In the electronic manufacturing industry, time is money. Each day your product sits in production pipeline is one more day your competitors would be ahead of you in the market. However, in a hurry to get it done, it is likely to cause expensive errors, re-work, and quality problems that may hurt your reputation and your pocketbook. But how do you balance between speed and quality?
The good thing is that reduction of lead times does not necessarily require reduction of corners. You can easily save a lot of time-to-market and at the same time, or even better, the quality of your electronics builds with the right strategies, partners and processes.
Begin with Smart Component Sourcing
Waiting of components is one of the largest bottlenecks in the production of electronics, and may occur before assembly. In the current world of supply chains, the availability of components can make or break your production schedule. The conventional method of ordering parts on an as-needed basis can really set back the timeline and prolong the completion by many weeks or even months.
This is the place where strategic planning pays off. Your lead times can be changed working with suppliers providing SMD component stocking services. They hold on their shelves the most popular surface-mount device parts, so you do not have to wait until the part ordered is delivered by a manufacturer overseas. Instead of the typical four to twelve week lead times on the specialized components, you could get what you want in days.
Speed is not the only thing, the availability of pre-stocked components provides you with flexibility. You are not forced into even longer purchasing cycles once after you establish a certain amount of order or even if you need to make some last-minute design changes.
Choose the Right Manufacturing Partner
Not every contract manufacturer can be described as being equal in terms of speed. Others are configured to run large quantities of production cycles where efficiency is achieved through repetition in weeks or months. Others are responsive and will be able to handle emergency projects without reducing the quality standards.
In case lead time is a vital issue to your project, you can seek manufacturers that explicitly state their quick turn PCB assembly features. These facilities have streamlined their processes to take rush orders and in many cases, they can do the build in days instead of weeks. They are usually flexible in their scheduling, possess experienced staff that can adapt fast and utilize highly developed equipment that saves on set up and processing time.
The reason why these operations work is not speed in itself. The finest quick-turn manufacturers have invested in quality management systems incorporated in their hastened processes. Rigorous process controls, automated optical inspection, and flying probe testing help to make sure that no one is moving fast without thinking.
Consider Geographic Advantages
Location matters more than you may think in the manufacturing of electronics. Although offshore production has long been favored due to its cost consideration, the unsuspected costs of long shipping period, time zone communication delays and possible quality problems can destroy the savings especially to time sensitive projects.
To diminish these complexities, there is an increasing trend in nearshoring and reshoring of the electronics manufacturing. In the case of European companies, such as Romania PCB assembly, a middle ground presented by looking into such options is interesting. You have competitive prices like in Asian production with significantly shorter shipping times, simpler communication, and in many cases more rigid quality requirements in line with European standards.
Logistics is also made easy by geographic proximity in case of any problem. Should you need to make changes to a prototype or need to do some troubleshooting of a production run, you can save vital days or weeks when your manufacturer is just a short flight away instead of halfway around the globe.
Integrate Multiple Services Under One Roof
Any transition between suppliers increases time and risk to your project. By having your PCB assembly in one place, your cables in another place and final integration in yet another place, you are inserting delays into the process.
It can be very helpful to find manufacturing partners who have the full range of possibilities and can help to optimize your schedule. In such a way, the coordination headaches and transit time between the different operations are removed in the case of facilities which offer both PCB assembly and wire harness services. The boards that you have assembled, along with your own cable assemblies can be assembled and tested in the same place, and frequently by the same people who know your entire system.
The combination of this approach is also effective in enhancing quality since accountability is evident. Where problems occur, there is no finger-pointing amongst vendors. A single team has full control over the entire build which makes it simpler to find root causes and correct in a short period of time.
Invest in Design for Manufacturability
Other times the largest delays may have nothing much to do with your manufacturer, they are inherent in your design. A product that is hard to assemble, which needs rare parts, or where there are tight tolerances that demand frequent inspection which is time-consuming to assemble, regardless of the person doing the job.
The upfront time spent to design can help lower the production lead times by many factors. This involves the selection of standard components wherever feasible, board layouts that ensure there is sufficient spacing that allows the boards to be assembled by automated methods, a reduction in the number of operations that require manual action and the addition of test points that enable the verification process to be quicker and more dependable.
Design for manufacturability reviews will be a service provided by the best manufacturers. They are able to identify the possible problems even before the production process starts and propose changes that will make the process faster without affecting the functionality.
Build Relationships, Not Just Transactions
Good relationship with your manufacturing partners is one of the least paid attention strategies of reducing lead times. When you do business with just one manufacturer, they get to know your standards, your likes and dislikes, and your peculiarity. They are able to know what you need and give priority to your projects since they see the value of the relationship that is taking place.
Constant communication, fair treatment, and reasonable expectations build goodwill which will always come in handy when you need it the most. A rush order which may take a new customer six weeks to complete may take two weeks to a valued partner.
Moving Forward Faster
It is not about a single magic solution to reduce lead times and maintain quality. It has to do with integrating intelligent approaches in sourcing, manufacturing partnerships, logistics, design and relationship. The results of each of the improvements could be saving a few days, but when combined, they will turn your time-to-market into months or weeks.
