Printed circuit boards (PCBs) provide the foundation interfacing electronic components within digital products. While standardized boards work in basic applications, custom PCBs enable tailored performance, dimensions and layouts matching complex product requirements. Weighing key pros and cons aids designers judging where custom boards deliver advantages against standard solutions.
What are Custom PCB Boards?
Custom PCBs get manufactured uniquely for a specific product rather than mass-produced generically. This facilitates customization:
- Optimize board sizes/shapes fitting product enclosures
- Determine layer counts supporting component complexity
- Configure optimal materials suiting mechanical or electrical needs
- Route board-dependent layouts matching circuit designs
Highly-specialized medical devices, aerospace avionics, defense systems and industrial equipment commonly rely on uniquely fabricated PCBs. Chip manufacturers also produce custom boards interfacing processors and intellectual property during testing procedures.
The Pros: Why Forego Standard PCB Options?
Custom boards deliver strategic advantages over one-size-fits-all market alternatives:
Optimized Dimensions
Boards adapt specifically to target enclosures, avoiding wasted space or need for secondary structural elements solely supporting standard excess board sizes.
Component Placement
Related logic blocks group together minimizing signal lengths, switched domains traverse shortest paths, and heat-sensitive chips distance from thermal sources.
Layout Flexibility
With board geography belonging uniquely to one product, engineers route ideal interconnections between sections without navigating around preplaced connectors or components.
Functionality Integration
Instead of daughter cards or external supporter boards, custom designs seamlessly incorporate required supplementary circuits – power regulation, controls, interfaces – within board contours.
Cost Savings
Higher initial NRE expenses offset through improved reliability, lower assembly costs and depopulated accessory components no longer required.
Where product strategy centers around unique hardware differentiation, custom boards best deliver technically optimized solutions.
The Cons: Drawbacks to Weigh
Alongside advantages, custom boards also incur downsides worth accounting:
Increased Upfront Costs
Before production ramps, substantial non-recurring engineering (NRE) develops customized PCB and assembly processes – often exceeding $100k.
Prototyping Time Delays
With boards designed in parallel with early debugging, longer iterations push schedules as changes ripple between interdependent layouts and firmware.
Reduced Alternate Sourcing
Once board fabrication sources get qualified to proprietary specifications, changing suppliers requires extensive requalification increasing risk should vendors underperform.
Limited Reuse Prospects
Optimization toward one exact product environment hinders repurposing boards later across distinct applications without heavy re-engineering efforts.
Ongoing Support Expenses
Heavily customized designs demand available long-term component supplies ensuring maintainability without forced obsolescence jeopardizing serviceability.
Companies emphasizing custom designs usually target steady-volume production applications rather than mass consumer markets.
Deciding: Custom PCB Evaluation Checklist
Determining ideal printed circuit board approaches balances critical factors:
| Consideration | Questions to Ask |
|---|---|
| Form Factor | – Must board fit into tight dimensions?<br>- Do shapes need matching or alignment features? |
| Component Density | – Is available area insufficient for standard boards?<br>- Do chip package sizes require compact placements? |
| Layers Required | – Will design route cleanly on 6 layers or need 8/10+?<br>- Is impedance control or matched lengths vital? |
| Electrical Performance | – Do signals demand isolation planes or distance between analog/digital?<br>- Is lowest possible noise crucial for precision functionality? |
| Tooling Investment Risk | – Can project volume justify NRE costs if low?<br>- Does schedule permit initial trial-and-error debugging? |
| Production Horizon | – What sales lifespan anticipated after ramping manufacturing?<br>- How old are component technologies likely lasting without obsoleting? |
Carefully evaluating where customization directly enhances product performance clarifies decisions ultimately improving customer value.
Examples Justifying Custom PCB Expenses
Two scenarios illustrate customized boards uniquely meeting specialized needs:
Satellite Communications Modem
Spacecraft control higher bandwidths supporting advanced imaging/analytics payloads transmitting vast datasets to ground stations. Extreme radiation resilience secures future supply chain flexibility using older technology nodes. A 16-layer FR-4 rigid-flex combination with blind vias/buried capacitance carries signals without distortion between multiple coaxial antenna feeds and arrayed ASIC signal processors underneath large BGA FPGAs. Conformal coating protects boards from atmospheric factors. With $500 million in projected earnings over a projected 15-year satellite network lifespan based upon proprietary modem algorithms, substantial custom PCB and assembly NREs won investment backing despite significant initial costs dwarfing commercial wireless modem board production values.
Wearable Patient Monitor
Continuously tracking vital signs in highly compact formats requires tightly grouping sensors, power regulation, data conversion, and low-power wireless modules within minimized contours avoiding patient discomfort. A 4-layer flexible PCB wrapping fully around small wrist enclosures builds high component density stitching a customized layout intimately matching target use conditions. With over 50 million anticipated unit sales justified by strong medical evidence proving continuous monitoring improves outcomes, the consumer revenue opportunity supported assuming relatively high custom PCB expenditures improving user compliance through unobtrusive packages directly addressing patient feedback.
In both cases, custom boards play a central role enabling targeted performance.
Standardized PCB Option Considerations
While custom boards serve specific niches, market-available standard PCB alternatives fit many budget-sensitive or less demanding applications:
Manufacturer Catalog Boards Variety of off-the-shelf boards needing only component population saves all NRE costs trading convenience for optimization.
Module/Development Boards Reference and evaluation boards readily interface processors and IPs allowing quick prototyping. Reuse improves with standardized interconnects between proven building blocks.
Panelized PCB Array Flavours
Distributors offer build-to-order options tailoring number of boards per panel, layer counts, sizes, materials and finishes between preset constraints rather than fully custom to balance flexibility and costs.
PCB Production Prototyping Leverage fabrication partner design expertise realizing customized layouts built upon proven shared design blocks re-applying learnings from prior builds to save expense while testing innovative concepts.
Thoughtfully combining elements from across standard and custom board strategies strikes ideal balances maximizing project value unique to product capabilities, budget and timeline constraints.
FAQ
What are typical NRE costs creating custom boards?
While widely variable by complexity, initial prototyping expenses often fall around $10-20k with higher-volume qualified production tooling running $50-100k including test fixtures development, assembly programming, and multiple pilot build iterations across 6-12 month timespans.
Do custom boards require longer production lead times?
Yes, typically 8-12 week initial turnaround grows likely as custom qualifications require extensive verification before volume ramps scale efficiently to meet demand forecasts. Careful planning cushions project schedules anticipating potentially expanded timelines.
Can custom boards use regular components?
Generally yes – customized PCBs layouts usually assemble standard catalog components in application-specific combinations. Some exceptions exist around space-grade, medical or otherwise specialized parts carrying tighter sourcing restrictions.
Outside starting from scratch, what are options creating custom PCB designs?
Many firms offer customized design services expertly tailoring reference layouts meeting application needs. Starting from proven building blocks mitigates initial debugging facilitating quick ramps refining niche use cases. Solving issues systematically also aids understanding limitations guiding future wholly original developments.
Do custom boards always outperform commercial alternatives?
Not universally; substantial over-engineering risks wasting resources unmatched to real-world conditions. Careful validation between incremental expenses versus performance gains won through optimization helps ensure custom builds deliver appropriate value boosting end products appreciably over standard competitors rather than chasing marginal improvements for the sake of differentiation alone. Matching customized boards directly to strategic goals maximizes competitive advantage.
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