Small-run PCB assembly

The companies that we used were quite good. But you have to make sure you specify EVERYTHING exactly as you want it. Also unless you are dealing with large quantities you will need to supply your own parts. You should however do this for any specialty high value parts. (We post the sensors we use out as they are hellish expensive) If you do this you know they are yours.

I think you can buy it from Shenzhen China,because there are lots of PCB companies and the price is reasonable,so you can have try it. I've been getting most of my recent boards from these site :http://www.goldphoenixpcb.com ,http://www.wonderfulpcb.com

I second OSH Park for PCB fabrication. For the most part, I am still in the "cooked to order" business phase. I get stencils from OSH Stencils and manually pick-and-place and use a homebrew reflow oven (not too ironic that I sell toaster oven reflow conversion kits).

I have toyed with the idea of getting a run of product from Small Batch Assembly. They don't fab boards, but it appears that the interface between OSH Park's medium run service and their assembly service would work out nicely (you'd be having them populate ten panels). Also, they have an inventory of common parts in stock that you don't need to supply (you get something akin to DigiKey's T&R price per unit). Everything else you either send them as cut tape or a reel (they return any excess).

pico:
..Can anyone report on their experience using the assembly services of any of the above (or any service not already mentioned, for that matter)?

I used the PCBA turnkey solution from http://www.nexpcb.com
, located in China, include PCB Fabrication, Components, assembly and free-shipping. Please refer to one of customer stories - Apitronics Wireless Platform

Hi All, A-TECH CIRCUITS offer both PCB manufacturing and PCB assembly service, small-run PCB assembly is also available, it could be one of good choices if you have request.

The best option i think would be choosing a company with both PCB and PCB assembly capabilities.
And for producing PCBs it is simple that you pass on your Gerber files, when you want additionally PCB assembly services, simply pass on your BOM list, with all the assembly components inside.
The start up quantity various from company to company, so you just have to discuss with them. And of course everybody is looking for a long term partnership.
Visit YuCha Electronics
View YuCha Electronics' Products

Hi, you can try www.huaswin.com

Huasiwn supply one-stop facility for your products: PCB design, PCB fabrication, components procurement, SMT and DIP assembly ,IC pre-programming / burning on-line, prototype and mass production.

PCB includes: Rigid PCB (1 to 30 layers), Flexible PCB: up to 10 layers, Rigid-Flex: up to 6 layers.

offering lowest price, high quality and on time dleivery and very nice after sales service.

contact: vicky@huaswin.com

I know that Hampoo Electornics based in China provides small and medium run pcb service. To get a instant quote, please click http://ems.hampoo.com

Hi, this is Deray from Deegou, a small team located in Shenzhen.We dedicate to provide rapid PCB prototyping, and small batch PCB assembly for engineers and makers.

If anyone has requirements, please do not hesitate to contact us.

Thanks, have a good day!

Deray | Electronics Engineer
Email: deray@deegou.com
Website: deegou.com

pico:
These days, there are lots of options for getting PCB board made up, but what if you want to skip the DIY soldering and get a bunch of boards actually assembled? I appreciate this is going to require minimum quantity runs to make it even remotely economical, but what are those minimum quantities, and what are the ins-and-outs of the process?

hi dear this is Jodie, we war interesting your project. Specialized in EMS business locate at ShenZhen area provoding in -house SMD,COB,DIP,casing assembly to turnkey solution.(PCB&PCBA)
IBe Electronics

M: (86) 13692290310 / P: (86) 755-81785391
E: Jodie@pcbaaa.com Skype: jodiezhou0710

I had Macrofab assemble my Neutrino:

https://www.kickstarter.com/projects/rabidprototypes/neutrino-the-tiny-32-bit-arduino-zero-compatible

They're in Texas, and specialize in short runs. Very affordable. Those prototypes were only $35 ea. That's including the cost of the components and shipping. Three week turn time, but they should get faster once they start getting enough orders that they can stop using OSHSpark.

Hi,

We are new to the forums but we offer low volume assembly services at very reasonable prices. We are offering free assembly for a limited number of initial customers.

Our prices start @ $99 for up to 10 individual boards. We can procure stencils and parts and can also offer some passives (currently limited to resistors and capacitors ) for free so you will not need to procure these or send them in with your kit.

If you have any questions at all please contact us!!!

Thank you and have a great day,

Art
info@flatfeeassembly.com
www.FlatFeeAssembly.com

scswift:
I had Macrofab assemble my Neutrino:

https://www.kickstarter.com/projects/rabidprototypes/neutrino-the-tiny-32-bit-arduino-zero-compatible

They're in Texas, and specialize in short runs. Very affordable. Those prototypes were only $35 ea. That's including the cost of the components and shipping. Three week turn time, but they should get faster once they start getting enough orders that they can stop using OSHSpark.

http://macrofab.net/

Thank you, scswift! This was a seriously good find! These guys offer single board fab & assembly for crazy cheap. Any other place on the planet seems to charge at least $400 for a small batch (10 or less), but I've been quoted up to $1300 for ten boards! I just ordered 10 from MacroFab for $260 (fab and assembly), and I just can't believe that I could've ordered a single board for $37! Seriously crazy. I really hope these guys take off. They're tapping an entirely new market.

We are a PCB and PCBA maker. Sometimes, the client just ask us for 1 or 3pcs PCBA. But is not very practical, because the we can not assure all the 1 or 3pcs of PCBA is perfect after assembly, what if something bad happened, also we need to adjust the smt machine before production. So, in my opinion, at least 5PCS PCBA need to be ordered, just to convenient the supplier for assembly and yourself for testing. FYR :slight_smile:

Would like to recommend to try out assembly services of Dashunchang Electronic Co., Ltd, ( https://dsc-pcb.com/) , They are offering PCB Online Quote System for consumers .

Introduce a supplier for you that I knew via a SeeedStudio distributor.

I had them assemble 10 prototype boards. Per boards only cost 15 dollars. Very cheap price and also fast delivery, I received my boards after around 2 weeks.

http://www.deegou.com/

Here is the picture that they sent to me when the boards were finished.

You can send your Gerber files to a PCB manufacturing company. There are many CPB manufacturing company who provide small run PCB assembly with quick turn time as less as 24 hours.

PCBNPI.COM is your best choice for your low volume projects. Reasonalbe cost and professional service.Free DFM file checking service is awesome. Special offer for new customers: Free laser cut stencil for PCB order. Send your file to sales@pcbnpi.com for a quotation!

PCBWAY is a good choice for both Fab and Assembly. Just went through my first FAB+Assembly order and here is my experience:

Quote from SEED-

The quote never arrived.. I have nothing good to say about my experience with SEED. I design the system specifically around SEED parts using their design guidelines and part catalog on OPL. I was able to complete the design with only 2 parts not being a SEED part. When I tried to get a quote online they said I needed an offline quote to proceed for the 2 parts. I emailed the address provided and then they told me they are not doing online quotes for the US at this time. I then called and they said they would. I then emailed and reminded them. I got a response saying that I need to do it online. I replied explaining I could not. Got another response saying giberish. That went on for about 15 emails until I gave up and paid to redesign the board using standard parts which essentially double my initial cost because I pay by the hour for a designer I use....

Quote from Advanced Circuits-

The quote less than 2 days to receive and was a little on the pricey-end although their return times are pretty quick. Too expensive for me but I would recommend them for just PCB fabrication because I have used them before and they are very good but again not the cheapest. $35 a board or so.

Quote from Screaming Circuits-

The quote 1 day to receive and their turn around times are crazy fast. I looked into them because they are very fast, like 1 week fast. They were the most expensive though. $1350 for 5 boards was the subtotal before processing and shipping.

Quote from PCBWAY-

The quote arrived less than 24 hours. They seemed to want my business and worked with my time constraint. Extremely good prices only $58 for fab on 5 boards on 24hour express option! PCB fab was done in a night! Assembly fee was only $129 plus parts for 5 boards which I think is a great deal. After shipping I paid about $300 total to receive 5 boards fully assembled. The boards where also pretty large(4" diameter circles) with several components both through hole and SMD. They shipped my order 8 days after I placed it. Shipping takes about a week. Nearly a 2/3 week turn around for a company not in the states is pretty incredible.

I am using again for another project soon.
They also do large qty orders and their Part prices are pretty good. Would recommend them.

PCB Way
http://www.pcbway.com/

Hi Pico - This is Duane Benson from Screaming Circuits chiming in.

What's really important, is matching your needs to the strengths of the assembly shop, and making sure your data is solid. Good shops will catch most data irregularities, but no one can build anything better than the data they get. Even from the best folks, about 70% of what we see has some data that needs to be corrected or clarified.

Here's a blog post that gives some advice on making the transition from hand build to outsourced assembly: blog.screamingcircuits.com/2016/06/from-hand-assembly-to-robotic-assembly.html. Most of what's in our blog is advice to engineers based on traps we see in our operations.

It's really about tradeoffs: time vs. money, expertise vs. money, and the amount of work you need to put in vs. money.

We do a lot of high-end work, so, as has been noted, our fast turns can seem pretty expensive if you're used to hand building. We also have a service we call Short-Run Production that has a few more requirements, but is much more competitively priced in the hundred plus volumes. You can get a quote online without having to register or talk to anyone.

Duane Benson