Cost Factors for PCB Sourcing
There are any number of variables that could have effect the cost of a PCB. The following parameters should be considered when designing/purchasing PCB's:
Manufacturing Concerns
- Size of production release quantities
- Number of layers
- Size of PCB
- Effective use of panelization (Effective panelization allows for no or minimal panel scrap, and takes in account the efficiencies based upon the supplier's largest allowable panel size)
- Other laminate efficiencies (This relates to how efficient the supplier's working production panel is based on the size of the board, and the scrap rate per production panel)
- Manufacturing Yield
- Manufacturing Equipment Efficiency
- Number of holes
- Number of sizes of holes
- Hole size density (Number of holes per square inch)
- Special hole requirements (blind via, buried via, tight tolerance via [6 mils and below], etc.)
- Copper Plating Tolerances
- Choice of Laminate Material
- Special Laminate Usage (Teflon, Mylar, etc.)
- Additive Plating Requirements (Entek, Corfin, OSP, Gold plating, etc.)
- Trace Width Requirements
- Line Spacing Requirements
- Special Board Features (control impedance, RF requirements, etc.)
- Special Packaging Requirements (ESD material, etc.)
- Outline Dimensioning Issues
- Capacity Restraints
- Ease of Manufacturability
Transportation Concerns
- Overall weight of shipment
- Shipment Frequency
- Final Destination (if located outside the service area of an international airport, custom facilities, etc.)
- Mode of Transportation (Whether it is ocean or air transport)
Purchasing Concerns
- Purchasing Leverage with Supplier Base
- Number of Suppliers
- Consolidating the frequency of purchase for a single commodity
- Effective planning and forecasting strategies
- Inventory control issues