Z-AXIS is an electronic contract manufacturer that provides contract mechanical assembly services. Learn about box builds.
Box Builds and Contract Mechanical Assembly
Many electronic manufacturing services (EMS) providers offer box build services in addition to PCB assembly services. Box builds can include sourcing, supply chain management, prototypes, production, testing and packaging. We have been doing box builds in the USA since 1989. In this video we reveal the three areas we have learned to focus on, to deliver the most value to our box build customers.
Today let’s look at Box Builds in PCB assembly services.
Types of Box Builds
A box build can be anything from this miniature custom power supply to a sophisticated system with multiple integrated boards, cable assemblies, displays, switches, shields and more.
Full box build service can include sourcing, supply chain management, prototypes, production, testing and packaging. Usually, but not always, the company that makes your printed circuit board assemblies can also offer box build services.
We have been doing box builds since 1989, and have learned there are three areas to focus on, to give you the most value from this service.
Reducing Labor with Contract Mechanical Assembly
First, we focus on reducing labor. This not only eliminates a major portion of the cost, but also gives you more consistent, higher quality.
Ways to reduce labor include:
- Use of robotic systems, like this robotic dispenser.
- Use of specialized tools for manual operations, like torque-limited air wrenches that prevent over- or under-tightening.
- Use of the assembly line concept for production, which is not a new idea but you may be surprised at how many box build operations don’t use it.
Design Engineering
Second, we focus on our design engineering department to help you design, optimize and source enclosures and other components. This can really reduce manufacturing time and cost, and also give you better quality, through design for manufacturing – since our in-house design team is extremely familiar with production options.
For example, designing a plastic enclosure that can be ultrasonically welded rather than glued.
Third, we focus on delivering whatever you need, and finding unexpected ways to reduce costs or improve your results. For example, we use this hot wire cutter to reconfigure a customer’s existing packaging to fit a new product. This lets them reduce shipping costs, without having to scrap their old packaging and buy new.
Adding Value to Contract Mechanical Assembly
These three focus areas help us maximize the core value of box builds – which is, the efficiency of having everything taken care of in one place:
- Printed circuit board design
- SMT assembly production
- Enclosure design and sourcing
- System integration and assembly
- Embedded software and programming
- Inspection and final testing of the completed product
- Final packaging.
Contact us to learn more about box builds in the USA for electronic products.