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You’d never know these components were phony Instead of taking the risk of working with an overseas manufacturer or shady distributor, you’ll be much better off if you source your components and plan your production budget yourself. You won’t even notice that the parts you’ve included are counterfeit until you receive your boards. If your manufacturer is a real cheapskate, they won’t have any quality control measures in place and may not realize that they just assembled your board with faulty components. If you take your manufacturer at their word, you risk ending up with faulty or counterfeit components just because your manufacturer tried to save you a few bucks. Counterfeit electronic components are more common than you would think.
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Nowadays, most PCBs use more specialized components, and there is no guarantee your manufacturer will have them in stock or will be able to procure them at a discount. If you’re PCB is built on relatively common components that are not at risk of imminent obsolescence, then you’ll likely be able to avoid headaches and have your PCB produced on schedule. Manufacturers also have relationships with various distributors, and they may be able to get you price savings by ordering in bulk. This saves you time as you won’t need to scan through multiple databases or distributor websites for your desired components. One option is to have your manufacturer source your components for your next PCB. Planning for production requires synthesizing and comparing all of this information and developing a coherent budget and delivery schedule that your manufacturer can accommodate. These websites display lead time information, quantities, and costs for their components, which can help you budget and schedule your next production run. If you look online at electronic component supplier and websites, you’ll find plenty of options for sourcing your components. You’ll need to compile all of this information in a bill of materials for your manufacturer. While cost is important, you’ll also need to consider lead times, available quantities, and the possibility that components will soon become obsolete. When planning for production, the cost is not the only issue you’ll need to consider. Fortunately, the right PCB design software can give you access to all the information you need to make the right production and budgeting decisions. There are plenty of trade-offs to be made between these three areas. If you’re considering which components to include in your next PCB and are trying to formulate a production budget, you’ll need access to supply chain information that includes costs, lead times, and quantities. I’m not eating ramen anymore, but I still keep an eye on my monthly budget. But the spending and budgeting habits I developed during that period of my life have stuck with me and served me well into adulthood. Thankfully, I’m no longer a broke college student that has ramen every other day for dinner.
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