The Most Important Criterion When Selecting Your PCB Supplier
If you have no experience in sourcing PCBs for your electronic equipment manufacturing unit, then you will be clueless as to where to get started. You may have many parameters by which you would want to select your PCB supplier but one of the most important criteria that you should not forget is discussed below.
The PCB manufacturer should be able to meet your requirements completely and not just one segment of the process. If you have taken some time to understand the entire PCB manufacturing process, you would have learnt that there are many steps in the process. It is a tedious and a time consuming process. If you are not cautious, you will not be able to spot the right supplier or get the PCBs in a timely fashion.
To get started, you need to first identify a company that can take care of your PCB prototype building needs first. The PCB prototypes should be fully functional and it should be ready to go for mass production. The same manufacturer should also be able to take care of your ongoing PCB mass production needs. The PCB assembly process should also be taken care by your PCB manufacturer. In other words, the manufacturer you select should cover the entire spectrum of PCB prototype building to PCB assembly followed by testing. Do not swerve from this selection criterion if you do not want to run into frequent issues with the sourcing process.
It is much easier to deal with a single company and follow up with a single supplier instead of having to deal with a different supplier for each leg of the production process. The logistics of the entire process would be complicated when you choose to work with multiple companies for different segments of the PCB production cycle.
You will be wasting a lot of time and money on shipping semi-finished PCBs from one point to the next. This will lead to nothing but a series of complications. You need to do away with all these challenges when you want to source your PCBs. There are several PCB manufacturers that offer end to end PCB manufacturing services taking care of all the segments of the PCB manufacturing process. Spot one such company and send all your requirements for your ongoing needs.
Besides the above important criterion, there could be a number of other factors to keep in mind such as the experience of the PCB manufacturer, the reputation of the manufacturer, their ability to deliver the order in a timely fashion and the overall cost of the PCBs. In order to screen all these factors, you will need a considerable amount of time and it is therefore vital to get started with your search well in advance so that you have adequate time at hand to pay attention to all these factors. Identify the most trusted suppliers in the industry to take care of your needs by paying attention to all the above factors.
