Ferd said:
One of my clients finds he is no longer competitive with his competitors
who are assembling their PCBs in China. He feels that he needs to
similarly get his boards assembled in China, or somewhere where prices are
similarly low. He manufactures some thousands of a number of consumer
products per year. The products are generally not terribly hi-tech, mostly
SMD with some through hole connectors. In the first instance, my client
would expect to supply kitted components & PCBs.
Just wondering if anyone on here has experience with some cheap, reliable
overseas PCB assembly house with automated SMD manufacture, and is willing
to share contact details.
Thanks,
Ferdinand
I work in electronics contract manufacturing and we have taken a few
products offshore for assembly in the past. If you want to supply component
kits expect there to be delays and shortages, no matter how many extra parts
you supply. On the other hand if the assembler supplies components and PCB's
the product will be significantly cheaper but you also have the flipside of
not knowing what quality or brands of components go into it.
Yes Asia can be cheaper but they can also be slower to respond, and you may
have to visit quite a few assemblers in person to develop a relationship
and/or go through the product to be assembled. We have taken the attitude
that if one of our customers takes their products offshore, good luck to
them. We tend to focus on quick turn around, medium volume with the service
to follow, something that Asian assemblers are starting to catch up on.
Cheers
Adam
