Printed Circuit Design & Fab - October 2008 - (Page 39)

OUTSOURCING To help American companies combat the difficulties of getting PCB orders of various quantities from Asia, several companies have opened international purchasing offices (IPOs) in hopes of containing costs and grouping total annual PCB and other commodity purchases. This strategy has succeeded for some very large manufacturers because they do have buying power. However, it is not really working for the majority of smaller domestic companies. That’s because these companies, while establishing an office and staff overseas – which is really just a duplication of efforts – are still being affected by those five factors mentioned above. There is an offshore solution, however, for those lowervolume orders. PCB broker/distributors – once shunned as the black sheep of our industry – have become much more popular because they offer ease of purchasing, better quality controls in place and direct shipments. Some even include freight with the price. As a matter of fact, some of these broker/distributors are even building product for domestic PCB manufacturers that then ship the very same product to its customers. But not all broker/distributors are created equal. If you are considering using one, you should first do your research and ask a lot of questions such as: Does the broker use one vendor or several? Will you be informed of the manufacturer of your order? Will that vendor be the vendor for the life of a particular part number? Will the broker allow on-site audits? Does the broker have references immediately available for review? If there is a problem with an order, how will it be handled? Before making the decision to go with your offshore orders or to start an IPO, consider a PCB broker/distributor as a Group Purchasing Organization (GPO) that can pool your monthly spending on PCBs with that of many other customers and then use this as leverage with vendors. By going through a broker, you can increase your buying and shipping power.. In fact, brokers may very well be able to beat most IPO pricing because they have concentrated buying power and will help you minimize cost fluctuations. Reputable GPOs will identify and use only UL and ISO-approved sources; some brokers may also be ISO-approved. Also, an IPO requires a long-term commitment of time, energy and finances. A GPO frees you of that long-term commitment, allowing you to take advantage of its services for the length of a purchase order. Not all PCB manufacturing orders are coming back to the United States. It’s just those orders that make sense to build domestically–the ones that were borderline or had tight margins several years ago and are now proving to be less expensive to manufacture domestically. It is as if a wave of products went across the sea, hit a seawall of cost and, whatever doesn't make it over that continually rising wall, is being returned in a smaller wave, back to our shores. PCD&F ADVERTISER INDEX TO RECEIVE MORE in this issue, go to To learn more about the advertisers INFORMATION: pcdandf.com Check Advertiser beside the advertisers that you and select the boxesIndex in the home page menu. This will would like to receive information from, then complete provide you with a direct link to the Web site of each advertiser. and submit the form at the bottom of this index. ADVERTISER Alternate Finishing Alternate Finishing BareBare Board Group Board Group Compufab Compufab DownStream Technologies DownStream Technologies eFabPCB eFabPCB EMA Design Automation EMA Design Automation EzPCB EzPCB Circuits Fine Fine Circuits Film Services Garrett Garrett Film Services HKPCA 2008 HMS Höllmüller Maschinenbau HKPCA 2008 HMSImagineering Höllmüller Maschinenbau Imagineering Imagineering JetPCB Imagineering Korea PCB International JetPCB MacDermid Korea PCB International Mentor Graphics MacDermid Mentor Graphics – Webinar Mentor Graphics 2008 Mexitronica Mentor Graphics – Webinar Midwest Accurate Grinding Mexitronica 2008 National Instruments/ Electronics Workbench Group Midwest Accurate Grinding One Stop Assembly National Instruments/ Online Workbench Electronics Electronics Group PCB Assembly One Stop Artist PCB Orlando 2008 Online Electronics PCB Fab Express PCB Artist PCB-Pool PCB Orlando 2008 Precision Images PCB Precision Technologies Fab Express PCB-Pool Samtec Precision Images Shure Sierra Proto Express Precision Technologies Sunstone Circuits Samtec Superior Processing Shure Virtual PCB Sierra Proto Express Wise Software Sunstone Circuits Superior Processing Virtual PCB Wise Software PAGE # 45 44 44 46 46 11 11 44 44 3 3 44 44 45 45 23 23 42 24-25 42 7 24-25 45 7 46 45 44 46 5 44 Cover 4 5 13 Cover 4 47 13 46 Cover47 2 46 45 Cover 2 44 46 45 31 44 46 46 27 31 37 46 45 27 9 37 45 Cover45 3 1 9 46 45 15 Cover 3 33 1 46 15 33 GREG PAPANDREW is founder and president of Bare Board Group. He can be reached at greg@bareboard.com The advertising index is published as an additional service. The publisher does not assume any liability for errors The advertising index is published as an additional service. The publisher does not assume any liability for errors or omissions. or omissions. OCTOBER 2008 PRINTED CIRCUIT DESIGN & FAB 39 http://www.alternatefinishing.com http://www.bareboard.com http://www.compufab.com http://www.downstreamtech.com http://www.efabpcb.com http://www.ema-eda.com/training/seminars.aspx?campaignID=148 http://www.ezpcb.com http://www.finecircuits.com http://www.photoplot.com http://www.hkpca-ipc-show.org/visitor http://www.hms-germany.de http://www.pcbnet.com http://www.PCBNet.com http://www.jetpcb.com http://www.koreapcb.com http://www.macdermid.com/electronics/ http://www.mentor.com/pcb http://www.pcbshows.com/webinars/events/mentor/ecad.shtml http://www.mexitronica.com http://www.midwestaccurate.com http://www.ni.com/multisim http://www.onestopassembly.com http://www.pcborder.com http://www.pcbartist.com http://www.pcbshows.com/orlando http://www.pcbfabexpress.com http://www.pcb-pool.com/ppus/info.html?PHPSESSID=7df48fa7c977776045ff8d4b24a70fc7 http://www.precision-images.biz http://www.eprotos.com http://www.samtec.com/tls http://www.shure.com/corporate/careers/index.htm http://www.protoexpress.com http://www.sunstone.com http://www.superior-processing.com http://www.virtual-pcb.com http://www.wssi.com/pcdm

Table of Contents Feed for the Digital Edition of Printed Circuit Design & Fab - October 2008

Printed Circuit Design & Fab - October 2008 Contents Our Line Market Watch Around the World Happenings Test and Inspection ROI Tip Jar Interconnect Strategies Final Finish Forum The New Wave in High-Speed Modeling The PCB Design Library Mixed Signal Design Considerations Modeling Conductor Surface Roughness Copper Erosion: The Influence of Metallurgy on Copper Dissolution The Wave of the Future Ad Index Building a Profitable Niche Marketplace Off the Shelf BGA Bulletin

Printed Circuit Design & Fab - October 2008

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