UK one off PCB assembly - Page 1
Forum section: electronics / general

author: Christopher
author_rank: Frequent Contributor
timestamp: February 19, 2017, 06:16:06 pm
content: Looking for recommendations of companies who can populate PCBs for me in the UKPart types: minimum 0402, thru-hole connectors, TSSOP etc.I am after a proper UK LTD company (not a kid in his bedroom..!) I can send a drawing, Farnell BOM & gerbers and get boards back in X amount of days.

author: KJDS
author_rank: Super Contributor
timestamp: February 19, 2017, 07:40:22 pm
content: Is the one off always going to be a one off, or is it going to go into production?For a one off, it would be far far cheaper to hand assemble it yourself, even if you have to buy a microscope and a decent soldering station

author: bookaboo
author_rank: Frequent Contributor
timestamp: February 19, 2017, 09:40:31 pm
content: Yep you will probably be better off learning the skill yourself. Get a stencil with your PCB, some tweezers and make a PID oven. Maybe some fiddling about to begin but I've got an apprentice trained up and we do the small production runs ourselves, still amazes me how good a job can be done on a basic set up.

author: Christopher
author_rank: Frequent Contributor
timestamp: February 19, 2017, 10:11:01 pm
content: We're currently building up the Pcbs in house which is costing us a lot of money (design engineer assembling Pcbs isn't that cost effective)I do one off projects so quality is more of an issue rather than price.

author: Wilksey
author_rank: Super Contributor
timestamp: February 19, 2017, 11:04:22 pm
content: Where about in the UK are you?Are you after fabrication as well or just assembly?There are a number of assemblers that I have used in the past, most will accept PCB's made by others.Newbury Electronics, Garner Osborne, TGMC, SkilCom, AES, I could go on...One off won't be "cheap", I am in the south west, and I can tell you at least 3 or 4 places local (within 30-40 miles) to me where you can get professional PCB's assembled.

author: mikeselectricstuff
author_rank: Super Contributor
timestamp: February 19, 2017, 11:50:38 pm
content: The thing is to find a place suited to your quantities. Almost any assembler will do 1-offs, but pricing can vary by an order of magnitude at least.One hurdle is that most places insist on using a proper stainless stencil so that's £150-200 tooling to start with.AFAIK very few UK places have the Mydata paste-jet printer that could get around this, though that machine is very expensive so they probably still charge for it.You should probably start with places that actively advertise prototype/small qty services.Newbury offer a low-volume online service through their PCBTrain sitehttp://www.pcbtrain.co.uk/I'm told this is usually hand assembled. They do instant online price calculation so at least useful to get a rough idea of what the maximum is likely to be.You should also look at whether you can optimise things for in-house hand assembly - BOM reduction, vacuum pickup, tape holders etc. and whether you can train less "expensive" in-house staff to do it - if it's a regular requirement, there's no reason for design engineers to be doing it.All you need is someone with good manual skills and concentration.

author: mrpackethead
author_rank: Super Contributor
timestamp: February 20, 2017, 03:50:55 am
content: Quote from: mikeselectricstuff on February 19, 2017, 11:50:38 pmI'm buying very satisifactory made eletropolished laser cut stainless stenils for about $USD40 delivered to me In NZ. Freight to the UK is much cheaper, so if your paying 150-200 Quid, the you really should look a bit further..Quote

author: mikeselectricstuff
author_rank: Super Contributor
timestamp: February 20, 2017, 08:11:08 am
content: Quote from: mrpackethead on February 20, 2017, 03:50:55 amWhat size ? All the places I've used can/will only use big stencils about 18" square. Some only use framed stencils which cost even more. That size probably classed as oversize so you wouldn't even get the shipping fro that.QuoteThe problem is that IME, subcontractors aren't really interested in doing anything outside their normal process, and just pass on stencil cost. They just aren't interested in potential hassle and risk ( as they see it) to save the customer what is usually a small amount on any reasonable sized job.Again, it's about finding somewhere with the right attitude.For 1-offs, a good "guy in a back room" may actually be a good choice, if you can find one.

author: Howardlong
author_rank: Super Contributor
timestamp: February 20, 2017, 09:06:58 am
content: I am in agreement that although you can almost certainly get a "proper UK Ltd" to quote you, it won't be cheap, and that your in-house design engineer assembling one-off boards will almost certainly be more cost effective.Bearing in mind your requirement is for one-offs, I'm a bit surprised that you'd want to farm it out for such low volume. Typically I find I learn an awful lot by building the first five or ten myself, including bugs, failure modes etc., as well as coming up with a good test procedure.Not only that, when you outsource something like this you will almost certainly end up second guessing whether the assembler has done their job correctly, especially bearing in mind it'll likely have been hand assembled. Whether or not the assembler has assembled it correctly is neither here nor there, the point is that it's human nature to question something you haven't had a direct hand in.Is it really one-offs, or do you make up development, engineering, spare and test samples too?

author: mikeselectricstuff
author_rank: Super Contributor
timestamp: February 20, 2017, 09:11:11 am
content: What sort of batch quantity and number of parts per unit are you talking about ?

author: Alex Nikitin
author_rank: Super Contributor
timestamp: February 20, 2017, 09:20:31 am
content: We usually use Newbury Electronics (http://www.newburyelectronics.co.uk/) for one-off or very small runs, with good results.CheersAlex

author: technotronix
author_rank: Regular Contributor
timestamp: February 20, 2017, 10:36:55 am
content: Where are you in UK? Why you want it from UK only?

author: mrpackethead
author_rank: Super Contributor
timestamp: February 20, 2017, 08:16:48 pm
content: Quote from: mikeselectricstuff on February 20, 2017, 08:11:08 am

author: mikeselectricstuff
author_rank: Super Contributor
timestamp: February 20, 2017, 08:30:52 pm
content: Quote from: mrpackethead on February 20, 2017, 08:16:48 pm

author: Christopher
author_rank: Frequent Contributor
timestamp: February 22, 2017, 07:16:48 am
content: Thanks for your replies. I work in a very tin-pot electronics company. Understaffed and too tight deadlines. Seems like it would be easier to just get something made by someone with a better quality system and just pay a few hundred quid for the privilege. I've sent an example board off to a few companies for a quote...

author: mikeselectricstuff
author_rank: Super Contributor
timestamp: February 22, 2017, 09:01:29 am
content: Quote from: Christopher on February 22, 2017, 07:16:48 amLet us know what you find out, not just price but attitude, response time etc.

author: bookaboo
author_rank: Frequent Contributor
timestamp: February 22, 2017, 09:45:01 am
content: Yes do report back findings. I also remembered on theamphour podcast there was at least 1 USA based guest who had an entire online assembley order cart. Same idea as blank PCB ordering.Ok its not UK but I thought it sounded interesting.http://theamphour.com/tag/assembly/The holy grail would be if you could just click "buy assembled" from a CAD package and integrated BOM. If someone could just make that, thanks in advance.

author: richardlawson1489
author_rank: Regular Contributor
timestamp: February 22, 2017, 11:36:18 am
content: Hi, I live in the USA and I found many good PCBA manufacturers from the USA with the great quality. Cost may be high but you will get a 100% satisfaction with quality. Please revert if you are ok with USA manufacturers.

author: mrpackethead
author_rank: Super Contributor
timestamp: February 22, 2017, 04:59:36 pm
content: Why does it have to be made in teh UK?

author: Howardlong
author_rank: Super Contributor
timestamp: February 22, 2017, 06:45:21 pm
content: For assembly, I much prefer local even for medium volume. Nothing like pressing the flesh, seeing the whites of the eyes, no language or cultural divides, and being able to fix problems almost immediately with a quick visit.

author: mikeselectricstuff
author_rank: Super Contributor
timestamp: February 22, 2017, 07:12:07 pm
content: Quote from: Howardlong on February 22, 2017, 06:45:21 pm+1..And pick up urgent boards hot out of the oven before everyone goes home at friday Lunchtime...