Cost of SMD components mount

If your supplier can't quote on the design you have then find a different supplier.

If you are only needing small quantities then the biggest part of the cost will be setup of the machine rather than population and soldering. e.g. it may take an couple of hours to setup the reels and program the machine then only a few minutes to populate say 10 boards. There is also toolng to consider, if it is a reflow process then you have to pay for the solder mask.

Dave.

There is also the cost of the machine, a company I use told me that their new machine cost about 250,000 GBP.

Leon

Generally somewhere between USD 0.001 and 1.00, depending.

Best regards, Spehro Pefhany

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OK so you wouldn't buy a machine yourself, but this does make up part of the hourly cost. If you assume the machine operates for two shifts, 5 days a week, 50 weeks of the year and it is depreciated over 5 years then that makes the minimum hourly cost £12.50. If it can load 60 boards in an hour then that's only 21p each. If the above listed parts are the only ones then maybe it can do a lot more than 60/hr.

Dave.

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Hello guys,

thanks for your answers.

My supplier's fixed costs, for this board, are:

A. 60 Euros (~75 USD) for the Pick'n'place program (one time) B. 75 Euros (~90 USD) for every Pick'n'place job. In my case, 1000 boards in one job.

What I would like to figure out is the cost of each part picked, placed, and soldered. I know for sure that every supplier has a cost table which guides the supplier self in making offers.

thanks, Enrico

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I don't want to be argumentative, but if your assembly house charges you by the hour, then why do you want to break it down by the part? Saying it costs x per part is meaningless if they get the run done faster or they have a problem and it takes longer with charges figured correspondingly.

If you really want pricing per part, I suggest that you get a quote from another assembly house that charges that way. My understanding is that assembly is so straightforward that there are few surprises after the board has been run the first time and all the bugs worked out. Any assembly house worth their salt would be charging a flat rate per part, not by the hour.

I don't think it is quite so simple as price per part. The critical cost is from the time the machine takes to place the components. This then depends on the number of different types of components and their position on the board. The program will be written in such a way as to minimise the amount of time the 'arm' spends travelling between the boards and the reels.

I believe some machines have multiple grippers so that they can carry many components at a time and thus reduce the travelling time, others don't and so can only place one type of part at a time and therefore have to spend more time going back and forward to the reels.

It looks like your quantities of boards and the minimal number of different components will result in a minimal amount of non-productive travelling time and so you get a very good cost/board.

As far as the soldering process is concerned, again this is time for the reflow process to take place with all the pre-heating/melt/cool etc. phases. Smaller boards means more boards can be processed at the same time. If you had the same components on a board that was twice the size then arguably the costs could be doubled, even though the circuit and function may be the same.

Dave.

I'll second that estimate. ;-)

Really, the 'depending' can get you anywhere in that pricerange.

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Stef    (remove caps, dashes and .invalid from e-mail address to reply by mail)

Hi guys,

I see what you're saying... I'd better off having another supplier to make me an offer.

From your answers I undestand that there are too many variables that affect the final cost.

Thanks, Enrico

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I think you are getting a good deal already, USD 165 for 1000 boards. Many assemblers won't even be interested in such a small lot.

The numbers quoted were per-hour, not totals.

Otherwise, yes, that would be a very good price :)

-jg

Oh, that would be expensive. I would do it manually. A skillful assembler (human) can handle them easily. I brought a lighted magnifying glass for a worker once, but she prefers naked eye and natural lighting. For $2 an hour (double what she can get elsewhere), she can solder a 0603 in less than 15 seconds. So, that would be

240 for $2, or less than 1 penny each. TQFP would probably take a couple of minutes. Once you reflow and clean them up, the boards look quite good.

That would actually be a worry for me, getting boards assembled in (say) China. I *want* them made by machine, because then at least I know I won't get random resistors swapped around or diodes in backwards.

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John Devereux

Of course you need a good manager there, doing nothing but watching. If they do the same component a thousand time at the same place, they rarely make mistakes. I have done boards with hundreds of components that way, perhaps 2 to 3 % redos.

SOT-23 3 pins diodes can't go backward. I just decided to change from two pins for this reason.

Unless *every* board has the *same* swapped or reversed parts! Tell me you have never had that happen!

:) I'm thinking it must have happened, but I actually can't recall any right now.

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John Devereux

I suggest you spend an afternood and have a closer look at the process. You pcb assembler is likely happy to introduce you to the details.

Rene

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