The process of procuring PCB component materials and kitting varies depending on the requirement of PCB Assembly facility chosen. If the kitting source does not take the assembly requirements into consideration, there could be a great deal of waste and over-expenditure for the PCB materials.

Choose the assembly facility prior to preparing a quote for the PCB component materials.

There are several standard assembly requirements found within the industry. Depending upon automated Pick and Place equipment and assembly engineering staff, assembly material requirements at Assembly facility #1 might be:

  1. All materials must be on 7″ or 13″ reels with minimum 18″ leader and trailers.
  2. Trays are acceptable.
  3. No rails/tubes
  4. No cut tape.

Material requirements at Assembly facility #2 might be:

  1. Cut tape with minimum 12″ leader and trailer is acceptable
  2. Trays, rails/tubes are acceptable
  3. Accept bulk items when packaged and identified properly.

Material requirements at Assembly facility #3 might be:

  1. Cut tape with minimum 8″ leader is acceptable (no metal joiners/brads)
  2. Trays, rails/tubes are acceptable
  3. Accept bulk items when packaged and identified properly.

The quantity of the boards to be populated and the cost is not the only factor when choosing the Assembly facility. Other considerations include investment of NRE costs for multiple, future builds; proximity and transportation; engineering capabilities; and on-site add-on services such as testing, packaging, etc.

All other considerations set aside, it is typically most cost effective to choose assembly capabilities consistent with Assembly facility #2 when populating 5 – 100 boards. Assembly facility’s with #3’s criteria work great when populating 1-10 boards depending on complexity. When running a high volume of boards or when multiple set-ups may be required, requirements at Assembly facility #1 might prove to be the most cost effective option.

The procurement and preparation of PCB component materials taking into account the requirements of the assembly facility will be most accurate and will allow the assembly process to be efficient and cost effective.