Why prototypes run on the production lines
An express prototype is not a hand-built sample. The same four SMT lines and three DIP lines that carry volume production build the first fifty boards — the same placement programs, the same AOI recipes and the same X-ray checks — so the board the design team tests is the board the production order will produce.
That matters most on dense designs. Prototypes down to 01005 and 0201 packages at 4 mil (0.1 mm) pitch are placed here rather than at a hand-assembly bench, and BGA and micro-BGA parts, the hardest to rework without damage, are assembled on the same equipment the volume build uses.
What keeps the turnaround short
- PCB fabrication and assembly on one site — the bare board does not wait for a courier between the fabrication floor and the assembly floor.
- Stencils cut in-house — laser-cut and delivered within four hours.
- Components bought against the whole BOM — including the parts where a prototype quantity would normally attract minimum-order charges.
- DFM and DFT review before the first article — missing footprints, clearance problems and unreachable test points are found on paper, not on the line.
- First-article inspection — every feeder, nozzle and vision setting signed off before the lot runs.
Prototype lots come back in 1–3 days, with urgent work fitted in inside 24 hours where capacity allows, and assembly quotations issued within 24 hours — 12 hours for urgent projects.
What the prototype order covers
PCB fabrication, components sourcing, surface-mount and through-hole assembly, SPI and AOI, X-ray for BGA and QFN joints, in-circuit or flying probe test and functional test against the customer's procedure, then packing. A turnkey order needs the Gerber set and the BOM; in a consignment order the components are supplied by the customer and everything else is handled here.
Where the design is still moving, the same lot can be re-run after each revision: the placement program is already in place, so only the changed parts need a new stencil and a new first article.
What to send with the enquiry
The Gerber set, the BOM with manufacturer part numbers, the pick-and-place file, the quantity, any test program and the required lead time. Process limits used for the quotation are on the capability page, and the issued certificates on the certifications page.
