How to Ensure the Electronic Components is the Original Authentic in the PCBA Machining?

It needs to ensure the products quality during the PCBA processing, not only control the processing process, but also control to the components of the source, to ensure that the electronic components are original authentic. Now there are some unscrupulous businessmen through the purchase of counterfeit brand components on the market, and then sell with high profits, resulting in some of the PCBA factory damage.So how to ensure the electronic components of the original authentic?

To ensure that the electronic components in the PCBA machining process is original, which can be controlled from the following three methods.

One/see the qualification of agent

Now,electronic components agents, trade quotient numerous, quality and price level in the sales maket is uneven, to ensure that the electronic components of the original authentic, which can through the enterprise's official website to see whether there is an agent with qualification, and purchased through formal channels.

Generally, agents have the qualification and controled by the original factory, to ensure that the source of electronic components is original

Two/see reputation and credibility

Generally, the distributors and traders are in good reputation and credibility, their components are not bad. Because an enterprise's reputation and credibility of the accumulation is to go through a very long time, accompanied by recognized brand manufacturers, basically their components are not counterfeit.

Three/incoming inspection of material

In addition to the above two steps, there is a very important step is the incoming inspection of components.The normal PCBA processing manufacturers to just buy the components with incoming inspection, sampling components or full inspection, to ensure the quality of the components.

PCBA factory in the purchase of electronic components,also need pay attention to the top mark, the components of the production batch number, and other related components to beta appearance and physical details, in order to ensure that the electronic components is the original authentic.

Is it Necessary to Audit the PCBA Processing Factory ?

It is very necessary for electronic product R&D to audit the PCB assembly factory. A electronic products from the original PCB substrate to the half finished PCB board, which involves many processes and the manufacturing process is complex, high requirements for process control,while the general factory is difficult to do. It is also a necessary process for the PCBA manufacturer to audit the factory.

Electronic products R&D audit the PCBA processing factory, which is mainly including the factory equipment, documents, basic introduction workshop with 7S management system and the company'review.

First/Equipment

The Equipment in a PCBA processing factory is on behalf of a manufacturer's strength in certain circumstances. It needs a lot of equipment machines and more advanced equipment for a PCBA board manufacturing and process, which can represent to process more complex board.You can determine the strength of the PCBA process by reviewing the equipment in the factory.

Second/Documents

The manufacturing process of PCBA processing is complex, so general PCBA processing plants have SOP position, work instructions and other relative documents, which is the guidance on the conduct of employees, to ensure that the manufacturing process is under strictly control, to improve the quality of the products. To review the factory can also determine wheather the factory is professional standardized.

Third/The workshop with 7S management system

7S management system is a management system of modern factories, which can eliminate all kinds of bad imagination during the manufacturing process, to achieve standardized management.

• 1/Seiri

Definition: the distinction between use and useless to remove the useless.

Objective: to make use of "empty space"

• 2/Seiton

Definition: the things in accordance with the provisions of the positioning, quantitative neatly and clearly marked.

Purpose: don't waste time looking for things

• 3/Seiso

Definition: removing the dirt in the workplace, and prevent pollution.

Objective: to eliminate the "dirt" and keep the workplace clean and bright.

• 4/Seiketsu

Definition: to make the above 3 practics in institutionalize, standardize, and sustain the implementation 

Objective: to maintain the results, and show the "abnormal" lies through the system

• 5/Shitsuke

Definition: all in accordance with the provisions of act from the mind to form good habits.

Objective: to change the "hostage", pay attention to the cultivation of working earnest habit.

• 6/Security

A,to make correct operation flow, configure the appropriate staff to monitor the indication function in management

B,timely reporting and eliminate substandard of the factors safety regulations

C,to enhance safety awareness education personnel

D,signed letters of responsibility for security

Objective: to predict the danger, so at the end of it begining

• 7/Save

Reduce the manpower, cost, space, time, inventory, material consumption and so on

Objective: to develop a habit of reducing cost, strengthen the operation personnel to reduce waste awareness education.

Fourth/Company presentation

Finally, it also need to understand the basic introduction of the company, what are the types of customers, whether their own matching products, which are necessary to understand.

Generally, as a formal company, they will audit the PCBA processing factory ,and even year by year. We can fully understand the process capabilities through the auditing the PCBA processing factory.

The Process of PCBA Processing Cooperation

Aftert the establishment of a partnership between electronic product developers and PCBA manufacturers, many processes are needed to smooth the cooperation between the two sides. Next, we introduce some processes needed for the PCBA process cooperation.

• 1/Prototype

Electronic product R & D will have a confirmation process after they have established cooperation with the PCBA supplier. When the general electronic product developers release the new product, or cooperate with the new PCBA supplier cooperation,it needs to carry on the PCBA prototyping service, ensuring that the processing capabilities of this factory can meet the request,then mass production.

• 2/Files confirmation

Electronic product R & D after determining the protoyping service,they need to provide Gerber file, BOM, and other files to PCBA processing factory, PCBA process manufacturer can carry out manufacturing analysis according to data to facilitate future PCBA process production.

• 3/Payment in advance

Electronic product R & D need to pay part of the amount of money to PCBA processing manufacturers,in order to facilitate the PCBA processing manufacturer to purchase parts and other materials.

• 4/PCBA production

PCBA processing manufacturer will purchase the components materials according to the received funds. when the material arrives, the PCBA process can be carried out.

• 5/Payment of balance funds

When the PCBA process finished, Electronic product R & D need to pay for the balance funds to PCBA processing manufacturer.

• 6/PCBA test

The PCBA manufacturer performs QC inspection or PCBA testing on the PCBA board to ensure the quality of the product.

• 7/Shipment

After completed the test, the product in good quality will be packaged and shipped.

• 8/Rework

After receiving the PCBA board, R & D will have a brun-in testing on board or after using a period of time.The board in fault will be repaired by PCBA processing manufacturer. If it is a mass production problem, it also needs to analyze the causes.

PCBA manufacturers and R & D partners should follow the process of PCBA processing cooperation to ensure the smooth progress of cooperation between the two parties.

What are the Payment Terms and Accounts for PCBA Processing?

PCBA processing service is one of the popular electronic processing methods, which can provide one-stop service of PCBA processing to customer. The value of PCBA processing is generally higher than SMT processing, and there is a big difference between its payment methods and accounts. Next Let's talk about payment methods and account period of PCBA processing.

1/PCBA processing payment method

PCBA processing payment is generally including 70% advanced payment and 30% balance after shipment. PCBA processing manufacturers usually need to help customers purchase parts, in some upstream parts suppliers, the need for cash payment in real-time to avoid the disruption of the capital chain. Therefore, the PCBA processing factory adopts the methods of advanced payment.

2/PCBA processing account period

When the PCBA processing manufacturers in the shipment, the electronic product developers need to ask for the balance payment from them, generally do not accept the account period. but for some long-term cooperation and the credibility of particularly good big

customers, you can give 30 days of account.

During the cooperation process,it is easily leading to fracture and adding a lot of uncontrollable risk by funds arrears,because the value of PCBA processing service is much higher, and the amount of transactions is also larger.

Cheap PCB Assembly: 20% Cost-Saving and High Quality Finished Goods.

A lot of electronic processing agents have the same feeling that the price is too expensive and too high, when they are in the search for processor to cooperate. In fact, people in the PCBA industry knows how to calculate the PCB assembly cost, which is becoming more transparent and easy to calculate, but different companies have a big difference in calculating cost. And more important point is that agent can not determine the PCB product quality in the choice of electronic processors, this is very worried.

Now, NOD Electronics launched a service to ensure the quality of PCB assembly products, at the same, to save 20% of the cost for electronic processing agent.

How do we calculate the cost of PCB assembly? Some of companies take one pad as a “spot”, and some take two pads as a “spot”. Let us take one pad as a “spot” for example in this passage. Actually, we only have to figure out the total quantities of PCB pads. But, we will meet some special components, such as inductance, big capacitor and IC, which should be calculated separately. According to experience, there are 10 spots for inductance. 50% discount of IC pins (for example, there are 20 spots for 40 pins IC). In this way, we can easily work out the total quantities of PCB pads until now.

Next, we have to confirm the unit price. In the marketplace, there is different price for each spot, generally from 0.01~0.03 RMB/spot, which is determined by difficulty and quality of SMT assembly process. 

How can we save your PCB assembly costs：

1. Reduce Design Time

2. Lower Equipment Expenses

3. Increase Production Speed & Precision

4. Spend Less on Parts

5. Minimize Warranty Replacements

You might interest in the following articles:

How to Reduce the Cost of Electronics Assembly

Cheapest PCB Making with High Quality

How to Calculate SMT Assembly Price?

Quickly Understand PCBA Test Plan

PCBA testing is the vital point of EMS (Electronic Manufacturing Services) and it is used to validate the functionality of the product, the manufacturing processes and the quality of the components. It is a major part of PCBA produce to deliver reliable and guaranteed products and ensure the working products can be delivered on time.

The current test method basically has the following five:

1. Visual test by hand

Manual visual test is by comparing people's vision and to confirm the components on the PCB SMT, this technology is one of the most widely used online test method. But with the increase of output and the narrowing of the board and the component, this method does not apply to more and more. Low cost in advance and without the test fixture is its main advantage; At the same time, the high cost of the long-term, discontinuous defects found, the data collection difficulty, no electrical test and the limitations on the vision is the main drawback of this method.

2. The automatic Optical Inspection (Automated Optical Inspection, AOI)

Also known as automatic visual testing, the testing method usually used before, during, and after reflow, is a new method of confirm manufacturing defect, the check about the existence of the polarity of the components, components effect is better. It is a kind of electric, no jig online technology. Its main advantage is easy to follow diagnosis, easy application development and without fixture; Main drawback is that the short circuit identification is poorer, and not the electrical test.

3. The Functional Test (Functional Test)

Functional testing is the first principle of automatic test, it is specific PCB or a specific unit of the basic testing methods, available to all kinds of test equipment to complete. Functional tests are the Final Product testing (Final Product Test) and the latest entity model (Hot Mock - up) two kinds.

4. The Flying Probe Tester (Flying Probe Tester)

Flying probe tester also known as the probe testing machine, is also a kind of commonly used test smethods. Due to the progress of mechanical precision, speed and reliability, it in the past few years have been widely welcomed. In addition, now for the Prototype (Prototype) needed to manufacture, low production test system is capable of rapid transformation, no fixture requirements, best choice makes flying probe test. Flying probe tester's main advantage is that it is the most rapid Time To Market, Time To Market) tools, automatic generation of test, no jig cost, good diagnosis and easy programming.

5. Manufacturing Defect Analyzer (Manufacturing Defect Analyzer, MDA)

MDA is a used for high volume/low mixing environment only the good tool in the diagnosis of manufacturing defect. The test of the early stage of the main advantage is lower cost, high output, easy to follow the rapid diagnosis and complete a short circuit and open circuit test, etc.; Main drawback is not a functional test of PCBA, there is usually no test coverage instructions, must use the jig, test cost is higher.

The Test Procedure for PCB Production Prodcess is as following:

How to Calculate the Price of PCBA Prototyping ?

The electronic product designer will do PCBA prototyping before the new product releasing or mass production, the quantity of PCBA prototype is usually between 5 and 20 pcs, and the quantity is relatively small. For the PCBA prototype cost, electronic processing factory will ask for the additional engineering cost on the basis of the minimum consumer standard, therefore, the unit price of PCBA prototype will be more expensive.

PCBA prototype price including the following details:

Purchasing components cost + PCB cost + PCB engineering cost +SMT/DIP engineering cost + test cost (according to customer's request)

PCBA prototype prices will be based on the minimum consumer standard to collect enigineering cost, and the PCB engineering cost will be among 500 to 1000,MT/DIP engineering cost between 1500 and 3000, and test cost according to customer's demand to decide whether to collect.

HS Code Summary of Various PCBA Products

Custom code is HS encoding, is the abbreviation for coding coordination system. Nowadays, society is a global trading society, therefore, all types of goods will have a HS encoding. We will make all kinds of HS commodity coding of PCBA electronic processing industry into a list, convenient for you to view.

The encoding HS encoding, coordinate system referred to as encoding. In today's society is a society of Global trade, therefore, all kinds of goods will have a HS encoding. We will electronic processing industry of all types of goods PCBA HS encoding processing cost, to facilitate view.

The related HS encoding of PCBA

HS encoding	Products Name	Measurement unit	Export rebate rate(%)
8517709000	PCBA board	kg	17%
8517709000	PCBA assembly	pcs/kg	17%
8541401000	PCBA module	pcs/kg	17%
9031809090	PCBA test machine	pcs	17%
9028901000	electric meter (PCBA wiring board)	Kg	15%
9028909000	Single phase meter PCBA	kg	15%
9030390000	PCBA function test machine	pcs	17%
9030900090	Test board PCBA	Kg	15%
9030900090	PCBA test rack	Kg	15%
9031809090	PCBA test machine	pcs	17%
9030339000	PCBA voltage measuring device	pcs	17%
9030899090	PCBA functional tester	pcs	15%
9030900090	PCBA function test rack	kg	15%
9028909000	Three phase direct PCBA board	Kg	15%

PCB Quality Check and Control Method

The quality specification of the PCBA industry is the IPC-600 which is the general specification specified by the International Printed Circuit Board Association. The circuit board is subdivided, so does the corresponding quality standard. The quality specification for rigid circuit boards is IPC-6012, and the corresponding quality specification of flexible circuit board is IPC-6013. The general circuit board factory will use the following methods to ensure the quality of PCB.

• DRC Check

Design Rule Checking (DRC) is a very important step in PCB quality control. When the electronic processing plants receive new orders from customers, they will use automated tools to verify that the layout has errors. It checks the board's component placement and trace routing integrity for overlapping components, untraced pins, incorrect layer placement and constraints that are WHERE set for trace width routing and clearances. We also do the manufacturing rule check to make sure the PCB design can be manufactured. At the same time, manufacturing rules will be checked to ensure that the PCB design is manufactured.

• Electrical Testing

The test machine will check for short circuit and open circuit, and to make sure that the fabricated PCB steel mesh is the same as the design, reducing the failure rate of the main board.

• AOI(Automated optical inspection)

AOI can check the inner layer of the multi-layer PCB, scan the surface of PCB, observe by scanner or multi high resolution camera, monitor all area of circuit board.

• ISO9001：2008、UL：E306317 and RoHs instructions.

General electronic plants need to be certified through ISO9001:2008, UL:E306317 and ROHS instructions, and ensure production quality on the basis of their quality inspection standards.

PCBA Design Tutorial and Best Free Software

Nowadays, with a wide range of electronic products, electronic equipment is involved in almost every industry, and a good electronic design concept can make our life easier and enjoyable. PCBA design is based on the circuit diagram to achieve the function what the designers need, mainly refers to the layout of circuit design, and the need of considering the layout of the external connections. So how do you learn PCBA design as a beginner?

PCBA design tutorial for beginners

• Step 1 of PCB design

Using Schematic design tools to draw schematics and generating the corresponding network table.

• Step 2 of PCB design

Drawing their own definition of non-standard devices package library, it is suggested to put all of the components you have painted into a proprietary design file of your own PCB library.

• Step 3 of PCB design

Setting the PCB design environment and drawing the printed circuit board version, containing the middle of the hollow and so on. It is important to note that you must set the current layer to the Keep Out layer before you draw the border of the circuit board, that is, the wiring layer is prohibited.

• Step 4 of PCB design

After opening all the PCB library files you need to use, switch to the network table file and modify the part package.

• Step 5 of PCB design

Layout the location of the circuit board and the part of the package, also known as the layout of the parts. Protel99 can be automated or manual layout. The parts layout should be considered comprehensively from the aspects of mechanical structure, heat dissipation, electromagnetic interference, and convenience of future cabling.

Note: when choosing automatic, the use of shift + X or Y and Ctrl + X or Y can expand and shrink of the selected component X, Y direction.

• Step 6 of PCB design

Adjusting accordingly , then locking all the devices.

• Step 7 of PCB design

Setting rules of PCB changed board routing, Considering the security distance, the line level and direction, cross hole shape and line width, and so on.

• Step 8 of PCB design

Automatic wiring and manual adjustment of printed circuit boards.

1, Click the menu command “Auto Route/Setup” to set up the automatic routing function.

2, Click the menu command “Auto Route/All” to start automatic routing.

• Step 9 of PCB design

Switching to the single layer display mode (click the menu command Tools/Preferences, select the single layer Mode in the dialog box display), pulling the line of each wiring layer tidy and beautiful, and finally canceling the single layer display mode, saving the disk.

• Step 10 of PCB design

Putting into copper clad area

• Step 11 of PCB design

Lastly, to do DRC again.

Selecting the Clearance Constraints Max/Min, Width Constraints, Short Circuit Constraints and Un-Routed Nets Constraints items, and pressing Run DRC button, correcting if there is any mistake. Saving all if they are correct.

• Step 12 of PCB design

Sending Email or copying to the manufacturer, indicating the material and thickness of the board.

Generating the BOM file and exporting it into a format that conforms to the company’s internal requirements.

How to draw a circuit diagram?

• PCBA Design Layout

Drawing a circuit diagram is not that difficult if you know the basics. Here are some tips and guidelines:

Learn and understand all the common symbols and abbreviations for electronic components to be used on the diagram.

Using a ruler, draw connecting wires as straight lines. Use following symbols: ‘blob’ () at each junction between wires, label components (resistors, capacitors, diodes etc.) with their values, the positive (+) supply should be at the top and the negative (-) supply at the bottom. Negative supply is usually labeled 0V, zero volts.

For complex circuit diagrams, start from left to right. So that signals flow from left to right (inputs and controls should be on the left, outputs on the right).

Eagle PCBA design tutorial

In Eagle: File> Export>ImageBe sure to set DPIG to 1200 for better quality

PCBA design PDF

PCBA design PDF

Best free PCBA design software

PCBA design software list：

• PCBWeb Designer 

PCBWeb is a free CAD application for designing and manufacturing electronics hardware. Design multi-sheet schematics with our fast and easy-to-use wiring tool. Route multi-layer boards with support for copper pours and DRC checking. Integrated Digi-Key Parts Catalog with Bill of Materials Manager.

• ZenitPCB 

Is an excellent PCB layout design software tool to create professional printed circuit board ( PCB ). It is easy to use CAD program, which allow you to realize your projects in a short time. With ZenitPCB Layout is possible to create the project starting both from the schematic capture or by the layout itself.

• TinyCAD 

Is a program to help you draw circuit diagrams. It comes complete with symbol libraries to get you started straight away. As well as being able to simply print your designs, you can use TinyCAD to publish your drawings by copying and pasting into a Word document or saving as a PNG bitmap for the web.

• Osmond PCB 

Is a flexible tool for designing printed circuit boards. It runs on Macintosh. Its many features include: virtually unlimited board sizes, number of board layers, number of parts, support for both through-hole and surface mount parts and more.

• BSch3V 

Is a schematic capture program for Windows. The name “BSch” is an abbreviation of “Basic Schematic”. It has only basic functions, in order to simplify operation.

• ExpressPCB 

Is a snap to learn and use. Laying out PCBs is easy, even for the first time user.

• Kicad 

Is an open source (GPL) software for the creation of electronic schematic diagrams and printed circuit board artwork. It is useful for everybody working in electronic design (schematic diagrams and Printed Board up to 16 layers).

• gEDA

Runs on Linux and has produced tools which are used for electrical circuit design, schematic capture, simulation, prototyping, and production. Currently, the gEDA project offers a mature suite of free software applications for electronics design, including schematic capture, attribute management, bill of materials (BOM) generation, netlisting into over 20 netlist formats, analog and digital simulation, and printed circuit board (PCB) design layout.

• Fritzing 

Fritzing software is an interesting open-source initiative to support designers, artists, researchers and hobbyists to work creatively with interactive electronics and develop electronic projects. Fritzing helps you learn more about electronic circuits, to document your projects and even let’s you prepare them for production.

• DesignSpark PCB 

DesignSpark PCB is the world’s most accessible electronics design software. Easy to easy to learn and easy to use, it is designed to significantly reduce your concept-to-production time. At the core of this unique approach is a powerful software engine that enables you to capture Schematics, design PCB boards and layouts.

• EasyEDA

EasyEDA is a free, zero-install, Web and cloud-based EDA tool suite, integrating powerful schematic capture, mixed-mode circuit simulation and PCB layout in a seamless cross-platform browser environment, for electronic engineers, educators, students and hobbyists.

• Eagle cad
• Altium