How to Order PCB as Panels

With cost and manufacturing efficiency taken into account, PCB Panels have become an optimal selection for lots of companies. Here, we'll introduce how to order PCB panels directly using our online purchasing system.

You can get printed circuit boards panel manufacturing price using our price calculator for Custom PCBs Production or price calculator for Quickturn PCBs Prototyping, simply check Panel at the Board Type section on the quote page.

Once Panel is ticked, Board Size refers to the size of panel instead of the size of single unit PCB, and Quantity refers to the number of panels instead of that of single PCBs. To determine your panel size and quantity, you have to do a quick calculation based on your requirements and our panel PCB manufacturing capabilities.

Here are our allowable panel sizes for each situation. We require min. 1.0mm spacing between single units on each panel, and min 3.0mm width of technical rail.

NOTE: Sizes discussed above work for bare board PCB fabrication only. If you want us to do PCB assembly at the same time, the min panel size should be 50mm*50mm while the max panel size should be 310mm*410mm.

Take MayFlower for example, single PCB size is 130mm*140mm, and we want 15units single boards. In the meanwhile, single boards are connected with each other through v-scoring on panels and technical rails all around the panel are required. To achieve the largest panelization efficiency, we want to set the panel size at the largest possible size (you should take the max. panel size for double-sided PCBs into consideration - 400mm*450mm). The most cost-effective panel option for MayFlower is:
• Width:130mm*3+6.0mm (two technical rails) + 2.0mm (spacing between each single unit on panel), namely 398.0mm.
• Height: 140mm*3+6.0mm (two technical rails) + 1.0mm (spacing between each single unit on panel), namely 427.0mm.
• Quantity for panel should be 5 (with each panel having 3 single units, we can get 15units single PCBs).

To take fully advantage of each panel and save PCB production cost, you should carefully layout single PCB on each panel.

BTW, PCBCart offers free PCB panelization service. If you have single PCB design files but want to order as panels, please submit the order by clicking the following button, fill out panel spec as we discussed above, upload files and release the payment. We'll panelize files based on your demands and send production file for your confirmation. With your approval, we'll move forward to manufacture PCBs.

Order PCB as Panels with Single PCB Files

There're some new parameters for your further selection.

• Different Design in Panel

This item indicates the number of designs in each panel and 15 selections are provided ranging from 1 to 15. Based on our PC boards manufacturing experience and millions of successful orders with clients around the globe, we summarize panels with different designs lead to lower cost. Accordingly, you should carefully calculate and arrange your custom PCB design on panels so that a lower cost can be achieved.

• Route Process

Panels' connection method is directly associated with the final price. Under this item, we offer three options: Panel as V-Scoring, Panel as Tab Route and Panel as both V-Scoring and & Tab Route. Generally speaking, without special requirement, V-scoring technology alone is far sufficient.

• X-out Allowance in Panel

Since there're unavoidable issues during panel manufacturing, especially for panels composed by a large number, 100 for example, of PCBs. we offer two ways to make sure you get qualified boards at your demanded quantity:

Option 1 - check X-out Allowance option: we'll re-manufacture same quantity of bad boards in panels and ship them together with the originally manufactured panels to you. For instance, if you order 20 panels each containing 25 boards, then the production ended up with a total of 25 bad boards, you would receive 21 panels (some of those panels will include bad boards).

Option 2 - uncheck X-out Allowance option : we'll ship only 20 panels to you. All boards in those panels are qualified and there will be no bad boards included. This is comparatively expensive than X-out Allowance option.

Actually, PCBCart has succeeded in controlling rate of bad PCBs in a panel within an acceptable range in our circuit boards manufacturing business, we recommend you accept X-out Allowance. We will make sure you got all the qualified boards quickly and in fair price.

After inputing all circuit spec, you may follow our online guide to submit the order, upload files and release the payment. Order process begins when payment is received. If you have any further concern about ordering PCB in Panel types, please do not hesitate to reach us here.

Helpful resources:
• PCB Panels Introduction
• The Surprising Secret to Designing Combination Method of PCB Panels
• Panel Requirements for PCB Assembly