that requires particular expertise will increase the assembly costs. The complexity of a board design will drive the cost upwards as the complexity level increases.

Type of Finish

The types of finish that PCBs have can increase the overall assembly cost. Some types of finish are more expensive than others. Moreover, all products must pass an inspection at the end of the assembly process to ensure they can pass all statutory circuit tests.

Changes and Updates During the Design Process

The design process is crucial in reducing assembly costs, but multiple changes and updates during the design stage can increase the cost. Constant design changes can cause delays in the PCB assembly process and increase lead times.

Design updates can also result in the return of some materials and components that aren’t necessary for the new design. Overall, increasing lead times can cost companies lots of money because they can’t meet their demand effectively.

Is PCB Assembly Expensive?

PCB assembly can be expensive because it involves many components, and circuit boards need a high level of expertise to assemble them correctly. The assembly of high-quality PCBs is the most costly part of the process because it uses precise machinery and skilled electronic experts. In return, high-quality PCBs offer high performance, allowing these more costly PCBs to last for an extended period of time when compared to cheaper variants.

Using trace and space technology to optimize PCB space reduces material cost but increases the assembly cost. Trace spaces find any available space on the board designs that can be useful in adding components or optimizing board layouts to reduce the overall board size. It can be expensive, but it increases material utilization and promotes the production of more compact board designs.

Why Should You Choose Geospace Technologies for PCB Assembly?

Geospace has a vast collection of data regarding PCB assembly, and we can help you with an excellent board design for your project. The assembly process at Geospace seeks to minimize PCB cost drivers to reasonable levels.

We can produce your PCBs at an affordable cost and with less lead time because it takes less time to ship final products. Our process includes:

• Testing and verifying board designs
• Electrical components verification
• Paste inspection
• 3D optical inspection
• X-ray inspection
• Design reviews
• DFM checks to reduce redundant, missing, and problematic components
• DFX services

Overall, the assembly process minimizes the errors during assembly and ensures that the final products are perfect. Therefore, you won’t incur extra costs because of faulty or board designs.

Geospace Technologies is the leading PCB assembly company in the USA, and our client satisfaction rate is incredible. Contact us to discuss your PCB design requirements with our experts and get a quote today.