Factors That Determine the Cost of a PCB (Part 1)

PCB fabricationPeople who are relatively new to the industry of printed circuits boars often find themselves confused about how the fabrication projects are being priced. Different types of boards usually require different types of preparations methods and because of that their price might escalate or decrease, but the customers (buyers) don’t get to know to know how that happens.

Today we are going to tell you about the entire process regarding the price determination for PCBs from beginning to end.

Almost all PCB fabrication houses in the manufacturing industry take into account basic things like the raw material cost, equipment overhead, the facility and the labor that goes into producing the end product to fix the cost. In addition, they also have to think of things like Chemical Processes, Waste Water Treatment Systems (which usually require special approvals), Permits, Etc.

PCBs require raw materials like:

  • Copper
  • Gold
  • Lead
  • Nickel
  • Silver
  • Fiberglass
  • Epoxy Resin

Including these a variety of other chemicals are also used. Depending upon your need, the price of you board can be drive up a lot.

The overall price of the PCB can be determined using the primary cost considerations and secondary cost consideration.

Primary Cost Considerations

Board Size

A panel is one of the most important raw which is needed to produce a PCB. Size of the board is another huge price determining factors, as the bigger the board is, the more material will be required to build it. This point might sound straight forward but it’s not exactly as simple as that because, depending on the specified dimensions it is very much possible to have a board that takes up less area estate but is actually higher in cost. This happens because the overall size of the panel used to manufacture the board; sometimes one dimension fits the panel a lot better than the other does. Let’s consider two parts with the same total square inches per board.  Board A is 2sq.in x 6sq.in and board B is 3sq.in x 4sq.in. A panel of standard production will produce more of the 3sq.in x 4sq.in variety of boards then the 2sq.in x 6sq.in variety of board. Thus, the cost for each board would be reduced for the 3sq.in x 4sq.in boards.

Quantity

QuantityA lot of manufacturers might not have a minimum requirement number but they will definitely have a minimum cost fixed for an order because quantity is an extremely crucial factor. A lot of manufacturers even offer a huge discount if large quantity order is placed. The higher the number of PCBs you require, the lower you will be charged for each PCB as a higher will allow the manufacturer to make up for the resources they will be utilizing. This way the manufacturer achieves manufacturing efficiency and the customer (buyer) achieves cash flow efficiency by paying less and getting more.

Drill Size and Count

The smallest hole size and the overall number of drilled holes is also a very important consideration that is taken into account when the price is calculated.  The cost of the printed circuit board might increase up to 5% to 10% if the size of the hole is just less than 0.015sq.in. The percentage in cost increases as the numbers of holes do. This happens because the manufacturing process has to be adjusted for smaller hole sizes and large hole counts and the total number of panels that can be drilled at one time reduces.

Number of Layers

Single sided or double sided printed circuits boars often cost manufacturer are roughly the same to produce.  But multi layered PCBs are a completely different thing as they add additional costs in the materials and manufacturing process.  Usually going from a single layer to double layer or from a double layer to quadruple layers will double up the original price. But price starts to vary once you start adding more layers in the mix. For instance, going from 4 layers to 6 layers might increase the overall price by 25% but going from 6 layers to 8 layers might drive up the price by 100%. All of this depends on the additional material needed to create the additional layers.

Lead Time

The price will be driven up a lot depending on how fast you need your PCBs delivered. Without deadlines, the manufacturers can work their own pace and utilize resource in a way that will not cost them extra while they are producing the PCBs. However, for a priority order, they will have to work around the clock and even put their other projects on hold. The speed of the process will be reflected in the price.

Trace/Space

Electronic components are getting smaller every day. To accommodate the, the PCBs have to be made just right. This is achieved by making the space between copper features on a board smaller. The price of the board might rise up to 5% to 10% if the trace/space drops below 0.006sq.in.

prototype printed circuit boardsMaterial Type & Thickness

A lot of material types are used to manufacture a PCB, out of which the most common of which is called FR-4.  This material is actually fiberglass and other material interwoven together with an epoxy-resin that has fire resistant features.  Other material types that could be used include:

  • Higher Temperature FR-4
  • Polyimide
  • Hybrid Capable
  • High Copper Weight
  • Flex

0.062sq.in is considered the most common material thickness.  The impact on the price is raises depending upon the selection different material types and thicknesses.

Stay tuned to find out all about secondary prince considerations and how all of this comes together to decide the final price of PCBs. However, if you are in need of custom or prototype printed circuit boards right now, then you can contact us anytime and get a free quote. With Super PCB you get the guarantee of highest quality PCBs at amazingly competitive rates.