Shortlisting a pcb assembly manufacturer comes down to how much of the build you hand over. Maxipcb's pcb assembly services cover two routes: full assembly manufacturing, where the supplier owns production, material procurement, order tracking, incoming material certification and final assembly, and partial assembly manufacturing, where you purchase the PCB and some materials and it completes the remaining mounting, soldering and testing. This guide shows what goes into the BOM, which components route to SMT and DIP, and the ten questions worth asking before you commit.
PCB Assembly (PCBA) is the production process where electronic components are assembled onto a printed circuit board (PCB) through SMT assembly or DIP plug-in processes. When you hand that job over, the scope is wider than the placement machines. Full assembly manufacturing means the supplier takes responsibility for the entire process: production, material procurement, online order tracking, incoming material certification and quality inspection, and final assembly.
That is the shift buyers most often underestimate. A bare board is fabrication; a working assembly is production. The two terms below are worth locking down before you compare quotes, because a price built on the wrong scope will not survive the first engineering review.
Both routes run on the same equipment. The real difference is ownership: whoever buys the material also carries the traceability, the certification and the risk. Pull the scope table apart line by line before you decide.
| Scope item | Full assembly manufacturing | Partial assembly manufacturing |
|---|---|---|
| Who supplies the board | Maxipcb | Customer |
| Who supplies the components | Maxipcb purchasing team | Customer supplies the PCB and some materials |
| Material sourcing | Procurement is optimized by sourcing more components from the same supplier | Sourcing stays with the customer for the materials supplied |
| Incoming material certification and quality inspection | Included in the process | Not part of the stated scope |
| Production steps run for you | Production, procurement, order tracking, incoming material certification, final assembly | Remaining processes such as mounting, soldering and testing |
| Online order tracking | Tracked through the order | Not part of the stated scope |
| What you get back | A one-stop build so you can focus on design without handling procurement and production details | A completed assembly built on customer-owned boards and materials |
You want one partner to buy, certify and mount the material, and you would rather spend your review time on design than on purchase orders and supplier chasing.
You already hold the boards and part of the material — from a stock position, an approved vendor list or a prior build — and only need the mounting, soldering and testing completed.
A quote is only as good as the document behind it. Maxipcb states that the BOM must include the quantity, part number, manufacturer name, and manufacturer model number of each component, and that the required quantity accompanies it. Fill those four fields and review is straightforward.
| BOM field | What to enter | Why the quote depends on it |
|---|---|---|
| Quantity | The quantity of each component line, plus the build quantity for the order. | Volume drives material pricing and the packaging format chosen for your parts. |
| Part number | The part number of the component as it appears in your design file. | The quote is priced against the exact line you specify, not an equivalent. |
| Manufacturer name | The name of the component manufacturer. | Material models and manufacturers in your BOM are followed as written. |
| Manufacturer model number | The manufacturer's own model number for that component. | Identifies the exact variant so no alternative is used without your approval. |
Submit the BOM with the four required fields completed, along with the required quantity.
The purchasing team checks the material models and manufacturers you specified, including any hard-to-order or obsolete lines.
The page states a quote is provided within 24 hours of the BOM and quantity being received.
For smaller volumes the purchasing team adjusts packaging — tape, tube, bulk and similar formats — to reduce cost, and consolidates sourcing by buying more components from the same supplier.
Ask these before you send a BOM, and score the answers against your own project risk. Nothing here is answered for you — the point is to hold every candidate to the same ruler.
Will you substitute a component without written approval from me?
How do you trace incoming material back to the manufacturer that produced it?
How do you handle obsolete and hard-to-order components when they appear on my BOM?
Do you certify and inspect incoming material before it reaches the assembly line?
How are components packaged and shipped when my build quantity is small?
What inspection method do you apply once reflow and wave soldering are finished?
Which testing steps are included in the price, and which ones are charged separately?
Exactly which fields and quantities do you need before you can return a quote?
What happens to the PCB and materials that I supply myself?
How is a change to the BOM approved once production has already started?
The same ten points, answered with the operating rules stated on the PCB Assembly 1 page — so you can compare the responses line for line.
Material models and manufacturers in your BOM are followed strictly, and no alternative materials are used without your approval.
Under full assembly manufacturing, incoming material certification and quality inspection sit inside the process, alongside production and final assembly.
The purchasing team can handle hard-to-order and obsolete components, rather than returning the line to you unanswered.
Packaging is adjusted for small-volume BOMs — tape, tube, bulk and similar — and procurement is consolidated by sourcing more components from the same supplier.
The SMT route ends in inspection after reflow soldering. The DIP route runs pre-inspection, wave soldering, board cleaning and finished product inspection.
Circuit assembly testing is one of the named stages of the overall PCBA manufacturing process, between DIP plug-in assembly and finished product assembly.
Send the BOM — quantity, part number, manufacturer name and manufacturer model number for each component — together with the required quantity, and a quote follows within 24 hours.
Partial assembly manufacturing exists for exactly this case: you buy the PCB and some materials, and the remaining mounting, soldering and testing is completed for you.
Component package type decides which process line your assembly runs on. Read your BOM down the package column and the route — and the question to ask — follows.
Positioning → solder paste printing → placement by placement machine → reflow soldering → inspection
Surface-mount packages are placed by machine and fixed in a reflow oven, which is why paste printing and placement accuracy drive the result.
Buyer decision: confirm the SMT line is automated and that inspection happens after reflow, not just at final packing.
Back gluing → component plug-in → pre-inspection → wave soldering → board cleaning → finished product inspection
Through-hole parts are fixed in place before the board passes over the wave, then cleaned and inspected as a finished article.
Buyer decision: ask for the cleaning and finished-product inspection steps, since contamination is what surfaces later as field failure.
Automatic mounting by SMT equipment: placement machines, soldering machines and inspection machines
The page is explicit that BGA components must be mounted automatically using SMT equipment rather than any hand process.
Buyer decision: ask which inspection equipment is used, because the solder joints sit underneath the package where the eye cannot reach.
Component procurement → PCB fabrication → SMT patch assembly → DIP plug-in assembly → circuit assembly testing → finished product assembly
Mixed boards run both routes in sequence inside one order, which is where sourcing consolidation pays off most.
Buyer decision: agree the full sequence up front and keep every component on one BOM so nothing is re-sourced mid-build.
Send the BOM with quantity, part number, manufacturer name and manufacturer model number for every line, plus the required quantity. Maxipcb reviews the material specifications you have set and returns a quote within 24 hours — and if the BOM needs review first, the PCB consultation route is open.
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View productwith full assembly manufacturing, maxipcb takes responsibility for the entire process: production, material procurement, online order tracking, incoming material certification and quality inspection, and final assembly. with partial assembly manufacturing, the customer purchases the pcb and some materials, and maxipcb completes the remaining processes such as mounting, soldering and testing.
the bom must include the quantity, part number, manufacturer name, and manufacturer model number of each component. send it together with the required quantity for your order.
maxipcb states that a quote is provided within 24 hours of receiving your bom and the required quantity.
smt (surface mount technology) and dip (dual in-line package). bga components must be mounted automatically using smt equipment, including placement machines, soldering machines and inspection machines.
material models and manufacturers in your bom are followed strictly, and no alternative materials are used without your approval. the purchasing team can also handle hard-to-order and obsolete components.
yes — that is partial assembly manufacturing. you purchase the pcb and some materials yourself, and maxipcb completes the remaining processes, such as mounting, soldering and testing.