Estimation：How to reduce pcb manufacturing cost？

PCB fabrication costs depend on the design and the end use of the PCB, and there are many real-world factors that affect the cost of a PCB. Generally, the three most influential factors that affect the cost of manufacturing a PCB are the size of the board, the number of layers, and the type of material used. When many PCB purchasers or engineers find PCB manufacturers to make boards, they always feel that the price is high, but they don't know where the cost is too high, and they don't know how to optimize the cost while ensuring the quality of the circuit board. They can only shop around. Give to whoever has the lowest. 

Next, the editor of KFPCBA will share with you what options to reduce the cost of printed circuit boards! Highly recommended collection!

1. Plate

Different brands of plates have different prices. For example, TG value ≥ 150°, multi-layer board, PP sheet with a thickness of more than 0.2MM, Guoji will be more expensive than Kingboard, Shengyi, and Nanya, but Guoji is generally used for single and double sides. There are also some unknown brand boards, which are cheaper and can be used, but the performance is relatively poor, and the probability of quality problems will be relatively high. If you make a PCB circuit board with more than 8 layers, you need to choose a board with better performance. It is recommended to use Kingboard TG170, which is more cost-effective.

2. Ink

Ink needs to consider two points, namely color and brand. In terms of color, the most common is green oil, but if you want to use ink of special color, such as blue oil, white oil, butter, black oil, etc., it will generally increase the price. In terms of brands, the best one at present is Sun ink, which is mainly characterized by high viscosity, stable dielectric constant, good insulation and anti-oxidation, but it is relatively expensive. Other brands of ink will be relatively cheap.

3. Film

If it is a simple material, with a line width of 5/5MIL or more, PCB manufacturers will choose to use film for production capacity. The larger the board size, the higher the film cost, generally the minimum cost is between 50-200.

4. Line width and line spacing

The thinner the wire, the higher the price, and the price below 5/5MIL usually increases.

5. Drilling information

The smaller the hole, the higher the price, and the hole with a diameter less than 0.3mm will increase the price; the more holes, the higher the price, and other special holes will also increase the cost, such as half holes, PTH holes larger than 6.0mm, etc.

6. Finish copper thickness

Printed circuit boards with surface copper ≥ 2OZ copper thickness and hole copper greater than 25UM will increase the cost.

7. Finish the plate thickness

The price of circuit boards with a thickness of 1.2MM and 1.6MM is not much different, but if the thickness of the board is 2.0MM or even thicker, the cost will increase accordingly.

8. External data

There are more gong grooves, and the size of the gong groove is less than 1.0mm, the cost will increase.

9. Surface technology

Our common surface treatment processes include OSP (anti-oxidation), lead spray tin, lead-free spray tin (environmental protection), immersion gold, gold plating and some combination processes. The price of the above process becomes more and more expensive, namely OSP (anti-oxidation) < lead spray tin < lead-free spray tin (environmental protection) < immersion gold < gold plating.

10. Tooling fee and test stand

If it is proofing or small batches, the general board factory adopts the drilling and milling shape, and there is no need to add additional milling fees. However, if it is a large batch, it is necessary to open a mold and punch a plate, resulting in a set of mold costs. PCB manufacturers usually quote more than 1,000 yuan. If it is proofing or small batch, flying probe test is usually used, and the cost ranges from 100-400 yuan (depending on the number of test points in the document). If it is a large batch, it is necessary to open a test frame to test, with high efficiency and lower overall cost! The cost of the test frame is generally between 600-1500 yuan.

At the end, the above is the question about "How to reduce pcb manufacturing cost". If you have any other questions, or the needs of PCB design, manufacturing, and assembly, please contact us, we will be happy to serve you! thanks