Bare board suppliers

Our company has been building high rel military products for over 15 years. Over that time we have reduced our bare board suppliers to two companies that specilize in 55110 QPL product.

I am now faced with a requirement for 6000 4 layer boards to be procured to IPC specs. Our existing suppliers are just not able to be cost competitive with other (unproven to us) suppliers. Going with an unproven source is scary at best, but we can't be competitive in this market with our existing suppliers.

I would very much appreciate some recommendations for board houses that some of you guys have had good experiences with. Basicly I want what we all do, outstanding quality and support at the lowest reasonable cost.

Thanks

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| Our company has been building high rel military products for over 15 years. Over that time we have reduced our bare board suppliers to two companies that specilize in 55110 QPL product. | | I am now faced with a requirement for 6000 4 layer boards to be procured to IPC specs. Our existing suppliers are just not able to be cost competitive with other (unproven to us) suppliers. Going with an unproven source is scary at best, but we can't be competitive in this market with our existing suppliers. | | I would very much appreciate some recommendations for board houses that some of you guys have had good experiences with. Basicly I want what we all do, outstanding quality and support at the lowest reasonable cost. | | Thanks | I've worked with many board shops over the years. Your concerns are well founded. On the one hand you know quality and reliability requirements for more sophisticated product. On the other you are faced with a trip into "cheap and dirty" board land seeking boards that have to work right the first time, every time. Don't relax your standards even though four layer boards are borderline technology.

One shop I always recommend is Proto Engineering in Sunnyvale, California. Glynn Shaw is the principle and knows his stuff all the way into high-rel boards. He specializes in quick turns but looks at all orders equally. His number is, or was, 408.738.0693.

There are so many others it's hard to choose when only four layers are the issue. Praegetzer, Multek, Ambitech, Speedy, and similar others specialize as does Proto Engineering in multilayer boards. Just be sure to perform the proper survey, or not, but be sure whoever you choose can meet the requirements clearly indicated on your master drawing and acceptance specifications.

Earl Moon

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