PCB Costing Reductions I Garner Osborne, PCB Manufacture & Assembly

PCB costing is one of the most important phases in new product design and development, but until you have a prototype that works it’s not easy getting costings that you can have confidence in. There are however a few ways that you can reduce costs at the outset of your product design phase through being smart about the design of your PCB.

1. Keep layers to a minimum.

The more layers required within the PCB the more technically demanding the manufacture of the PCB will be and will affect your overall PCB costing.

2. Tracks, Gaps and Hole Sizes

To keep costs to a minimum it is sensible to use the largest possible tracks, gaps and hole sizes as this will improve the yield rate for the batch being manufactured thus reducing the cost. (Standard track and gap is 0.15mm & standard hole size is 0.4mm).

3. Minimise the size of the board.

Substantial cost savings can be made as you reduce the size of the PCB you require for your project.

4. Choose your PCB manufacturer carefully.

When choosing a PCB manufacturer here are a few things to think about:

How long has the company been trading?
What approvals / certificates does the manufacturer hold?
What are the company’s capabilities?
What is there spending power with their suppliers?
Do they have a trusted offshore broker for larger production runs?
Do they manufacture everything in house or do they subcontract any of their work out?

5. Improve quality.

Finding a quality PCB manufacturer may seem like a more costly option at the outset, but once your drop-outs have been accounted for, a quality PCB results in less waste, a better brand reputation and a more desirable product.

When a customer comes to Garner Osborne for a quote on PCB manufacturing, our specialist engineers will review their Gerber files, prior to committing on cost. When reviewing the data if they identify areas on the board where the design can be changed to save money we will inform the engineer / designer of our findings.

For a quote for your PCB requirements, contact us today on 01635 582626.