PCB manufacturing involves PCB design, PCB printing and PCB assembly. Initially, you would have fabricated the prototype with the help of the prototype building company. Once the prototype comes out successfully, you need to move the next phase.
The next phase is the mass production of the PCBs, which involves PCB assembly. The first challenge here is finding the best PCB assembly and PCB manufacturing company. You cannot pick your PCB manufacturer randomly but you need to find the most trusted companies with a vast experience. Rushing through the selection process will put you in a very disadvantageous position. You should know that once you find a PCB assembly company, you are likely to stick with them for all your future needs too. Therefore, it is prudent that you select the right company for once by making the necessary steps.
Your PCB is likely to have many components and parts. All these components need to be first sourced. So the second challenge in the PCB fabrication and assembly process is sourcing the best assembly components. You are not likely to face any issues with the sourcing process as long as the overall quantity is low. As the sourcing volume increases, the sourcing process gets increasingly complex.
As far as PCB assembly components are concerned, you need to ensure that the quality of the PCB components is not compromised. This is not going to be an easy task, the required components should be available in required quantities. The suppliers may not be able to supply immediately the required quantity. The lead-time taken for the manufacturing of these components is also long. Until you lock upon the right suppliers of PCB assembly components, you are going to go through a tough phase. These challenges are however likely to disappear once you manage to spot the best suppliers of PCB assembly components.
Upon completing the assembly process, the PCBs need to be tested for their functional stability. They cannot be directly installed in the final product before they are fully tested. All these processes are highly time consuming. You cannot therefore wait until the last minute to get you PCBs assembled. Your PCB assembly company will need a decent turnaround time to complete the assembly of the entire batch of PCBs. Depending on your product dispatch cycle, the PCBs could be delivered by your manufacturer in batches. You will have to work closely with the PCB assembly company, understand their capabilities and explain your requirements in detail so that they could effectively meet your requirements.
All these challenges need to be faced on an ongoing basis if you do not invest enough time to select the best PCB assembly company. When you find the most dependable company, then for all your future needs your screening and sourcing time would reduce. You will be able focus on the other core aspects of your manufacturing process. It is therefore prudent to partner with the best PCB assembly team available in the industry.