Electronics & PCB Assembly

Electronics and PCB assembly is high-mix, component-heavy production: one board can carry hundreds of parts from dozens of suppliers, customers change revisions often, and every shipped unit must be traceable back to the component lots it was built from.

factory.online connects BOM revisions, component inventory, kitting, SMT and assembly scheduling, and serial-number traceability in one production model, so planning, the warehouse and the line work from the same data.

Specific challenges in electronics manufacturing:

• Component traceability: customers and regulators expect to know which reel, lot and date code went into each board and serial number — and to find affected units fast when a component is recalled.
• PCB assembly scheduling: SMT lines are expensive bottlenecks; changeovers, feeder setups and panel sizes decide throughput, while THT, testing and box build must stay in step.
• Frequent BOM and revision changes: engineering change orders and customer revisions can arrive mid-order, and the wrong revision on the line means rework or scrap.
• Long lead times and component shortages: a single missing part blocks the whole build, so material availability must be checked before an order is released.
• Kitting accuracy: kits must contain the right parts, quantities and revisions before they reach the line; errors surface at the machine, not in the warehouse.
• Moisture-sensitive and alternative parts: approved alternates, attrition and handling rules must be reflected in planning and issue.
• Test and quality gates: AOI, ICT and functional test results need to be tied to serial numbers, with holds and rework loops planned as real capacity.
• Actual cost per order: material consumption including attrition, labor and rework must be compared to the planned cost of each product.

What factory.online delivers:

• A recall means days of searching → lot and serial traceability links every component lot to the boards and finished units it went into, so affected units are found in one query.
• SMT lines lose time to changeovers → finite-capacity scheduling groups orders by line and setup, and shows the real impact of rush orders before they are accepted.
• The wrong revision reaches the line → each order carries its own BOM revision and routing, and engineering changes flag open kits and work in progress.
• Builds stop on one missing part → MRP checks component availability and lead times, highlighting shortages and approved alternates before release.
• Kits arrive incomplete → kitting control checks parts, quantities and revisions before a kit is released to production.
• Test results live in separate files → test and inspection outcomes are recorded against serial numbers with hold and rework tracking.
• True cost per board is unknown → actual costing captures material, attrition, labor and rework per operation and compares it with the plan.