The real bottleneck isn’t the layout; it’s decoding those half-hidden specs stuffed into a PDF.

Every electronics engineer and PCB designer knows the feeling: the design is done, the data package is zipped, and the request for quote (RFQ) is sent. And then ... you wait.

This is the quoting “black box.” A project’s momentum comes to a halt, sometimes for days, as you wait for a price. When the quote finally arrives, it might come with design for manufacturability (DfM) queries, unexpected costs or lead times that jeopardize the entire schedule.

How a longtime PCB supplier became a contract manufacturer.

More than a handful of US-based printed circuit board fabricators offer some degree of assembly in order to meet customer demand. Often, these companies are flex circuit manufacturers which add in-house SMT as a strategic advantage so they can offer a one-stop supply model.

Recently, however, a Chicago-area supplier of bare PCBs took a different approach: It acquired, of all things, a full-service EMS company.