# PCB Assembly Cost Estimation Software: Cost per Board and per Order

> Source: https://netray.co/tools/pcb-assembly-cost-estimator
> Publisher: Netray (netray.co), AI and integration engineering for ERP and manufacturing systems.
> Section: Free Tools

## Short answer

Estimate SMT and through-hole assembly cost per board and total order cost from placements, complexity, NRE, and test overhead.

## Category

electronics

## Tool

**Kind:** calculator

**Inputs:**

#### SMT placements per board

**Key:** placements_per_board

**Type:** number

**Default:** 350

**Min:** 10

**Max:** 10000

**Step:** 10

**Unit:** placements

**Help:** Total surface-mount component placements per assembled board.

#### Assembly complexity

**Key:** cost_per_placement

**Type:** select

**Default:** 0.018

**Help:** Complexity drives cost per placement: fine pitch, BGAs, and Class 3 workmanship cost more.

**Options:**

##### Standard commercial (Class 1-2, coarse pitch)

**Value:** 0.012

##### Industrial / high-mix (Class 2, some BGAs)

**Value:** 0.018

##### High reliability (Class 3, fine pitch, x-ray)

**Value:** 0.03

#### Through-hole components per board

**Key:** tht_components

**Type:** number

**Default:** 12

**Min:** 0

**Max:** 500

**Step:** 1

**Unit:** parts

**Help:** Hand-soldered, wave, or selective-solder parts. Typical loaded cost is about $0.30 each.

#### Order quantity

**Key:** board_qty

**Type:** number

**Default:** 500

**Min:** 1

**Max:** 100000

**Step:** 10

**Unit:** boards

**Help:** Boards in this production run. NRE and setup amortize across this quantity.

#### NRE and setup cost

**Key:** nre_setup_cost

**Type:** number

**Default:** 400

**Min:** 0

**Max:** 20000

**Step:** 50

**Unit:** USD

**Help:** One-time stencil, programming, first-article, and line setup charges for this run.

#### Test and inspection overhead

**Key:** test_inspection_pct

**Type:** slider

**Default:** 15

**Min:** 0

**Max:** 40

**Step:** 1

**Unit:** %

**Help:** AOI, ICT, and functional test typically add 10-25% on top of raw assembly labor.

#### Bare board + BOM material cost

**Key:** material_cost_per_board

**Type:** number

**Default:** 45

**Min:** 0

**Max:** 5000

**Step:** 1

**Unit:** USD/board

**Help:** Fabricated PCB plus purchased components per board. Use your BOM Cost Calculator result here.

**Outputs:**

#### SMT assembly cost per board

**Key:** smt_cost_per_board

**Expr:** placements_per_board * cost_per_placement

**Format:** currency

**Description:** Placement count multiplied by complexity-adjusted cost per placement.

#### Through-hole assembly cost per board

**Key:** tht_cost_per_board

**Expr:** tht_components * 0.30

**Format:** currency

**Description:** Through-hole parts at a typical $0.30 loaded insertion cost each.

#### Total assembly cost per board

**Key:** assembly_cost_per_board

**Expr:** (smt_cost_per_board + tht_cost_per_board) * (1 + test_inspection_pct / 100) + nre_setup_cost / max(board_qty, 1)

**Format:** currency

**Description:** Assembly labor plus test overhead plus amortized NRE.

**Primary:** true

#### Fully loaded cost per board

**Key:** total_cost_per_board

**Expr:** assembly_cost_per_board + material_cost_per_board

**Format:** currency

**Description:** Assembly plus materials: the number to compare against EMS quotes.

**Primary:** true

#### Total order cost

**Key:** total_order_cost

**Expr:** total_cost_per_board * board_qty

**Format:** currency

**Description:** Fully loaded cost across the entire production run.

**Disclaimer:** Estimates only, based on typical North American EMS cost-per-placement benchmarks. Actual quotes vary with panelization, component mix, and region.

## Content

**Intro:** This free PCB assembly cost estimator calculates cost per board and total order cost for electronics engineers, sourcing managers, and OEM program teams comparing EMS quotes or budgeting a new build. It uses the cost-per-placement method that contract manufacturers themselves use for first-pass quoting: SMT placements times a complexity-adjusted rate, plus through-hole labor, test and inspection overhead, and amortized NRE. Enter your placement count, complexity class, order quantity, and material cost to get a defensible baseline in seconds, then use it to sanity-check supplier pricing or model volume price breaks.

**Sections:**

#### How the cost-per-placement method works

**Body:** Contract manufacturers quote assembly labor primarily as a function of placement count, because machine time, feeder setup, and inspection effort all scale with placements. This estimator multiplies your SMT placement count by a complexity-adjusted rate, adds through-hole insertion at a typical $0.30 loaded cost per part, then applies a test and inspection overhead percentage covering AOI, ICT, and functional test. One-time NRE for stencils, programming, and first-article inspection is divided across the order quantity, which is why small runs carry a visibly higher per-board cost. Finally, bare board and BOM material cost is added to produce a fully loaded per-board figure you can compare directly against quotes.

#### Benchmark rates behind the defaults

**Body:** The default rates reflect commonly observed North American EMS pricing for mid-volume work, where labor, machine amortization, and quality overhead are bundled into a per-placement figure. Offshore assembly can run 30-50% lower on the labor component, but freight, duty, minimum order quantities, and longer lead times claw back much of the difference for anything but stable high-volume products. Complexity moves the rate more than geography: a BGA-heavy Class 3 board can cost triple the per-placement rate of a simple two-layer commercial design because of slower placement, x-ray verification, and tighter process control. The benchmark ranges this estimator uses are:

**Bullets:**

- Standard commercial Class 1-2 assembly: roughly $0.010-$0.014 per placement at mid volume
- Industrial high-mix Class 2 with BGAs: roughly $0.015-$0.022 per placement
- High-reliability Class 3 with fine pitch and x-ray verification: $0.025-$0.040 per placement
- Test and inspection overhead: typically 10-25% of assembly labor, higher for functional test

#### How to interpret and use the result

**Body:** Treat the fully loaded cost per board as a plus-or-minus 20% baseline, not a quote. If an EMS quote lands well above your estimate, ask which driver differs: are they pricing more test time, lower yield assumptions, or component attrition? If a quote lands far below, probe for hidden costs such as expedite fees, tooling ownership, or quality shortcuts. Run the calculator at several quantities to see how NRE amortization shapes your price-break curve; the per-board delta between 100 and 1,000 units is often larger than teams expect. For long-running products, the material line usually dominates, so pair this with the Electronics BOM Cost Calculator.

#### How Netray helps you act on the numbers

**Body:** Netray builds AI-assisted cost and quoting workflows inside Infor SyteLine and Infor LN for electronics manufacturers. We connect BOM data, routing standards, and supplier pricing so cost rollups in your ERP match reality, and we automate quote-versus-actual analysis so margin erosion is caught early. If your estimates and your ERP costed BOMs disagree, that is usually a master-data problem we can fix: stale labor rates, missing overhead pools, or routings that no longer match the line. Our team has done this for aerospace, defense, and electronics OEMs running SyteLine, LN, and Baan.

**Cta:** Get a personalized PCB cost model built on your actual BOMs and routings, reviewed by a Netray ERP costing specialist.

**Faq:**

#### Is there free PCB assembly cost estimation software?

**Answer:** This page is one. It is a browser-based estimator that turns placement count, complexity class, through-hole parts, NRE, and test overhead into cost per board and total order cost, with no signup needed to see the result. Treat the output as a budgeting baseline of roughly plus or minus 20%, not a quote. For a binding price you still need an EMS quote against your actual BOM, and for ongoing costing inside your ERP, rollups built from BOM and routing data are more reliable than any generic calculator.

#### How accurate is a cost-per-placement estimate?

**Answer:** For mid-volume rigid PCBAs it is typically within 15-25% of real EMS quotes, which is accurate enough for budgeting, supplier negotiation, and make-versus-buy screening. Accuracy drops for unusual builds: heavy RF shielding, conformal coating, press-fit connectors, or very low volumes where setup dominates. Use it to frame conversations with suppliers, then refine with actual quotes.

#### What counts as a placement?

**Answer:** Every discrete SMT component placed by the pick-and-place machine counts as one placement, including passives. A 0402 resistor and a 256-ball BGA each count once, which is why the complexity selector matters: fine-pitch and BGA-heavy boards use a higher per-placement rate to reflect slower placement, x-ray inspection, and tighter process control.

#### Why is my per-board cost so high at low quantities?

**Answer:** NRE and setup charges such as stencils, machine programming, and first-article inspection are fixed per run, so at 25 boards a $400 NRE adds $16 per board, while at 1,000 boards it adds $0.40. This is the main reason prototype pricing looks disproportionate and why consolidating engineering builds into fewer, larger runs saves real money.

## Search terms

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