Sourcing Agents vs Direct Manufacture Sourcing of PCBs

Customers that source their PCBs from China or from other countries often do not realize that they are dealing with a sourcing agent instead of a manufacturer. Some of the unscrupulous elements in the industry could pose as if they are the manufacturers. All that they would have is their website and they try to get their customer orders processed through a third-party manufacturer. When you are sourcing your PCBs from a company or a supplier in China you need to ensure that you are not falling into such traps. It is essential that you look for the most trustworthy and honest PCB fabrication company.

On the one hand the industry is flooded with unreliable suppliers and on the other hand there are PCB manufacturers that have been in this industry for several years and that are committed to offering their customers with exceptional services. It is up to you to pick the right companies by investing enough time to review the profiles of the companies and to check their backgrounds. 

Why it is not a good practice to source your PCBs through a sourcing agent? A sourcing agent is nothing but a broker or an intermediary. They will not have any control over the production process. The orders will be processed at a pace that works for the manufacturer. The intermediary sourcing agents would promise you a faster turnaround time just to ensure that you send your requirements to them but they will not have enough cooperation from their manufacturers. This is where all the issues start. You would be preparing and getting ready with your production cycle based on the promises made by your supplier but down the line, you would end up getting delayed which could cost you a lot of money and also loss of reputation in your industry. 

Your PCB supplier will also not be able to give you complete assurance on the quality if they are getting your PCBs manufactured from a cheap company. If you deal with the PCB manufacturer directly you could establish that they deliver the expected quality. If the samples you order do not match with your manufacturer you could change your manufacturer. You might think that you could do the same with your PCB sourcing agents. Here the risk is that your agent could get the samples from one company and place the order with a different company. You would have no way of controlling things but to suffer the loss because of the supply of inferior quality PCBs. 

Why to go through all these challenges? Just look for the best companies in the industry and directly place your order with the manufacturer. It does not make any sense to deal with a sourcing agent if all that they promise you are disadvantages. Never compromise on the quality of the PCBs that you order because your products will not be able to face the competition successfully. Only by delivering your customers with the finest quality products you will be able to safeguard your market.

ChinaPCBOne Technology LTD. is the author of this article on pcb manufacturer. Find more information, about PCB fabrication.