| 1) |
What types of bare board fabrication are you best suited for? |
| 2) |
Why was my quote so much higher or lower than it was last time?
|
| 3) |
What is SMOBC? |
| 4) |
How can I save money when I create a new design? |
| 5) |
What do you need in order to quote a job? |
| 6) |
How long will it take to get a quote? |
| 7) |
Can you perform an electrical test on our boards and if so, how
is this done.? |
| 8) |
What
is the most efficient method of providing a PCB manufacturer with
artwork? |
| |
Questions
Continued on Page 2 ... |
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| 1) |
What types of bare board fabrication are you best suited for?
We build single-sided, double-sided and multilayer plated-thru-hole
boards. Currently, we are best equipped for prototype, small and
medium production quantities on FR4 and high end material. Size
and complexity of the boards will determine what our capacity is.
We offer solder mask with or without SMOBC, legend silk screening,
nickel/gold-plated tabs and CNC scored or routed boards. We specialize
in scoring panelization for fast efficient assembly of your bare
boards. |
| 2) |
Why was my quote so much higher or lower than it was last time?
A. Two possible reasons are this would be that you either requested
a different quantity or a different delivery. Allowing for nominal
increases for the rising prices of material and labor, the price
you are quoted should be consistent with previous quotes or orders
as long as the quantities and deliveries remain the same. Circuit
boards are custom manufactured and the price is very dependent on
the quantity being manufactured and the time allowed. Since we have
to perform as many steps in the manufacturing process for 1 board
as we do for 1000 boards, efficiency dictates that the more product
that we can run through the numerous processes required, the more
time we save per board. That time saved results in better pricing
for larger quantities. |
| 3) |
What is SMOBC?
A. Simply stated, it stands for Solder Mask Over Bare Copper. Traditional
solder mask coatings are done over a reflowed tin/lead finish. Although
the tin/lead finish is desirable for the pads for better solderability,
this tin/lead coating is not necessary for the rest of the circuitry
if it is protected by solder mask. The real reason for developing
this process was to prevent the wrinkling effect of the tin/lead
trapped under the solder mask when it is again reflowed during the
assembly operation when the components are soldered with a wave
solder machine. |
| 4) |
How
can I save money when I create a new design?
A. It's called DFM - Design for manufacturability. This consideration
in designing the artwork will save money over and over again during
the manufacturer of the bare boards and the assembly of these boards.
Contact us for detail. |
| 5) |
What do you need in order to quote a job?
A.
Keep in mind that the more information you give us, the better the
quote will be. Quantity and a fab drawing consisting of outline
dimensions, drilling info and any special fab notes. You may simply
fill in our quote form with this info or call us for a quick response.
You can email this information with Gerber files and we will extract
this info but it may delay the quote. |
| 6) |
How long will it take to get a quote?
A. Once we have received the above information, we can usually reply
to a quote within 24 hours or less. |
| 7) |
Can you perform an electrical test on our boards and if so, how
is this done.?
A. We prefer to test your boards but this is an optional process
requiring a test fixture charge. You will not pay for this fixture
again if the board does not change. The test is a bed of nails netlist
test for opens and shorts based on the nets extracted from the Gerber
files supplied for the fabrication. Once tested, the boards have
been verified to match the Gerber files 100% against opens or shorts.
|
| 8) |
What
is the most efficient method of providing a PCB manufacturer with
artwork? |
| |
Most
companies have moved away from hard copy artwork these days. The
generally accepted method is to transfer electronic (Gerber and
HPGL) data by modem or Internet. However modems can sometimes be
troublesome with compatibility problems, busy lines and the expense
of long distance calls. So increasingly the Internet offers a trouble
free, cost effective service. An important point, most PCB manufacturers
prefer customers to include the machining details in the form of
a drawing within the electronic data package. This enables work
to begin immediately - often this item is forgotten. |
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