Knowledge Base

How To Choose The Best PCB Assembly Manufacturer

PCB fabrication assembly is not easy; many pcb assembly companies provide PCB assembly and manufacturing services. Some PCB assembly companies are large, and some are small; in this article, we will cover the PCB assembly services offered in China and the world; what's the difference between PCB assembly in china and PCB assembly abroad.

By providing you with PCB assembly guidelines, we will explain what services and PCB assembly methods those big and small companies offer, such as through-hole PCB assembly service, PCB prototype assembly service, PCB fabrication assembly, and the price and quality differences between them.

Facility and location of PCB assembly companies

Choosing the PCB assembly companies location is crucial due to many reasons, this decision will affect your production pricing and speed. For example, PCB assembly China and particularly Shenzhen PCB assembly is a great choice to start with, Shenzhen is called "the silicon valley of hardware" for a reason, located in the middle of all the components distributors and providers enabling 24 hours turnkey service from PCB to PCBA, components purchasing and quality testing.

This kind of PCB assembly service is beneficial for prototype PCB assembly where you need to test a sample quickly and efficiently; PCB assembly and printing can be done soon to determine any early-stage issues and save both time and funds for the company that producing the PCB assembly mainboard.

There are often many PCB assembly and soldering lines globally, such as the US, EU, Asia, and Africa. When choosing the location, it's essential to ensure low-cost PCB assembly and high quality and fast service and support; assembly company PCB facilities located in crucial hardware cities such as Shenzhen with accumulated years of knowledge in PCB assembly and soldering.

Available production PCB assembly services

Many PCB assembly service providers and manufacturers will note and promise that they can provide multiple turnkey services such as PCB prototype and assembly using different PCB assembly methods, industrial PCB assembly, PCB production, and components sourcing when in fact, those companies might use a third party to do the tasks as the manufacturer might not have the full capability or capacity to execute such task.

For prototype assembly services, it's usually done by hand, and most the PCB assembly manufacturer can handle such tasks, its essential to ensure the quality of the manual soldering to avoid any issues during the product use, experienced engineers at a good manufacturing facility can ensure quality and consistency over the prototype PCB assembly.

In this case, it's essential to verify with the PCBA manufacturer about the same PCB assembly services they offer and whenever they do it "in-house" or use third-party companies to fulfill the needs.

There is nothing wrong with using third-party PCB assembly companies or prototype PCB assembly services, but this can come at the cost of quality as more people are involved in the production phase, which might expose the project to more potential errors and mistakes.

Production capacity of pcb assembly

When we have finished the prototyping and testing stage and are ready to go mass production, it's essential to ensure that the PCB assembly companies we work with can fulfill our mass production needs. Often the PCB assembly services some companies provide are suitable for small-scale production but not high-mix volume services such as PCBasic offers to its customers.

During the prototype PCB assembly service, it's rare to encounter such high-capacity issues. During the prototyping stage, the customer will often ask for a small batch of 5-10 pieces, but when going mass production.

Another important thing that customers often forget to ask is the PCB assembly services lead time. Prototype PCB assembly services are usually much faster than mass production, and some customers make the mistake of assuming that the mass production will be the same time as the PCB prototype assembly.

By ensuring the lead time with the PCB assembly manufacturer, we could avoid unexpected lead time and disappointment due to miscommunication, usually a good service provider will let you know the lead time in advance and even ask you to leave a PCB assembly review to ensure that the manufacturer could improve over time.

Quality testing of pcb assembly

PCB assembly companies usually require strict quality control and testing, but one manufacturer is different from another. PCB assembly china often complies with all the requirements for the customer projects such as RoHS and ISO certifications to ensure quality and safety. Still, there might be a lack of regulation in different countries or regions that could affect the assembly company PCB quality and lifespan.

At PCBasic, we ensure each welding point's reliability and quality testing during the PCB assembly service with the most common and strict tests such as SPI, IPQC, AOI, and X-Ray sampling etc and more.

It's important to note over the PCB assembly companies website what type of quality tests they offer and what inspections they can archive. Different PCB assembly services require different types of tests and reviews. If a PCB assembly company doesn't provide a specific type of PCB assembly service, likely, they won't be able to accomplish some inspections or tests to particular needs.

Turnkey service

Producing a PCB assembled board from zero can be frustrating for some inexperienced customers. For that reason, many PCB assembly companies will offer something called a one-stop PCB assembly service.

This service enables the customer to take the entire process of PCB fabrication, components sourcing, PCB assembly, and quality control testing in a single place manufacturer facility; not all PCB assembly companies can offer such services, but those who are able, such as PCBasic which is PCB assembly China company can produce fast, efficient while keeping a reasonable price and high-quality production.

One-stop PCB assembly also called turnkey service is crucial for mass production and often an option that many customers choose around the world to ensure their PCB assembly process will go as smoothly as possible.

Packaging and delivery options

So far, we've discussed how to assemble a PCB board and how different PCB assembly companies provide PCB assembly services for various needs, but what about the final stage of delivering the prototype PCB assembly product or the mass-produced product to the customer? Depending on the facility's location, the manufacturer might work with different logistics companies and delivery services; it's essential to confirm with the PCB assembly companies what type of packaging they use and whenever it can be delivered safely to its destination.

PCB assembly china companies often use reliable services that deliver worldwide within 5-7 business days. For that reason, it's often recommended for people who are short on time and looking to get a good quality product delivered to their doorstep.

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