Top 5 Advantages of One-Stop PCB Services

Bittele Electronics has been an industry leader in One-Stop PCB Assembly Services since 2003, and we are extremely proud of the complete PCB solutions we offer to our clients. During our years of experience, we have developed a model that makes One-Stop PCB Service ideal for all types of businesses, from small start-ups to Fortune 500 companies. We sometimes receive questions from our clients who place small-batch Prototype PCB orders, wondering if One-Stop PCB Service is the right choice for their needs, so this article will shed some light on the main advantages of that model.

What is One-Stop PCB Service?

One-Stop, also known as ‘Turnkey’ PCB Services are a complete solution, including DFM Checking, PCB Fabrication, Electrical Testing, Parts Procurement, PCB Assembly, Automated Optical Inspection (AOI), and Shipping. In short, you simply send us your PCB Design Files, and we send you back a fully functional PCB; it’s that easy!

Cost

This point is fairly straightforward: if your PCBs are fabricated and assembled by different manufacturers, you will likely have to cover the cost of shipping the bare PCBs between those two entities. Our One-Stop PCB Quotes include all shipping fees in one convenient entry, so you never have to worry about those annoying ancillary fees that can pop up during production.

You will also likely notice that your Bill of Materials (BOM) cost comes out slightly lower than your regular cost from standard North American vendors when you use our Parts Procurement team. This is because our dedicated team has worked for years to build relationships with component vendors and shipping partners, so we are able to leverage those relationships and purchase in bulk to win more savings for you!

Our One-Stop PCB Services also include a variety of additional services for our turnkey clients, such as our selection of Free Passive Parts, or our Free Advanced Samples program for larger orders. We can also provide specialized test methods such as X-Ray Inspection or Functional Circuit Testing (FCT), and we offer a variety of ancillary services like IC Programming and Conformal Coating.

Oversight

One-Stop PCB Service allows our clients more freedom to choose their level of involvement in the process. If you are busy with other design work, you can focus on those tasks, and leave the PCB Assembly Process mostly to us. We will of course keep you fully updated about your order’s status, but this arrangement will require much less oversight on your end, compared against the time required to negotiate between two or more different companies.

This process of One-Stop PCB Service eases the site auditing process as well, sometimes introducing this as an option where it would otherwise have been too costly or demanding.

You also only have to deal with one ongoing order for your project, under one quote and one invoice. This might seem inconsequential, but if a change must be made during production, a simple paper-trail can be enormously beneficial to maintaining your turnaround time.

Lead time

As mentioned above, lead time is often improved by the turnkey PCB service simply because communication is made easier, but this is certainly not the only reason for reduced lead time in One-Stop PCB Services.

Our One-Stop PCB Production Process is fully optimized for minimum lead time, with a precision that is incredibly difficult to achieve between multiple companies. We always make sure that Parts Procurement is done concurrently with PCB Fabrication, and all parts arrive at our production facilities prior to the completion of the bare PCBs. This way, we always have what we need to begin the PCB Assembly as soon as the bare boards are ready, and we never have to deal with downtime.

Quality

When you place a One-Stop PCB order with Bittele, we assign a project manager to your order, who sticks with you all the way through the production process. This means that you have someone on our end who is solely responsible to make sure that your PCBs are built exactly to specifications, and to double-check with you if we run into any questions. This allows for a seamless inter-departmental communication that is simply more efficient than the communication between multiple companies. Increased internal communication translates to a lower risk of errors and guaranteed compatibility; you never have to worry about your PCB Fabricator following a Spacing Requirement that your PCB Assembler is unable to work with.

Your project will be thoroughly tested after every individual step in the production process, as a part of our Quality Management principles. This allows the project manager for your order to become more familiar with your project, and to narrow down any errors to the specific manufacturing stage where they occurred to ensure a timely correction.

Service

Your Bittele project manager will keep an eye on your order, while your account manager acts as your point of contact for any questions you might have any point in the process. We provide an Online Order Tracking system for all of our clients, which is updated daily with the status of your ongoing project, and you can also get in touch with your account manager for any other questions. When the entire project is being handled by Bittele, we are in a unique position to keep you informed all the way through, from order placement to final shipment.

This is one of the biggest advantages of One-Stop PCB Service: you have one easy point of contact who will quickly become familiar with you and your order. Scaling up over time will be a breeze since our team will gain experience working together on your project, and we can increase our efficiency with every run.

If you still find yourself with any questions about Bittele’s One-Stop PCB Services, please do not hesitate to Contact Us any time! We can be reached via email at sales@7pcb.com, or toll-free at 1-888-812-1949.