What should the PCBA manufacturer do when it finds that the component cannot be purchased?
PCBA manufacturers often find that some components in the BOM cannot be purchased in the prototyping stage or batch production stage. In addition, under the influence of the pandemic, many components are more difficult to buy. To handle this issue, we first need to analyze the reasons why they cannot be purchased. Generally, there are the following situations:
1. The discontinuation and import restriction of components
The discontinuation of the component is a common situation. Electronic engineers neglect to consider the actual situation of materials in the design, so the discontinuation of the components is not found until the procurement stage. And the restriction of import of components by customs will also lead to failure of component purchase. Under this circumstance, the PCBA manufacturer needs to contact the electronic engineer to explain the situation and to suggest they modify the design. At the same time, PCBA manufacturers should help find alternative components for subsequent production runs.
2. Insufficient stock or long delivery date of components
Insufficient component stock or long delivery time will also affect the production progress of PCBA processing. Therefore, PCBA manufacturers should prepare components in advance. It is better to contact the suppliers in the prototyping stage to prepare long-delivery period components. At the same time, PCBA manufacturers need to confirm the approximate arrival date with the supplier, and timely feedback the situation to the customer.
3. High component price
The high price of materials is a frequent occurrence in recent two years. Because of the impact of the pandemic, the prices of many components fluctuate and even increase continuously. The best way to deal with it is to find the right alternative components or to purchase them within the affordable range of prices. If the customer has component stock, it is also a solution for the customer to provide high price materials.
Generally speaking, it is common for PCBA manufacturers to find that some components cannot be purchased. Whether they can properly deal with the shortage of components in various situations and produce the products on time according to quality and quantity has become the standard to measure the level of PCBA manufacturers. In the past production experience, Seeed studio summed up the following countermeasures based on its own experience:
① Timely contact the customer to explain the situation and suggest the customer modify the design when the component cannot be purchased.
② Actively looks for alternative components and solutions for customers.
③ Establish the stock of common components to avoid shortage as much as possible.
④ Understand the production demand of customers in time and arrange the production components in advance to maximize the production efficiency.
In fact, Seeed has built an open parts library, Seeed OPL. Seeed open parts library (OPL) contains more than 150,000 locally in-stock parts. In this way, PCBA procurement time can be shortened, which greatly improves production efficiency and avoids the shortage of common components as much as possible.
Seeed Studio has rich experience in PCBA, providing customers with one-stop service from manufacturing, component procurement to assembly. At the same time, Seeed strives to reduce costs and provide competitive prices for customers. For many years, Seeed’s PCBA service has been well received by the industry. If you want to learn more about Seeed PCBA service, please check the link https://www.seeedstudio.com/prototype-pcb-assembly.html
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