The disadvantages of using multiple companies for meeting your PCB needs
Do you keep changing your PCB manufacturer with every order or quite frequently? If yes then you need to revisit your approach to ensure whether your approach is useful and whether it is the best possible approach for you. There could be other better approaches and you are not benefitting from them.
Instead of changing your PCB manufacturing company with every order you need to consider building a long-term association with a single manufacturer. You need to have your own ‘go to’ manufacturer that you could consider for all your orders. Take your time to select one such manufacturer so that you do not have to hunt for a new company for every order.
If you settle with a single company, your manufacturer will gain better understanding about your requirements and they will be able to deliver better results. Even the most experienced companies need some time to settle on the orders and to gain control over the requirements. When you keep sending your requirements to the same company, they will be able to demonstrate better understanding and you would reap the benefits in the form of getting better quality PCBs delivered in a timelier fashion.
There is another aspect to this, when you select a new PCB manufacturer for every order you are likely to spend more money in this process. Most of the PCB manufacturers will have their own setup costs. This order setup cost will vary from one company to the other. Therefore, you need to look for the most dependable company once and settle with them so that you are not paying this setup costs multiple times.
If you were to change your manufacturer with every batch of PCB requirement, then you need to go through a long and windy screening process. This is going to take a considerable amount of your time and you will not be able to focus on the other important tasks. Even if you are going to engage a sourcing team, they could be doing something better than just looking for a new PCB manufacturer every three months or six months.
On the whole, there are a number of disadvantages in sourcing your PCBs from multiple companies. As you are not going to lose anything by sticking to the same company on a long-term basis you should consider finding a dependable company that you could work with on a regular basis. You would definitely be happy with the overall change in the dynamics of sourcing your PCBs. Take your time to review and screen multiple companies. It is alright to take a considerable amount of time initially to spot the right service provider instead of having to go through this process several times every now and then. Find your ‘go to’ PCB manufacturer save time, money and the hassles. You will also be happy with the overall quality of the PCBs delivered to you by your preferred PCB manufacturer when you work with them on a long-term basis.
ChinaPCBOne Technology LTD. is the author of this article on PCB manufacturing. Find more information, about PCB manufacturer.