Even after carefully selecting one’s PCB manufacturing company customers could still experience delays in the delivery of the orders. As your production cycle is very much dependent on the availability of PCBs, you would always want to ensure that there is a regular supply of PCBs. There are certain unforeseen challenges in the sourcing process which will result in delays. You need to be prepared for such delays too so that your production cycle is not disrupted.
The easiest way to deal with such unforeseen challenges when sourcing your PCBs is to stock adequately. Yes, the production cycle will continue as long as you feed the production unit with the required PCBs. So, stock up your PCBs. When you are planning your PCB sourcing calendar, you need to make sure that you are at least a couple of cycles ahead of the production cycle.
When you place the order to any PCB fabrication company, they will not be able to dispatch your PCBs overnight. As these are custom made PCBs, your manufacturer will get into production only upon receiving your order confirmation. You need to therefore take into consideration their production or manufacturing time and secondly the shipping time. You can optimize these timelines but you can never go beyond a certain limit. Take into consideration the maximum time your manufacturer is likely to take for the completion of the orders and add some buffer time to it. Plan your sourcing calendar taking these two aspects into account along with the buffer time. This will give you a clear indication on how frequently you need to place your orders. Ensure that you do not wait until the stock comes down fully to place the order. You should have stock for at least two cycles so that even if there is a minor delay in the delivery of the order you could still continue with the production. If you are experiencing delays beyond all these timeline calculations then you must consider changing your supplier.
Do not hesitate to change to a new supplier if your previous supplier is not able to cope up with your requirements. Many a times customers try to work out a way around the issue with the same manufacturer but do not waste your time unnecessarily with manufacturers that are not committed to customer satisfaction. You will need the best suppliers to take care of your needs. Find the right match once and establish long term association with the manufacturer so that their production timeline gets better with each order. If you keep changing your manufacturer your delivery time will only increase as the suppliers will always be new to your specifications. As the manufacturers process multiple orders for you then they will gain better control over the entire process and they will be able to meet your requirements fast. So, take all these factors into account when you are trying to cut down the delays in the delivery of our PCBs from your PCB manufacturer.
