This article is for companies needing low- to mid-volume PCB assembly.
10 pieces.
50 pieces.
100 pieces.
1,000 pieces.
Basically, if you are buying parts and PCBAs for one build and not investing in inventory for future builds yet, your parts are probably coming from vendors like DigiKey, Mouser, or other standard U.S. distributors, and we’re getting the same prices that you are.
So if you are comfortable ordering parts yourself, you can often save money by purchasing components and drop-shipping them to Henway, instead of having us do the shopping.
Some PCB assembly companies mark up components by 10%.
Some cap the markup.
Some may end up close to 2x the BOM cost depending on the PCBA company, job, availability, substitutions, and purchasing effort.
It is not unusual for the component markup to add thousands of dollars to your build costs.
And many customers pay it because ordering components is not always easy.
Honestly, it is not so easy for us either.
There are substitutions, minimum order quantities to get around by shopping around, vendor delays, backorders, and the joy of realizing one tiny component is holding up the whole build, and taking some kind of action.
That is why component sourcing has a cost.
We have skilled people spending real time ordering parts, checking BOMs, finding substitutes, following up with vendors, tracking packages, and making sure the right parts show up before production starts.
When we manage the parts, we are carrying that work and that responsibility.
But if you are trying to save money on a PCB assembly build, customer-supplied parts are one of the first places I would look.
You can order the parts and have them shipped directly to us.
Unsure how many extras to order, or what to do if there’s a part you can’t get?
Just ask us.
We can review your BOM or purchase list and give guidance on attrition, machine fallout, and what we need to complete the build.
That does not cost extra. We are happy to help.
You can also split the difference.
This week, I had two separate conversations with customers about this.
One customer saved about $1,000 by ordering the parts themselves and shipping them to Henway.
Another customer ordered only the top 10 most expensive parts, then had us handle the lower-cost chip components.
That saved them about $1,000 too.
That is a good middle ground.
If you want Henway to do full turn-key, we can do that.
If you want to supply every part yourself, we can work with that too.
If you want to buy the expensive parts and have us handle the rest, that can also make sense.
The main thing is that we want our customers to know that they have a choice.
If you are looking to reduce cost on a low- or mid-volume PCB assembly build, component purchasing is one of the first places to look.
And if you are not sure what to order or how many extras to buy, call us before you place the order.
Ironically, I received this email while writing this post. Our response was, “Yes. Happy to help.”
