Unit Metric
Financial metrics in contract electronics manufacturing combine total line operating expense, equipment depreciation, direct labor, consumable tooling, and scrap allocation across the total number of components mounted onto printed circuit boards. The figure representing landed cost per placement calculates the total financial expenditure required to successfully place and solder a single component onto a circuit board assembly. Calculation formulas divide all machine hour overheads, feeder maintenance costs, stencil printing expenses, and defect rework costs by net yield placements.
This metric applies across full surface-mount and through-hole assembly operations during quotation and post-run profitability auditing. It stops applying at the bare printed circuit board fabrication level before component assembly begins.
Cost Breakdown
Machine depreciation, nitrogen reflow gas consumption, feeder maintenance, and operator labor construct the baseline cost per machine hour on modern surface-mount technology lines. Including board defect rework and component scrap in landed cost per placement provides contract manufacturers with accurate pricing models for high-density assemblies. Small 0201 passive components carry low landed costs per placement due to high placement speeds on chip shooters, whereas fine-pitch ball grid arrays require slower placement and optical alignment cycles that increase unit costs.
Calculating true placement expense prevents underquoting complex mixed-technology assemblies.
Quotation Boundary
SMT quotation models rely on landed cost per placement to construct accurate bill-of-materials markups and line-time charges for electronics assembly contracts. Overlooking scrap factors or feeder wear understates true manufacturing expense. Fixed overhead amortizes across high volume runs, lowering individual placement costs.
