PCBA Cost Model Overview
The PCBA cost model providea the ability to automatically cost rigid printed circuit board assemblies (PCBAs). The major cost drivers for PCBAs are:
• The cost of the individual components comprising the PCBA
• The cost of assembling, testing, and performing any other processes needed to manufacture the PCBA from those components
The current release of this functionality does not cover rigid-flex or flexible circuit board assemblies, nor does it cover the design and manufacture of the boards themselves, which are considered components with a user-provided cost.
The primary use cases for aPriori PCBA costing include providing:
• Early estimates for new product introduction (NPI)
• Quote evaluation
• Outlier analysis
If you are an engineer designing a PCBA, you can create or modify your design and then generate and cost a BOM to check your costs immediately, allowing you to make design decisions now rather than weeks later when receiving supplier quotes.
If you work in purchasing, you can analyze your PCBA costs at a component level, and start to negotiate from a more knowledgeable position with your suppliers.
The separately-licensed PCBA cost model is somewhat different than most other aPriori process groups (other than Wire Harness): it is implemented as a VPE with two process groups:
• a “user guided” process group containing an aPriori-configured Component Library that provides cost information for all PCBA-related parts used by your company
• a PCBA assembly process group defining all of the processes needed to create a PCBA from its constituent components
You do not really need to be concerned with this architectural detail, since aPriori configures the PCBA cost model specifically for your company, and provides an easy-to-use interface to walk you through the costing process. But if you are an experienced aPriori user who wants to understand how the PCBA cost model works, here is some more information.
The reason for this approach is that even though PCBAs are considered a type of assembly, geometric cost drivers (GCDs) are not available the same way they would be for CAD model-based components. Instead, aPriori extracts cost driver information from the BOM describing the elements making up your PCBA. This information is augmented with user-guided data such as the purchase price of the board itself or the selection of optional routings, and with component library information. Most components will be off-the-shelf parts, but we know that many companies specify internal part numbers rather than manufacturer or distributor part numbers. To associate information from the tables to the purchased component information, aPriori Professional Services first maps your internal part numbers to manufacturer or distributor part numbers in a Component Library in the VPE.
This chapter covers day-to-day costing use operations and assumes that aPriori Professional Services has worked with your administrators to set up and configure this cost model, including the Component Library. See the aPriori System Administration Guide and VPE Administration Guide for more information about configuration and maintenance of the PCBA environment.