PCBWAY Best and Most Affordable PCB Assembly Service

PCB assembly service (PCBA) is a part of the electronics manufacturing process where  electrical parts are mounted on printed circuit boards (PCBs) by surface mount technology and plated through-hole technology.

Based on the different quantities of circuit boards to assemble, there are prototype assembly, small batch PCB assembly, batch PCB assembly and high volume PCB assembly.

Though many engineers, student or hobbyists try to etch their PCBs at home it is actually a very messy method and uses a lot of chemicals. The process to design PCBs can also be time-consuming. Hence, an efficient way to simplify the process of designing a PCB is to use a professional assembly service, which will not only help the business to save time but also help customers design highly demandable power-efficient electronic products.

Professional assembly services have a lot of experience in designing a clean and efficient PCB. These designers and engineers can efficiently test PCBs, detect errors and fix any issue in minimal time.

There are so many PCB assembly service providers  in the market. So picking the best yet affordable online PCB service provider is kind of tricky because your whole project relies on the quality of the board you choose.

In this article, we will explore the PCB Assembly service provided by one of the leading PCB manufacturer PCBWAY.

PCBWay can be your one-stop destination for board fabrication and assembly. The PCBA services of PCBWAY specialise in prototyping as well as small-volume to mid-volume production. This arrangement makes your R&D work easy and time-saving. It has self-developed the MES+ERP+IOT+ESD+APIS lean production management system. It is equipped with high-end equipment such as imported Fuji pick-and-place machines from Japan, 3D X-RAY, 3D SPI, self-developed MES, IQC incoming material inspection instruments, and intelligent first-piece inspection instruments.

PCBWAY Assembly Capabilities

PCBWay has dozens of SMT production lines and state-of-the-art equipment.

PCBWay provides a wide range of PCBA services to its customers. It includes: SMT Assembly, BGA Assembly, Through-Hole Assembly, Mixed Assembly, Rigid Flex PCB Assembly Services, Electro Mechanical Assembly, Box Build Assembly, Product Assembly, Cable Assemblies.

PCBWay handle the whole process including: ordering all the components, PCB manufacturing, PCB assembly, testing and final shipment.

How to Order PCBA service on PCBWAY ?

Step 1:

First you need to go PCB instant quote, then click on PCB assembly service option. Select it, fill the options according to your requirements and get a quotation of your PCBA cost.

PCBWay will give you few options here. First, “Turnkey” option , where PCBWay will source all the components. Second is the “Knitted or Consigned” option, where customer will supply the components. Third is the “Combo” option, where some parts will be supplied by the customer and the rest will be supplied by PCBWay.

Here you will have to select the board type (single piece/ penalized Pcb) and the Assembly side(s) ( Top side/ Bottom side/ Both side) as well.

There are also some other parameter in this form such as number of parts used in your design, which you can fill or leave empty if you are not so sure about it.

Step 2 :

Then you have to upload the Gerber files. Upload a proper BOM for your design and get the final quotation for your assembly service fee and price of the components.

You need to upload the Centroid file as well . The centroid file is used for programming assembly machines to know the position and rotation of each component. It includes the position and orientation of all the surface mount parts, which includes the reference designator, X and Y position, rotation and side of board (Top or Bottom). Only surface mounting parts are listed in the Centroid.

Step 3:

In this step, the reviewer will review and check if anything is missed or need clarification, and then provide you with the quote. Although the price you get from the quotation calculator is only an estimation for PCB manufacturing and assembly service fees. Assembly fee would be around $30 for 20 PCBA for average complexity circuits .

Step 4:

Now, as your Gerber files are reviewed and BOM is quoted, you will be provided with the bill. Make the payment and your order is complete.

After making the payment, PCBWay will start the manufacturing process of the PCB and then do the assembly. Meanwhile, the components are ordered. The lead time needed for some parts to arrive are always mentioned in the BOM. Before all parts are ready, PCBWay will fabricate the PCBs and start to make the stencil so that assembly starts immediately after they get the parts.

PCBWay Assembly Process

It’s way more complicated than shown in the pictures and a lot of machines are involved to make your PCB assembled.

Various testing method will be applied to the assembled boards before the final shipment:

  • Visual inspection: general quality check.
  • X-ray Inspection: checks for BGAs, QFN and bare circuit boards.
  • AOI Testing: checks for solder paste, 0201 components, missing components and polarity.
  • ICT (In-Circuit Test).
  • Functional test (Following your test procedures).

Why PCBWay ?

1.PCB Assembly Specialists :

PCBWay can meet all your PCBA needs under one roof in an inexpensive way. Their Printed Circuits Boards Assembly (PCBA) Capability is not limited as they are updating their equipment constantly. If your PCB Assembly demands are beyond these capabilities, you can contact them at Service@pcbway.com, you will get a respond within 24 hours.

2. Fast Turn Times :

PCBWay provides you fast prototype PCB Assembly service with Kitted, Hybrid and Turn key options. You can order online at any time and get it within as fast as 24 hours.

3. Turnkey and Quality :

To ensure the proper functioning of electronic devices, PCBWay performs X-ray inspection on all the boards throughout the entire assembly process. Different categories of circuit boards have different inspection standards, and X-ray inspection is a widely adopted method that can detect defects that are not visible to the naked eye.

PCBWay adopt most of the testing and inspecting equipment used in the industry, such as Flying Probe Tester, X-Ray Inspection Machine, Automated Optical Inspection (AOI) Machine.

4. Delivery Guarantee :

PCBWay believes that ” Time is Money “. So PCBWay ensures that you must get what you need and when you need ! The satisfaction rate of PCBWay is over 99.6%.