PCB Options at a Standard Price – Our Cost-Free Services
We at Bittele Electronics are committed to making PCB Fabrication and PCB Assembly as straightforward and easy as possible for all of our clients. During our production processes, we achieve this goal by providing DFM / DFA Validation, and holding to consistent PCB Assembly Process, but we also recognize that the quotation stage is equally important. As such, we have tailored our PCB quotes to provide the best possible pricing while remaining easy for our clients to understand.
Bittele’s many standard-price options allow you to design according to your needs, without having to worry that you might later be hit with additional charges. This article briefly notes those options, so that clients can be confident in the flexibility of our service.
Solder Masks
Bittele, unlike many other PCB service providers, offers a wide range of Solder Mask colour options for no additional cost, each one available in either matte or gloss finish including: Green, Red, Blue, Yellow, White, and Black.
We normally add one additional day of lead time for the Black solder mask option, due to the fact that the heat profile of black PCBs requires more attention during reflow, but no additional cost is required.
Silkscreen
For Silkscreen legends, we offer the same range of colours that we provide for solder mask, all at no additional charge; those options again are: Green, Red, Blue, Yellow, White, and Black.
We also provide 2-sided silkscreen at no additional charge. Many clients use this service even for single-side-assembly boards, since it allows them to print serial numbers or company logos on the PCBs without encroaching on the components.
Surface Finishes
One major factor that sets Bittele apart from other PCB service providers is our wide range of standard-price Surface Finish options. We provide the Lead-Free HASL, ENIG, Tin Immersion, and Silver Immersion surface finishes all at one low price, allowing clients to choose the best option for their project without having to worry about cost.
We generally recommend the ENIG (Electro-less Nickel Immersion Gold) finish for most projects, since it offers the best all-around quality and shelf-life of our standard-price options. That being said, some projects might be better suited to another surface finish. For more information about the advantages of each, feel free to check our DFM Guidelines document.
Copper Weight
Another of Bittele’s important standard-price areas is Copper Weight, where we offer any weight up to and including 1.0 oz at no additional cost.
Weights in the range of 1.1 oz. to 2.0 oz will require some additional cost, but we have a set price point for any weights within that range. Weights from 2.1 oz to 3.0 oz also have their own set price point, but above 3.0 oz is considered Heavy Copper, and must be analyzed on a case-by-case basis.
Inspection & Testing
Bittele’s veteran PCB engineering staff performs validation at each individual stage of every project. As soon as a PCB design is released to Bittele’s production team, we perform a meticulous DFM Check absolutely free of charge, and confirm any questions with our clients before beginning the PCB Fabrication process. We also perform thorough inspections on all incoming parts and materials, and we include visual inspections and/or Automated Optical Inspections (AOI) for PCB Assembly projects free of charge.
We also include 100% Electrical Testing on every bare PCB that leaves our facility, and this service does require some cost depending on the complexity of the project in question. Bittele’s PCB Fabrication quotes clearly note this cost in a separate column to ensure that we are as transparent as possible.
Package Sizes
Bittele recognizes that PCBs are trending smaller, and smaller passive packages lead to higher levels of production loss and more stringent inspection requirements. At Bittele, we have tailored our PCB assembly process to accommodate this trend, and so we are able to offer assembly for any package size of 0603 or greater for no additional charge.
We can also assemble down to 0402 or even 0201 passives for some additional cost, but we only charge a flat rate for the presence of these extra-small components. This means our clients don’t have to worry about the specific number of small components on their BoM; size-constrained projects can use all 0402 or all 0201 packages without driving up the cost for each individual package on the board.
Parts Procurement
Bittele’s experienced parts procurement team sources components only from reputable North American distributors. We offer this service at no additional cost, with no component price markups. This allows our clients to avoid the hassle of shopping around at different distributors, and the additional shipping costs involved with getting the parts to our facilities for assembly. Even clients who have existing stock of some components can take advantage of our parts procurement team for the remainder of their BoM at no additional cost, using our Partial Turnkey services.
We also have a large database of Free Passive Components from well-known manufacturers like Murata and Vishay, which we offer entirely free of charge to our turnkey clients!
Advanced Sample Program
We understand that placing a large order can be stressful, especially for new versions of a design. At Bittele, we offer our Advanced Sample Program to help our clients rest easy in the knowledge that their complex and high-volume orders will be in full working order when they arrive.
In addition to all of our meticulous quality assurance procedures, such as AOI, X-Ray Inspection, FCT, and ICT, we also offer advanced samples of assembled PCBs for qualifying turnkey orders. After PCB Fabrication is complete, we will assemble a small batch of usually three to five boards ahead of the main production run, and ship these straightaway to the client.
This way, you can work with our production team to ensure that the finished product exactly meets your specifications every time. No one knows your design as well as you do, and so we offer this service as a guarantee that each and every board leaving our facilities will meet your own personal standards in quality and performance.
