Cal,
I've been working with offshore board vendors for nearly 20 years now,
both in Asia and Europe. What everybody says is true, but it is also not
the norm. It all depends on who you select to quote and how much homework
you do. If you let Purchasing collect quotes from any where, you could
end up with a lot of problems. Just like here in N. America, the quality
shops may not be the lowest quoters, and the lowest may be low because
they have poor quality, no engineering, NO CUSTOMERS, and no capability.
There are many pcb companies in Asia that are far superior to the best in
N. America. Just ask Intel or Apple or IBM who builds their toughest high
volume boards, but there-in lies one of Asia's biggest weaknesses, they
like high-volume! And high mix, low volume is not one of their strong
suits. So be careful if Purchasing is taking high-volume prices and
applying them to low-volume boards.
The second advice is, don't go direct unless you like being on planes and
phone call in the middle of the night. There are plenty of fine rep
companies here in the US that handle the Asian suppliers, go thru them.
Now you have someone local to run down engineering issues and check the
boards for you. Many of the rep companies for Asian PC Suppliers have
their own quality, purchasing and engineering staffs in Taiwan, Korea or
China. They take care of your boards from both ends. They also will
quotes the boards FOB your loading dock so that it includes all the
shipping, customs, etc. It costs a little more but it is worth it. Make
sure these costs are included in what everyones quoting, otherwise
somebodies 'low-balling' you and you will pay for it in the end.
Finally, most PCB Fabricators exaggerate, it seems to come with the
territory. To truly know what their capabilities are, use the IPC-9151
PCQR2 Benchmark Panels (at www.pcbquality.com). These show the true
capabilities of a fabricator, better yet, if an Asian vendor CAN'T send
you a copy of their IPC-9151 PCQR2 report, don't let them quote. This
will allow you to see their capability and compare it to domestic
producers. If your domestic PCB vendor doesn't have a IPC-9151 report,
get rid of him for one that does. Intel, HP & IBM (as a consortium) just
recently completed a study of 20+ Asian suppliers and so I know that there
are a lot of IPC-9151 reports out there to look at. Or give CAT a call
(www.cat-test.info) about the database of all suppliers to the IPC-9151
and how to get a list of the contributors.
Don't take it for granted that the Asians will be the lowest price,
especially if you make this a fair comparison. Somebody has to watch
Purchasing so that they don't "cook-the-books" and pat themselves on the
back for finding "such bargains" when all they found was headaches and a
faster route-to-ruin.
Happy Holden
Westwood Associates
Cal Driscoll <[log in to unmask]>
Sent by: TechNet <[log in to unmask]>
07/15/2004 01:06 PM
Please respond to "TechNet E-Mail Forum."; Please respond to Cal Driscoll
To: [log in to unmask]
cc:
Subject: [TN] Cost of off shore (Bare board)
Hi all-
Purchasing has decided they would like to entertain off shore (Asia)
quotes
for bare boards and compare them with our domestic prices. It is obvious
to
me that the cheaper of the two is the direction they will proceed.
Aside from raw cost of the board alone....what other variables need to be
considered (i.e. import cost, tax, etc...).
Any experiences or input you may have would be great.
Thanks in advance,
Cal
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