PCB Assembly Prototype

About PCB Assembly Prototype

PCB Assembly Prototype refers to the trial run production process of electronic products before design lockdown and volume production, which is used to verify the design of prototypes, electrical performance, and functions of electronic products. According to the complexity of the product, PCB Assembly Prototype generally need one to multiple rounds with specific purposes.

PCB Assembly Prototype is one of the most critical steps from concept to reality products, The classic PCB Assembly Prototype is constructed by several successive steps from Concept, EVT, DVT, PVT, MP, etc

What is the classic PCB Assembly Prototype Process?

EVT, DVT, PVT, and MP on PCB Assembly prototype. EVT DVT PVT MP acronyms describe the principal and classic steps before product design lockdown. These phases of prototype development exist to eliminate defects, design flaws, software bugs, and risks before entering the volume production period. Identifying, analyzing, handling, and fixing these flaws during the engineering design phase is critical. Otherwise, any activity on producing or selling producing and selling defective products will bring trouble and cost more.

EVT (Engineering Verification Test)
EVT stage comes after the first concept design is verified theoretically. The EVT phase will usually take a few small-batch runs on prototypes of various primary functions or sub-systems. EVT is mainly a new design. The direct purposes are to build or work out prototypes to define and validate the product’s core functionality. EVT PCB Assembly prototypes can be anything between a simple electronics circuit prototype, PCB Assembly, and a functional prototype with a box enclosure. EVT is rolling design change with times iterations between theoretical design and the most feasible design; in this stage, the bottom line is systematical flaws or functional bugs can be fixed by engineers and ready for validation in the next step. Prototypes delivered throughout the EVT stage may look somewhat ragged, even not tidy. And some assistant or mature modules are missed.

DVT (Design Verification Test)
DVT stage is more like a system development cycle with software and hardware. And DFM also is implemented at this phase. All things are developing toward an actual product. The assistant systems or modules will be assembled and validated together. The product will have a cover or enclosure that looks like an on-sale product. The majority of design work targets for volume production will be locked down. It is a pretty important stage connecting future commercial sales requirements and product specifications. The project team must ensure the design complies with the target markets’ standards and passes the certification. Verification typically includes CE, EC, FCC, UL, RoHS, REACH, CCC, etc.; it is variant among regions generally. Product teams will review critical features, yield ratio, BOM cost, and volume at this stage. The optimization plan for the next step is also listed down. The DVT prototypes and documentation are nearly final locked down. No core functional features can be revised.

PVT (Product Verification Test)
PVT is the last stage before commercial mass volume production. Although the PVT is not a hard time for development, the results will have a critical effect on quality, product cost, and volume deal. Only slight engineer changes are allowed at PVT; The stage is almost like a test for future volume production. At this stage. Mass production yield ratio will be monitored, design flaws will be cleaned, and hardware and software systems will be managed routinely. Golden samples may directly ship to end customers. At this stage, some optimizing proposals during EVT will be evaluated, like alternative source change, fixture adjustment, or a new testing tool developed. The gating factor of this stage is Tooling preparation, which usually takes a few months to copy.

Mass-production (MP)
MP is mainly like the status of the milestone rather than a cycle time on engineer development. MP usually means all designs are lockdown, the product go-to routine management process, and the business focus will transfer from the development team to the supply chain team. They take the lead in on-demand planning management, and a regular PO and forecast model will run on track—the factory team is in charge of the whole manifesting process without more development engineers’ support.

What are the top factors that need to be considered in an efficient PCB Assembly Prototype or PCBA Quick Turn?

Even for the simplest electronic products, the development cycle can take 1-2 quarters or more. High mix and complex designs are calculated in years. All products must undergo sufficient verification before they go to market, so every trial run and verification during the prototype steps has become a critical path, which is why everyone has been searching for the services of PCBA Quick turn. Below factors must be considered with priority during the searching process.

Quick Turn Cycle Time
Sample lead time is the most critical of all factors. Achieving this target requires many efforts to ensure that the basic RFQ/RFI documents from the customer should be as enough as possible, such as the BOM list, AVL, and the PCB Gerber file. If these documents are missing, it will be a mission impossible for any PCB assembly prototype service provider. Another side depends on the product manufacturing experience and material full kitting capability of the PCB Assembly Prototype service provider.

One-stop solution capability
For the trial, production requirements of an electronic product not only involve SMT, DIP, and assembly work, but there will be obstacles in both hardware and software. Suppliers need to have one-stop solution capabilities. These The ability includes the manufacturing experience of similar products, the ability to purchase materials quickly, the tooling design ability, certain failure analysis ability, testing capability, Harness assembly, box assembly and industry experience to make up for the lack of the customer’s initial data, and even the confirmation of the processing technology, select and recommend materials and accessories according to specifications selection and packaging design.It will lead to waste time and pay high price if the candidate can’t provide all around capability with high quality and affordable price.

Industry experience
We strongly recommend that customers choose suppliers with complex product manufacturing experience or related industry experience when selecting a PCB Assembly prototype supplier. They will save time for back and forth confirmation, avoid design risks, and provide a good subsequent trial run. The worst result without industry experience could lead to many unverifiable prototypes. A good PCBA Quick turn supplier with solid industrial experience may help customers reduce the rounds of trial run.

Affordable price
Price is certainly one factor, though not the most critical. Some unqualified suppliers will quote unreasonable engineering and material costs, while some ignore some essential costs. Usually, the unit price of a PCB Assembly Prototype will be about 2-3 times the unit price of mass production by excluding engineering costs and tooling equipment. Additional setup costs will be charged by the PCBA quick-turn supplier. the amount will vary from hundreds of dollars to thousands of dollars, which is depends on the complexity of the prototype. If customers want PCBA Quick turn supplier to pass the certifications like UL or CE. The price should also be planned.

Project management capabilities
For complex electronic products, multiple rounds of verification and trial runs are necessary, and even at least one more round of verification is required at each prototype stage. Especially for some new designs. A team with project management capability and product life cycle concept will make it easier for customers. Standardized management can improve not only the efficiency of communication but also benefit the continuous design improvement of products.

How does Eashub benefit your PCB Assembly Prototype?

Eashub is a leading PCB Assembly solution service provider, we offer customers fast, affordable PCB assembly prototype services, Our one-stop service includes PCB fabrication, components sourcing, and PCB assembly.

Quick Turn
Primarily, Eashub can technician complete turnkey PCB assembly prototype in less than four weeks, including transit time. We developed a smart souring tool supporting quick scratching material with the lowest price for the quick turn while we have a dedicated NPI line Our cycle time is competitive even compared with onshore suppliers. The fastest quick turn PCBA prototype is even less than 10 days.

All Around Engineering Capability
-SMT Eashub’s factories own the world’s most advanced surface mount equipment, which can achieve high-speed, high-precision, high-quality, high-reliability metric 01005/0201 mounting. At the same time, Eashub has high-end brand vacuum reflow solder, which can meet customers’ requirements for higher soldering quality. We also have a material tracking system, which can effectively track the production information of each kind of material.
-DIP Eashub’s factory is equipped with a well-known brand tunnel-type sealed nitrogen-filled wave solder machine, which represents advanced technology for handling complex circuit boards in the field of lead-free soldering. Supplemented by German brand solder material and Belgian brand Interflux flux, ensure that the products produced have excellent soldering quality, high reliability, and meet international standards. It can meet the technical requirements of various complex through-hole soldering products.
-BOX Assembly
For complex system assembly, our technicians’ rich experience, knowledge, and comprehensive capabilities can meet the complete machine and system assembly requirements of various complex products. The MES system can fully cover the recording and tracking of product information.
-Conformal Coating
We also own the capability of automated selective conformal coating and manual coating process that provides customers with high-quality protection in harsh with continued reliable performance in their lifetime.
-Test Solution
(ICT test, flying probe test, burn-in test, functional circuit test, high voltage test, X-ray, AOI) We frequently use below testing machines: ICT from Teradyne, flying probe equipment from Takaya, NI software platform, Keysight instrumentation, etc.. those test capabilities can flexibly meet customers’ full-cycle testing service needs from NPI, mass production to after-sales. And provide economical, reliable, and technologically advanced testing solutions on demand, covering structural product testing, product functional testing, and Relevant safety regulations and aging tests, and provide suggestions for the testability analysis and defect improvement of customer products, and serve customers.

Industrial Experience
Eashub and our strategic manufacturing partner own dozens of years of experience on PCB Assembly prototype. We own industrial manufacturing experiences with global leading customers like BOSCHI for automotive, IROBOT for consumer electronics, SIEMENS for Instrument, EMERSON for Industrial Automation, and Mindray for Medical. In cooperation with these industry leaders, engineers have accumulated fruitful experience in know-how and production control; other customers will benefit from our industrial experience under the assumption of IP protection. We also provide DFX advice, systematically document customer’s product information, and prepare for a smooth transition to the next build.

Project Management
We have a professional project management team with rich experience and professional new product introduction (NPI) management. From initial product framing to pre-market production preparation, we use standardized processes and project node management to bring our customers’ products into manufacturing. Customers will feel our professionalism in every gate review and benefit from our project management methods, which will last in the product life cycle.