PURCHASING BARE PRINTEDΒ circuit boards for an OEM or EMS firm often means losing money in places that arenβt immediately visible.
In the high-mix, low-to-medium-volume PCB sector β where hundreds of different part numbers may be managed across dozens of product lines β margins are won and lost in the details.
And there is no detail more universally misunderstood and historically abused than tooling and nonrecurring engineering (NRE) charges.
Whether based in the US, Canada or Mexico, the supply chain mechanics remain exactly the same. Without a clear understanding of how PCB factories and traditional domestic brokers calculate and apply tooling costs, those charges are often paid twice β sometimes even three times.
Itβs time to stop the money loss. Here is the unvarnished truth about NRE, how the βdouble chargeβ trap works and how to negotiate a way out of it:
Read more here.
