Market Analysis of Small Batch PCBA Manufacturing Industry

PCBA is usually a long-term project. For this reason, electronic manufacturers will take various effective means to screen suitable PCBA service providers when selecting service providers. Prototyping or low-volume manufacturing before mass production is a sound strategy. Electronics manufacturers can understand PCB design and quality based on the results of prototyping. For small-batch PCBA manufacturing, we use it more to test the market response and judge the manufacturer’s real manufacturing capabilities. The following are the details you need to pay attention to when choosing a small-volume PCBA service provider provided by FS Technology.

Qualità

PCB copper thickness is an important indicator to consider the manufacturer’s ability, either board comes with flat edges, smooth and tidy surface and the adhesion of copper foil is good enough, or something else. These factors help to define the quality of boards. If the supplier can provide product quality that meets the standard or exceeds your requirements, then it is a qualified supplier and can establish a long-term relationship and convert small volumes or prototyping to assemblaggio di PCB ad alto volume and production.

Velocità

Today’s electronics manufacturing industry (especially PCBA per l'elettronica di consumo) is very focused on speed. Faster PCB manufacturing and assembly speed means that products can be produced and put into the market faster, which will undoubtedly pose higher challenges to the PCBA industry. For this reason, it is recommended that you choose to cooperate with a company such as FS Technology that can provide assemblaggio di PCB in tempi rapidi, which will allow your order to be completed in a shorter time. In order to achieve faster manufacturing speed, manufacturers need to use more advanced manufacturing equipment and assembly equipment or more production lines. Without exception, these demands reflect the strength of service providers.

Servizio

In fact, what PCBA companies provide is more of a service than a commodity. With the reform of the electronic manufacturing industry, finished product sellers are seeking a new operating mode, that is, from the coexistence of production and sales to pure sales. This mode change is beneficial. On the one hand, it reduces the cost of personnel management, and on the other hand, it speeds up the development of new products. This also fully reflects the importance of choosing a PCBA company with comprehensive services. FS Technology can provide different service types such as turnkey assembly and semi-turnkey assembly, which allows you to switch cooperation modes more flexibly.

Overview of Small Batch PCBA Manufacturing Industry

PCBA board called functional board that has conductive layers on surfaces over project components are connected over the substrate according to certain printing techniques, that are used to help to make accurate interconnection and relay transmission among different components. It is an indispensable main part of electronic information products. The production quality of board has an impact on electronic product reliability and with that net competitiveness of system products, therefore PCBA is known as “the mother of electronic system products”. Almost all electronic devices contain PCBA boards, and their reliability and competitiveness are affected by the quality of PCB manufacturing and assembly.

PCBA is the main industry where electronic information equipment is actually used, and the application industry also has different choices. As a top small batch manufacturer in Shenzhen, FS Technology has customers from all over the world. Our customers are located in more than 150 countries around the world and accept orders from different fields:

Industrial control PCB
Consumer electronics (mobile phone, computer, keyboard, PCB Bluetooth)
Vehicle electronics
Medical PCBs (pacemakers, scanners, surgical equipment)
Communication industry (5G, power transmission system)

With the scale of the 5G industry, more electronic products are emerging, such as integrated circuits, new energy vehicles, digital economy, etc., which means that the demand for small-scale PCBA by electronic manufacturers is growing.

Why Choose Small Batch PCBA Project

Printed circuit board (PCB) is a fully customized electronic component, and customers can manufacture different types of circuit board according to different project needs. Usually, we make different classifications according to the number of layers, materials, functions, and hardness. In the PCB assembly (PCBA) industry, it is also classified according to different MOQs, such as: assemblaggio di prototipi di PCB, assemblaggio di PCB in piccoli lotti, medium-volume PCB assembly, and high-volume PCB assembly. In addition, we can also divide these service providers into manufacturers with factories and middlemen without factories.

The PCBA project can be divided into three stages, namely prototyping, small batch production and mass production:

Prototipazione

It is used in the research and development stage of electronic equipment, such as research, development and testing, which is the front-end link of the PCBA project and has a certain degree of professionalism. Therefore, prototype orders in the research and development stage have the characteristics of many varieties, small size and fast delivery.

Small batch production

There are two types of customers that FS Technology cooperates with in small-volume PCBA manufacturing: small demand and test market.

Small demand: Some small or start-up companies do not have a huge customer base and therefore choose small-volume PCBA manufacturing. This operating strategy is effective and correct. When these products are put into the market and the funds are withdrawn, the next batch of small-volume orders will be placed, which helps to provide flexibility in capital turnover. It is worth noting that the smaller the order volume, the higher the unit price per customer, which is applicable in all industries. But FS Technology upholds the concept of win-win to help these small businesses at lower prices so that they can obtain higher profits. In the past service, due to the advantage of sharing profits, many small customers (small batch orders) have gradually developed into large customers (large batch orders), and have made significant contributions to FS Technology.

Test the market: It takes courage and is very unwise to start mass production directly after new product development. First of all, we don’t have enough data to prove whether this product has enough user groups. Secondly, a large amount of money is used for production and reduces the promotion budget. No matter from that point of view, small-batch PCBA manufacturing is the best way to test the market response. If the response of these products is good, continue to proceed, otherwise they will be eliminated.

Large-scale mass production

After the inspection of the prototype and small batch PCBA manufacturing, the batch project can be started to obtain higher profits.

Development of China's Small Batch PCB Assembly Industry

Since 2017, the annual output value of China’s PCBA industry has grown exponentially. According to the report of the State Council of China, China’s PCBA export volume will account for 50% of the global market in 2021. Based on China’s current policies, population, and favorable industries, the PCBA manufacturing industry may continue to transfer to mainland China in the future. With this changing trend, more and more Chinese manufacturers have joined the PCBA industry, which has led to more small-volume manufacturing orders being transferred from the United States, Europe, and Japan to the Chinese market. Although most of the PCBs currently exported from China are low-end products, with the upgrading of production technology and assembly technology, the number of high-end PCBA boards exported from China is gradually increasing.

R & D

Il PCBA è un componente essenziale dei prodotti informatici elettronici che coinvolgono molte industrie a valle. Il prototipo viene utilizzato per la ricerca e lo sviluppo, per i test pilota e per la creazione di nuovi dispositivi per le imprese di produzione di prodotti elettronici informativi a valle. I creatori di PCBA professionali sono necessari per contribuire alla produzione di prototipi nella fase di R&S e lo sviluppo degli investimenti in R&S nel settore sta guidando la continua crescita del mercato della prototipazione.

Applicazioni industriali a valle

PCBA passes through all phases of electronic information products research and testing and is used in high-level industries through high R&D investment intensity like communication devices, automation, automobiles, semiconductors, and military instruments. Like this downstream of the small run board, assembly is used in enterprise-level expert’s customers applications industries like communication systems, industries machines, and automotive electronics.

China's small-scale PCBA manufacturing development obstacles

Management Barriers

Small Scale PCBA Manufacturing Company places higher demands on the ability of operators to manage production. For production planning, material supply technical data storage, switching of different product types, and uncertainty management, manufacturers need more good operation to get their required goals. For PCBA production, the chance of uncertain parameters is high. Efficient and rapid adaptation and allocation of limited resources are key management skills that PCBA manufacturing companies must have to operate efficiently. To make sure the optimization and accurate connection of numerous manufacturing links, perform good work for quality control of numerous products and make sure the delivery date of products is the embodiment of the core competitiveness of Small Volume PCB Assembly. For new users to make highly flexible production lines follow the long-term accumulation procedure which sets up a high barrier to production management.

Risorse del cliente e barriere della rete di vendita

L'area media degli ordini di PCBA a basso volume è piccola, con una superficie media di circa dieci metri quadrati. Le imprese e gli utenti hanno bisogno di ordini in blocco per ottenere entrate di alto livello. La creazione di un sistema di vendita e di risorse per i clienti di alto livello richiede un certo tempo, e le imprese che entrano nel mercato hanno i vantaggi della prima mossa. In questo contesto, i prezzi del sistema di vendita sono elevati e le spese di riparazione sono basse. Una volta che i primi entrati stabiliscono una relazione di cooperazione stabile con i grandi clienti, sarà difficile per i nuovi entrati competere per le quote di mercato.

Barriere finanziarie

Per soddisfare le richieste dei clienti in base ai requisiti per la produzione di PCBA a basso volume, è necessario disporre di macchine di produzione di livello avanzato e aumentare le caratteristiche dei test di produzione, PCB flessibile manufacturing abilities, and continuous research and development features of enterprises. There are many small scale PCBA manufacturing procedures used, different types of machines and instruments, high unit prices of the latest machines and instruments, complex circuit production procedures, and large employment of working capital, so there are high capital barriers. For instance, a PCBA manufacturing line needs many latest machines like an exposure machine, vacuum air compressor, an automatic optical testing instrument, laser drilling machine, and pattern etching line Costly manufacturing devices and complicated technique procedures make the investment in fixed assets huge, which represents a high financial barrier for new entrants.

PCB Manufacturing Technical

Il mercato della produzione di PCBA è un'industria basata sulla tecnologia con barriere tecniche, l'industria dei PCBA è integrata nell'elettronica, nelle macchine, nei materiali del sistema ottico del computer, negli ingegneri chimici e in alcuni altri programmi correlati. È quindi obbligatorio avere una buona conoscenza di tutte queste discipline e possedere le competenze necessarie per applicare questi strumenti per una produzione accurata.

For the manufacturing process, with the development of printed circuit board with accuracy and high density the manufacturing of numerous small run PCB, especially numerous high-end devices or special substrate products, need different technical industry and process configurations, and includes various patented technologies, proprietary know-how, and special processes that have strong flexible manufacturing feature

For the processing of products construction enterprises need to have numerous capabilities like etching, drilling, etc. to make any type of small scale PCBA assembly devices. Any fault in processing will result in reduces finished product rate that affects the function of the complete supply chain where the enterprise situated.

In terms of application areas, the downstream application areas of the small-scale PCBA assembly industry are extensive, including industrial control, medical devices, safety electronics, communication equipment, aerospace, and many other industries. Users in numerous industries have different needs for PCBA devices and PCBA products have features of different types, complicated processes, and many applications of new technologies and materials.

PCBA production enterprises need to have the capability to offer services in different fields. With the growth in industry PCBA demands is increasing for industries that have high technical and manufacturing abilities and large companies that can quickly provide customers with comprehensive solutions. Small companies have limited skills and abilities, therefore there will be fewer orders for them as results have less profit, which will increase the market risk of new entrants in the industry.