PCB News - PCB manufacturers, why is the import of replacement parts (2nd source) always in a vicious circle?

PCB manufacturers, why is the import of replacement parts (2nd source) always in a vicious circle?

"Second source (alternative parts) import" mostly means that a part must have more than two suppliers, and the purpose of importing second source is nothing more than to solve the lack of materials, reduce material costs, increase negotiation bargaining chips, and replace inappropriate Suppliers, optimizing product quality... etc.

However, it is understood that the work of importing "alternative parts" seems to be a difficult and thankless task in most companies, because this work is usually urgent and time-sensitive, but an accident may cause The quality of the product caused the company to suffer heavy losses, but the big bosses did not pay much attention to what these engineers were doing. It should be said that the big bosses only saw price reductions in their eyes, and the selective neglect of quality. Besides, all the credit for the price reductions It seems that they have all been taken away by the procurement department. The engineers have to live and die. No one cares about the situation, only when there is a result, so "do it well (no performance), and if it doesn't do it, it deserves it." It becomes the pain of these "replacement parts" teams.

After staying in a PCBA processing factory for a long time, you will find that the delivery time of some important parts is very long, especially for Japanese parts manufacturers who look at each board, and their lead-time and prices are very hard, such as ceramic capacitors ( MLCC) and connector (Connector) lead time ranges from 40 to 80 days, but as soon as you switch to Taiwanese or mainland merchants, the lead time and price will drop immediately, but the quality will also drop. resignedly!

In commercial business, if I am the exclusive supplier of the part, it usually means that I can only make this part, or that my ability is better than others and the products made are better than others. Of course, I have the final say., Like the lens sold by Largan to Apple, or Chenhong, which sold touch panels in the early days, but once there are other suppliers, they can also make parts of the same specifications. With competitors, the price Will be forced to lower, otherwise you will not get the order.

In addition, it is necessary to use "substitute materials" for some parts, especially for products with a relatively long life. It often happens that parts suppliers have to end-of-life certain parts, such as power management IC (PMIC). ), memory IC (DDR), oscillator (Crystal)... etc., and there are no parts with the same specifications, or the specifications are the same but the parts packaging is inconsistent with the original parts. At this time, I have to look for other parts suppliers. Parts, or change the design to meet the new part specifications.

So, do you say "alternative material import" should be done? When?

"Introduction of substitute materials" is an inevitable evil of production, and of course it should be done, only how to do it is the key point. In addition, the best time for "alternative material introduction" should be the last trial production before the new product enters mass production, because:

At this time, the product is almost at a mature stage, and in principle, there will be no major changes in the design.

Substitute material (Second Source) parts can obtain the same verification conditions as the main parts (Primary Source), and the comparison will not cause huge differences.

It is the most time-saving and labor-saving to verify the substitute materials at the R&D stage. Otherwise, the people who will take over may not know the problems encountered during the R&D or the key points that need attention.

In addition, the audit of suppliers of alternative materials is also a science, because if a supplier with quality control problems is selected, not only the benefits of alternative materials will not be obtained, but it may also cause product quality problems and even affect When it’s time to ship, I’ll talk about this again later. In addition to reviewing the quality, suppliers must also evaluate their technical capabilities. In the case of circuit boards (PCB), those suppliers can achieve fine pitch (3mil/3mil, 2mil/2mil) and how many layers can be made, HDI (High Density Interconnect) capabilities, etc. should be clearly recorded.

Of course, even if most of the substitute materials have been prepared in the new product stage, there will still be fish that slip through the net, and sometimes it is difficult to say exactly when the manufacturer will finally produce a certain part, so subsequent substitute materials are required It will still appear from time to time, unless our products are also finalized. ipcb is a high-precision, high-quality PCB manufacturer, such as: isola 370hr PCB, high-frequency PCB, high-speed PCB, ic substrate, ic test board, impedance PCB, HDI PCB, Rigid-Flex PCB, buried blind PCB, advanced PCB, microwave PCB, telfon PCB and other ipcb are good at PCB manufacturing.