Here at Garner Osborne we offer our clients the benefit of single location manufacture and assembly of their printed circuit boards.
Often, our clients only realise the full benefits of having a single site for both these services after they’ve started to use it. At which point, the main feedback we receive is that they wish they’d made the switch sooner.
Many PCB manufacturers will ship circuit boards to a third party PCB assembler for the next stage in the process, but this can have a knock-on effect on tooling set up times, on production times, costs and quality.
The benefits of single-site manufacture and assembly
There are many reasons why creating and assembling a printed circuit board on one site makes sense:
1. One single point of contact
At Garner Osborne each client has their own account manager who oversees every stage of the process – from design submission and prototyping, through to manufacture, assembly and dispatch. This means that each client is guaranteed continuity throughout the production process. If there is an unavoidable delay to one part of the process outside of our control, it’s not game over for meeting timescales. Owning our own assembly facility means that later stages of the assembly process can be managed to keep any resulting delays being recorded or kept to an absolute minimum.
2. A faster, more streamlined process
Not having to take time out of the production process to package boards safely for shipment and then transfer them to an alternative site saves time, labour and logistical headaches. Man-hours cost money, so it can also keep your budgets looking healthier too.
3. Reduced spoils
There’s always a risk of breakages and damages occurring when goods are shipped from one place to another. Whilst at Garner Osborne we take great care to package every single circuit board safely to ensure it makes the journey in tip-top condition, we have limited control over what happens when products leave our care.
By manufacturing and assembling all on one site, we remove the risk of transporting the boards to an alternative site, packing them, and unpacking them.
4. Increased ownership for greater quality
When PCBs are moved from one site to another, it’s easy for the blame to be passed around when things go wrong. In turn, it can also be much harder to remedy, each party fighting to protect their own reputation, rather than focusing on remedying the problem. With manufacture and assembly of the printed circuit board all in one place, it’s not just that the chance of breakages that is reduced (as above). It also means that when things do go wrong, there’s only one company that can be responsible and it can be remedied equally rapidly, without the customer having to lift a finger or make a call.
5. And with less transport involved, you save money
You also remove all transportation costs of moving your boards from the manufacturer to the assembler. Often overlooked though, is the labour or machine time taken to package each one protectively to minimise the chances of breakages en-route. With manufacture and assembly on one single site, things become simpler, and much more cost-effective.
Is it time to simplify your PCB production and assembly? Give us a call on 01635 582626