Asian BoM costs - Page 1
Forum section: electronics / general

author: alanambrose
author_rank: Frequent Contributor
timestamp: February 20, 2018, 12:24:34 pm
content: Hi,I was looking at some small volume Chinese PCBA quotes recently and noticed that BoM numbers were a bit all-over-the-place. Surprisingly for me, some numbers were higher that Digi-Key USD pricing we pay for prototype quantity parts. This made it harder to compare quotes as I had to figure out what extra margin was buried in the BoM sourcing. I always thought that often the US price is quoted for low volume / discount for higher volume - and that in actual fact the PCBA supplier made a substantial part of their margin on the PCBA deal by sourcing lower cost parts locally.Anyone have extra insight / experience on this? Either as a customer or supplier?Alan

author: eclipse_real
author_rank: Newbie
timestamp: February 20, 2018, 09:31:20 pm
content: I am about to get into this myself - just waiting for the end of the national holidays.I guess I was just thinking of getting quotes from 4-5 Chinese PCBA companies and then comparing. I've read a bunch of posts around here and while there are lot of PCB company opinions, I didn't see a lot of PCBA company recommendations.Why is it so confusing for you if you have a few quotes? Are you planning to beat them up on some specific components that are higher priced?My project has an expensive board mounted AC / DC converter, and those can be really expensive....wondering how that will turn out.Interesting that DigiKey is cheaper on some.How many Chinese company quotes did you get to compare?

author: rea5245
author_rank: Frequent Contributor
timestamp: February 20, 2018, 11:36:01 pm
content: Quote from: blueskull on February 20, 2018, 11:17:23 pmIt's remarkable how often I see fake customs declarations. Our governments enact tariffs and individuals evade them frequently. So is "democracy" what the politicians do, or what the people do?(Of course, large shipments undoubtedly get closer scrutiny from Customs.)

author: mrpackethead
author_rank: Super Contributor
timestamp: February 21, 2018, 01:25:09 am
content: Quote from: blueskull on February 20, 2018, 11:17:23 pmIts just not worth the risk, doign false declarations. Get caught, ( i dont' care what they do in China ) here doign that ( sending stuff ) you will get a big fine. Very different way of doign things here.

author: mrpackethead
author_rank: Super Contributor
timestamp: February 21, 2018, 01:29:26 am
content: Quote from: alanambrose on February 20, 2018, 12:24:34 pmIf the parts are being sourced from overseas, they are often more expensive for the small PCBA's to purchase than you coudl purchase them in the US or outside of china. Larger PCBA's ( and if you are doign big jobs ) have tax-free zones, where goods come into and leave the country and there is no tax paid.. Import dutys are 20%+ on parts. Many of the microcontrollers fit into this catagory.. if you want to find out what parts you can get locally check out one of the local distributors.http://www.szlcsc.com/is the chinese digikey for example. Some stuff is awesome. Some stuff is blah. Szlcsc is pretty good with product tracablity, I've never got burned with parts that are not 'real'.

author: mrpackethead
author_rank: Super Contributor
timestamp: February 21, 2018, 02:04:06 am
content: Quote from: blueskull on February 21, 2018, 01:36:06 amThat is not correct. False declerations are against the law here, australia, the USA and many others. Its not vigouressly enforced, becuaus theres no revenue. Get caught, and everything you ever import will get inspected. You are obviously happy doign what you want to do. I'm not. I'm not going to break the law and cause myself issues.

author: mrpackethead
author_rank: Super Contributor
timestamp: February 21, 2018, 03:05:16 am
content: Quote from: blueskull on February 21, 2018, 02:56:43 amthe chinese 'rules' are that you have to pay duty. You just choose to ignore that. 2ndly, for me to make a false declaration and ship goods from MY country is a violation of OUR law.QuoteI've done plenty and i've done it legally and to the letter. Mostly my work is done in tax free zones, so its not subject to import duty. but *Everything* is always accruately documetned. As i say. you can do business how you like ,but i choose to follow the rules.QuoteExactly.

author: mrpackethead
author_rank: Super Contributor
timestamp: February 21, 2018, 03:39:12 am
content: Quote from: blueskull on February 21, 2018, 03:22:27 amNot somethign that i really want to share, as I'm a rounding error on their balacnce sheet. and I can only access their services, becuase i've provided them with a good amount of know-how to get a very specific product manufactured. They are located in teh Zhuhai Free trade Zone, near Macau. They make a very specific PCB for me, that i can't buy elsewhere. The certainly are not in the business of low volume. ( normally ) but when you hve somethign they want. you can find ways.

author: invzim
author_rank: Contributor
timestamp: February 21, 2018, 10:00:42 am
content: Quote from: alanambrose on February 20, 2018, 12:24:34 pm"it depends". I recently submitted a request for quote, and it seems they just punched part-numbers into digikey. It was a bit of a struggle to get them to use local brands - all kinds of connectors/slots in particular is a major PITA. My tip is to 'dumb down' the BOM a bit, specify "0603 1k 1% Resistor" instead of an actual part number, don't specify a TE/AMP usb connector part # - or they will use it and charge you accordingly. 8 years ago it was very different, pcb+parts+assembly was then cheaper than what I could source parts for myself.

author: Kjelt
author_rank: Super Contributor
timestamp: February 21, 2018, 10:44:48 am
content: Quote from: invzim on February 21, 2018, 10:00:42 amFor generic resistors I can understand but for connectors I would be more carefull, I have seen some usb connectors die after 40 inserts. It is your companies name that is on the product.

author: noras
author_rank: Contributor
timestamp: March 12, 2018, 09:32:36 am
content: The world's largest demographic country, you will find it difficult to develop. You find that when you manage a person, it is very easy to manage. When you manage a group of people, it is very difficult. Corruption is a big problem. I personally believe that The home inquiry is compared, and problems can be solved in time to solve the problem rather than an excuse.IC problem is your PCBA factory purchase problem.Isn't BOM to view the total price? If you have an objection to which component price, you can purchase the components themselves.Service ?Delivery ?Quality?Price? Genuine.Wool is out of the sheep. Enjoy the current convenience. In the future, many things will be more and more expensive. When you get benefits from one thing, it must damage other places, such as the environment, such as the cheap labor of other people.It may be only a few dollars for someone to work for several days(from google translation because my english is poor)

author: katy201607
author_rank: Contributor
timestamp: March 18, 2018, 08:23:59 am
content: Hi Alani have the experience.But after supplier reply, i know the reason.If the components is not regular and most of them are ICs, it is very expensive from China.Because the supplier from China needs to import them from overseas. the tax is very higher in China customHope it helps you.

author: svenskelektronik
author_rank: Contributor
timestamp: March 19, 2018, 11:15:25 am
content: Depending on manufacturer some components will be made outside of China. These components will be alot more expensive in China since adding import taxes and additional middelhands.The best way is to work with both trusted Asian, American and European factories, traders and brokers agents to get the best prices at the specified quality.Depending on the product and quantity you may want to choose an assembly house in America, Europe or in Asia. You need to consider import taxes at different stages for the manufacturing and distribution. You also need to add business trip expenses and dont forget the language barrier when it comes to support and solving production line issues. I do know this as we sometimes outsource production for bigger series over 10 000 units as we start loosing our price advantage at these big volumes.You may want to check out our online calculator for our PCBA service located in Europe, Sweden athttps://www.svenskelektronikproduktion.se/en/webshop/prototype-assembly.phpand compare the price to Asian and American PCBA services.We will also help you source components if you insist.

author: mrpackethead
author_rank: Super Contributor
timestamp: March 19, 2018, 09:57:09 pm
content: if you are doign larger volumes, you'd tyupically use a manfuacter that operates inside a tax free zone, VAT / Duties are then not an issue.

author: coppice
author_rank: Super Contributor
timestamp: March 19, 2018, 10:06:25 pm
content: Quote from: mrpackethead on March 19, 2018, 09:57:09 pmEven if you are making small quantities, most of the decent assembly shops are places that have VAT/duty free status.