Estimating the costs of printed circuit assemblies
Abstract
This article describes a method for estimating the assembly costs of printed circuit boards (PCBs). A worksheet is used which facilitates the recording of component insertion costs and costs associated with the assembly of mechanical items. For automatically-inserted components, these costs are summarized in a database. For manually-inserted components, a database of insertion and operation times is given. Manual insertion costs are then obtained by multiplying the times by a suitable manual labor rate. Data are also presented which will allow the costs of rework to be included in the analysis. The method has been implemented on a microcomputer and integrated with the Design for Assembly (DFA) software.
This paper has been withdrawn.