How to Qualify a New PCB Vendor (First-Article Inspection)
How do you trust a new board house? You do not trust it on a promise. To qualify a new PCB vendor, give it a clear specification, review its documents and process, order a small first-article lot, inspect that lot against your drawing, and approve the vendor only when the evidence matches. This guide shows you how to qualify a new PCB vendor step by step, with a first-article inspection checklist you can use on your next order. It is written for hardware engineers, quality teams, and procurement managers who need to qualify a new PCB vendor, switch, or add a bare-board supplier without risking a production run. A note on transparency: F.Robin Technologies publishes this guide. We state no pass rates or defect statistics, because they depend on your design, and we suggest you apply the same checks to every vendor, including us. Key Takeaways What First-Article Inspection Means for PCBs First-article inspection (FAI) is a formal check of the first units from a new process, vendor, or design revision against the drawing and specification. For bare boards, it confirms that the manufacturer can actually build what you specified before you commit to volume. In aerospace, a standard called AS9102 defines the FAI requirements, and many other industries borrow its discipline. In practice, for a printed board, FAI usually covers visual quality, dimensions, hole and plating quality, layer construction, electrical continuity, controlled impedance, and finish. Each check produces a record, so the decision to approve a vendor rests on data. Why You Should Qualify a New PCB Vendor Before Volume However, a board that looks fine on arrival can still hide problems, such as weak plating, poor layer registration, or impedance outside tolerance. Those problems often surface late, during assembly or in the field, when fixes cost far more. For that reason, it pays to qualify a new PCB vendor early, while changes are cheap. Qualification also builds a shared baseline. Once the vendor passes, you know what a good lot looks like, and you can compare every later lot against it. How to Qualify a New PCB Vendor Step by Step Follow this seven-step process to qualify a new PCB vendor with evidence at every stage: First-Article Inspection Checklist to Qualify a New PCB Vendor Use this table as a starting point, and adjust it to your IPC class and product risk. Check What to verify Evidence to request Visual quality Solder mask, silkscreen, finish, and board edges match the drawing Photos and an inspection record against the chosen IPC acceptability class Dimensions Outline, hole sizes, and thickness meet tolerance Dimensional report Layer construction Stack-up and materials match the specification Stack-up confirmation and material certificates Hole and plating quality Plated holes and vias show sound structure Microsection (cross-section) report from a test coupon Electrical continuity Every net connects correctly, with no shorts Electrical test report against your netlist Controlled impedance Impedance traces fall within tolerance Impedance test report from coupons Solderability Pads and holes wet properly during soldering Solderability test result or a trial assembly Traceability Lot, date, and process records exist Certificate of conformance and lot identification In addition, IPC publishes the common reference documents. IPC-A-600 covers the acceptability of printed boards, and IPC-6012 covers qualification and performance for rigid boards. Agree with the vendor on which document and class applies before the build. Documents to Request When You Qualify a New PCB Vendor Ask for these items early, because a vendor that cannot produce them is telling you something: How Deep Should You Go When You Qualify a New PCB Vendor? Inspection depth should match product risk. Therefore, decide up front how much evidence each board type needs: Also remember that the cost of inspection is small next to the cost of a failed production lot. As a result, most teams choose more evidence for higher-risk designs and lighter checks for simple ones. Red Flags When You Qualify a New PCB Vendor Keep Qualifying After You Approve the Vendor However, approval is not a permanent pass. Once you qualify a new PCB vendor, treat it as the start of an ongoing relationship, and maintain these controls: If you are still choosing between suppliers, our guide on how to choose a PCB manufacturer and our comparison of local versus overseas printed circuit board manufacturers help you narrow the list first. A Hypothetical Example Imagine a team that switches to a new board house to cut lead time. The vendor sends clean photos of the first lot, and the team approves it. Later, assembly shows poor hole wall quality on a few vias, because nobody requested a microsection report. In contrast, a team that follows the steps to qualify a new PCB vendor would request coupons and reports with the first lot. It would likely spot the plating issue before assembly, and the vendor could correct the process while the order was still small. Your case will differ, so use the checklist to decide what evidence matters for your board. Questions to Ask Before You Qualify a New PCB Vendor How F.Robin Technologies Supports Reliable Board Builds F.Robin Technologies offers PCB manufacturing and design review services that check stack-up, trace width and spacing, drill and annular ring data, solder mask and silkscreen, panelization, and Gerber outputs before fabrication. Those checks reduce surprises at first article. Our complete guide to PCB manufacturing explains the process from files to finished boards. We encourage you to put F.Robin through the same steps you use to qualify a new PCB vendor. CTA – How to Qualify a New PCB Vendor (First-Article Inspection) Qualifying a New Board House? Put F.Robin PCB Manufacturing through your first-article checklist. Our design reviews cover stack-up, drill data, solder mask, panelization, and Gerber outputs before fabrication. Send your files and requirements. 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