Recommendations for contract board assembly needed. 4

[MagicSmoker]

I'm looking to hear about experiences others here have had with contract PC board assembly (ie - solder paste printing, component placement, reflow soldering), particularly of relatively small production runs (say 100 of each board). We've been doing all of our pc board assembly in-house for the last 5 years but are adding a new product line to the mix and so we now need to either invest in new equipment or outsource the assembly. Our board volume is not too high - around 500 total per year of 4 different designs - and component density is low (power electronics). The smallest passive used is 0603, with the vast majority 0805, and the smallest active is maybe SC-70. No BGA and just one "fine pitch" IC (an ARM).

I would prefer contract assemblers located in Florida, but open to any suggestions as long located in the US and absolutely do not send your stuff to China. I've already experienced the joys of the IP theft and do not wish to repeat the experience.

Failing any recommendations, humorous and/or cautionary tales are welcome, too.

 

[mcgyvr]

Fairly sure "promoting" any company is against the rules of this forum.. (I'd consider it promoting if I gave you the company we use anyways.. not sure if the moderators do or not though)
A simple google search (or Thomas Registry,etc...) should yield plenty of SMT assembly houses in your area.

 

[MacGyverS2000]

mc, feel free to suggest away... no harm in that, as you're a seasoned poster. It's the newbies we discourage from such behavior as they tend to be company shills.


MS, I can't recall the name of the company, but I know there is (was?) a good one in central Florida (Melbourne?). Definitely stay away from the Chinese shops, and not just for IP theft. Your quantities are extremely small, which means they'll be assembled by hand. I had a batch of 1k small boards assembled by a shop over there (through an intermediary). To make the work go faster, they cranked up the heat on their soldering stations (solder melts faster). Good for speed, bad for parts. I had to replace over 50% of the oscillators because they cooked them to the point of failure, and God knows how many more of what was left would fail in the field (luckily not a life-threatening situation). Now that lead-free solder is in the mix, the situation would likely be even worse.

Dan - Owner

http://www.Hi-TecDesigns.com

 

[MagicSmoker]

Thanks, Dan. Yeah, I'm more concerned with poor quality/abuse with outsourcing to China rather than IP theft, and your experience with cooked parts is exactly the sort of thing I wish to avoid. We make custom motor drives for industrial/transportation applications so we are exempt from the evils of lead-free and much of RoHS (though the spread of moisture-sensitive parts because of RoHS is definitely driving me crazy... Nothing like seeing a $15 chip turn into popcorn as it goes through the reflow oven...).

On my short-list right now are Tropical Assemblies in Ft. Lauderdale and Sibex in Safety Harbor. One engineer I know has had a good experience with Sibex and they are very close to use (about an hour's drive away) so they are my top consideration, but the field is still wide open.

 

[zappedagain]

Advanced Assembly in CO will love those volumes. They have done very good work for me.

Z

 

[DRWeig]

Another vote here for Advanced Assembly.

Best to you,

Goober Dave

Haven't see the forum policies? Do so now: Forum Policies

 

[mcgyvr]

well since its ok I'll throw in my $0.02..
Not in Florida but we use these guys anytime we need SMT assembly..

http://www.gicltd.com/

They have no problems with our lower volumes either (identical quantities to you) and do a great job communicating along the way,etc...

 

[MagicSmoker]

Thanks for the suggestions, guys. Advanced Assembly looks like a good choice to get the first few sets of boards done quickly, but the last suggestion, GIC, looks better suited to our expected production volumes for at least the next couple of years. I did find a couple of places in Melbourne so if further clarification can be provided I'll contact them as well.

Sibex (one of the places local to me) seems to be geared more towards higher volumes than we will be at for the next year or so. I appreciate the help and award each of you a pink star. Don't squander it!

 

[itsmoked]

I would suggest someplace local even if they cost more. Being able to show up at the place and discuss issues is worth a lot. Also, if they're local you can show up and have them solder troublesome devices onto a prototype, usually for free.

Keith Cress
kcress -

http://www.flaminsystems.com

 

[bradrs]

I agree about the convenience factor of a local shop. At a previous job, I was using a local one which allowed me to drop parts off, get a few PCBs assembled, and then test and ship them out all in one day, something that could have easily taken a week if they weren't local. Not something I want to do every day, but doing it once meant keeping a project on time, and the upper management very happy.

Glad to hear Advanced Assembly getting good reviews, I was thinking about trying them out, even though they aren't local. I have been using Advanced for bare PCBs for years, and am very happy with the quality and speed of their work.

 

[MagicSmoker]

itsmoked & bradrs, you both bring up the primary motivation for using someone local. Fortunately, I've already gone through several design revisions for each board that needs to be manufactured so I know they work, but I'd still feel better using a local company.

The only contract PCB manufacturer I've found in Melbourne, FL (so far) is Mack Technologies - does that ring a bell, Dan?

 

[MacGyverS2000]

Mmmm, not really, but it has been a while since I paid attention to that area...

Dan - Owner

http://www.Hi-TecDesigns.com