Choosing a PCBA partner: what Western OEMs usually verify first
Documentation, change control, and escalation paths matter as much as the price per placement.
Start with how a partner handles engineering data: versioned Gerbers, controlled BOMs, and explicit ECN workflows. Export-focused EMS teams should be comfortable with your quality pack expectations—not only ISO certificates on the wall.
Ask about traceability: lot codes for paste and components, reflow profile storage, and inspection sampling plans. For medical and industrial programs, you want evidence you can tie to a specific build.
Finally, clarify communication: who owns the program, how escalations work across time zones, and how fast you get honest yield feedback when something is marginal.