Understand the Total Cost of Your Printed Circuit Board Ownership

Electronics manufacturing services (EMS) suppliers are vital for maintaining efficient electronic production lines, but the costs and values of such EMS suppliers can be easily misunderstood. For example, changing a printed-circuit-board (PCB) supplier can be more costly than expected if all the cost drivers and potential savings are not at least somewhat understood. By identifying the associated cost drivers with manufacturing PCBs, it is possible to develop a total cost of ownership (TCO) model and a more straightforward approach to capturing real savings opportunities when building the next batch of PCBs.

Many factors are involved in understanding the cost of building different PCBs. In studying the different variables and costs in manufacturing PCBs, it was possible to develop a list of 10 cost drivers that, when properly understood, can be used to reduce the costs of manufacturing PCBs. While this is not an all-inclusive list, it does cover a significant amount of the key elements that need to be taken into consideration when a PCB is being manufactured:

10 PCB manufacturing costs

  1. The number of layers.
  2. The size of the PCB.
  3. The panel utilization (percent) per number of PCBs on a working panel, where a standard working panel is 18 x 24-in.
  4. The number of holes.
  5. The trace width/spacing.
  6. The surface finish/solder mask finish of the PCB.
  7. The choice of base laminate/thickness of the PCB.
  8. The copper weight/thickness used on the PCB.
  9. The routing or die punching of the PCB profile.
  10. The labor costs and amount of batch process steps needed to produce the PCBs.

Some of these cost drivers are straightforward, such as the size of the PCB (where cost rises with increased size) and the number of layers, where more complex circuits require more PCB layers, but this also means increased cost. Panel utilization refers to the number of arrays or PCBs per array that can be produced on a working panel. This is typically calculated by the percentage of utilization, which is calculated from the total area for the PCB divided by the total panel area based on a typical 18 x 24-in. working panel. Higher panel utilization percentages mean lower overall costs. Utilization above 75 percent is considered good.

Another cost driver of PCB costs is the number of holes and variety of hole dimensions. Depending on the number of sizes and quantities, each different hole diameter equates to longer machining time, and more use of drill bits, resulting in increased costs. If hole sizes become extremely small, whereby laser drilling may be necessary, this will also add significant costs to manufacturing a PCB.

PCB manufacturing costs are also impacted by trace widths and trace spacing: the width of the individual traces and how close they are to each other from a trace edge to trace edge can impact the cost, based on the cost of the imaging/plating equipment and process capabilities of a PCB manufacturing facility. Tighter, finer trace widths result in increased PCB production costs.

The type of surface finish on a PCB will also impact manufacturing costs and the manufacturing process method used to produce the boards. Typically, lead-free hot air solder leveling (HASL) is the lowest-cost alternative (not good for fine pitch SMT), followed by immersion tin, immersion silver, organic solder preservative (OSP) (shortest shelf life), flash gold, immersion gold, and thick gold. Several alternative finishes are available, each with advantages and disadvantages that should be investigated before deciding on a particular surface finish.

The base laminate that is specified for a PCB production job can also impact costs. It is better to specify material characteristics that are required than to specify a specific manufacturer’s laminate. An alternate approach is to add “or equivalent” to a specific manufacturer’s material. Allowing the PCB manufacturer to use commonly used materials not only produces the lowest possible cost but can also reduce lead times.


Increases in copper weight and thickness in a PCB generally mean increases in cost. The copper in a PCB is rated in ounces and represents the thickness of 1 oz. of copper rolled out to an area of one square foot. For example, a PCB that uses 1 oz. copper has a thickness of 1.4 mils. A PCB that uses 2 oz. copper has a thickness of 2.8 mils. The base copper thickness used, or how much the product is going to be plated to meet the required thickness, will impact the cost of the PCB. Typically, the lowest cost option is 0.5 oz. copper (thickness of 0.7 mils), increasing in 1-oz. increments to 9-oz. copper. PCBs usually fall in the 1 to 2 oz. range.

The costs of routing or die punching a PCB profile can vary since there are different methods for removing laminate material when developing a PCB’s profile. The main approaches are based on routing, using a high-speed routing bit cutter to remove the laminate materials when creating a PCB profile. The other method is producing a punch that removes the laminate during the punch process. Typically, the punch process is a lower-cost option, but it will have some additional tooling costs to develop the punch tool.

Last on the list of 10 PCB manufacturing costs is the cost of labor, which can be significant when producing PCBs. Most circuit-board-assembly facilities incorporate a batch processing manufacturing process, which will require significant handling for each of the individual processes and moving a product from process to process. When performed at manufacturing locations with lower labor costs, the unit labor costs for the PCBs will usually be less. Other factors that can impact PCB manufacturing costs include whether the board is to be produced to the level of a particular standard, such as an IPC Class 2 standard, which is generally applied to standard electronics, or IPC Class 3, which is more stringent and more expensive. This is not the ultimate list of cost drivers for manufacturing PCBs but understanding how these 10 items can affect costs can pave the way for a better understanding of how to control PCB manufacturing costs.

For more information on the Total Cost of Ownership Contact VEXOS today!

Operating in several locations across North America and Asia, VEXOS is a high-mix, high complexity, mid to low electronics manufacturing and custom material solutions provider with a proven track record of delivering high quality, custom-designed electronics manufacturing services, and supply chain solutions to a diverse group of OEMs. Vexos’ early involvement in the design cycle can provide customers with a more cost-effective product that has increased manufacturability, quality, and reliability throughout its entire lifecycle. During their involvement in design reviews, they focus on key areas throughout the cycle and provide critical feedback to address potential issues and ensure a successful new product introduction. Design reviews can also be categorized by material (Design for Supply Chain), test (Design for Testability), PCB fabrication (Design for Fabrication), assembly (Design for Assembly), and manufacturing (Design for Manufacturing).

VEXOS prides itself in working closely with its prospective and current customers to ensure that they offer value that far exceeds the six fundamental cost drivers of a supplier-customer relationship.

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