Category sourcing
Sourcing PCB assembly from Taiwan
Almost every electronic part of a drone is a populated board — flight controller, ESCs, power distribution, radio, payload interface. Taiwan's electronics manufacturing base is among the best in the world at exactly this, and it is the single easiest place to move a board out of a covered country without losing quality.
Tell us what you are looking for and we will identify Taiwan-based manufacturers whose capabilities match and introduce you directly, usually within two business days. There is no charge to submit a request.
The quote is easy to get and hard to compare
PCBA looks like the most commoditized thing you will buy. Send Gerbers, a BOM, and a pick-and-place file, and quotes come back within days. The difficulty is that those quotes are frequently not for the same thing, and the differences are invisible until the boards arrive.
The first divergence is where the components come from. On a turnkey quote the manufacturer is buying your BOM, and the price depends heavily on whether they are sourcing from franchised distributors or the open market. Open-market brokers are how programs get parts during a shortage, and they are also how counterfeit and re-marked components enter a build. For flight-critical electronics that is not a theoretical risk. Ask which channel each line comes from and what happens when a part is unavailable.
The second is workmanship class. IPC-A-610 defines three: Class 1 for general electronic products, Class 2 for dedicated service — the commercial and industrial default, and what an unspecified quote assumes — and Class 3 for high-performance assemblies that must function on demand, where downtime is not tolerable or the environment is harsh. Class 3 costs more because it means tighter acceptance criteria for solder joints, placement and cleanliness, plus more inspection and rework. A flight controller in a certified or defense program usually wants Class 3; a ground-side accessory usually does not. Quoting one against the other is the most common apples-to-oranges comparison in this category.
The third is test, which is where most of the real cost difference hides. AOI catches placement and solder defects, X-ray is needed for BGAs and anything else you cannot see, ICT catches shorts and wrong values, and functional test proves the board does its job. A quote with no functional test is cheaper and tells you nothing about whether the board works. Decide what a passing unit means, and whether the manufacturer is developing that fixture or you are supplying it.
Finally, volume changes who you should be talking to. A prototype run and a full production run are different lines, different purchasing weight, and often different companies — and a UAV program can need both in fairly quick succession. Worth saying explicitly which stage you are at, and what the next one looks like if you know.
What to specify when you send us a request
- Quantity, and over what period — prototype, pilot, and annual production if they differ. Say whether it arrives as one build or recurring batches; cadence affects price as much as the total.
- Board count per assembly — if you are building aircraft, how many distinct boards each one carries and how many of each. This is what turns an aircraft quantity into a board quantity, and the two are very different numbers.
- Turnkey or consigned — whether the manufacturer procures the BOM or you supply it, and whether you have an approved vendor list that must be honored without substitution.
- Board specification — layer count, material, finished thickness, surface finish, controlled impedance if required, and dimensions. Include whether you need the bare board fabricated too or only assembled.
- Assembly complexity — single or double-sided, SMT and through-hole mix, and any fine-pitch, BGA, or QFN parts that force X-ray inspection.
- IPC-A-610 class — Class 2 or Class 3. If you do not state it, assume you are being quoted Class 2.
- Test requirements — AOI, X-ray, ICT, flying probe, functional test. Say whether a test fixture and procedure exist or need developing, and what data must be retained per board.
- Conformal coating and protection — coating type and masked areas, potting, or shielding. UAV boards frequently need this and it is often forgotten until after the first quote.
- Firmware — whether programming happens at the factory, who supplies the image, and who holds the signing keys.
- Documentation package — Gerbers, BOM with manufacturer part numbers, pick-and-place, assembly drawings, and test procedure. Say honestly what is missing; hidden gaps are what slip schedules.
- Traceability and origin constraints — serialization, component lot traceability, and any restriction on component origin. See below.
Where PCB assembly sits on compliance
This is where component origin rules are decided in practice, whatever the aircraft-level paperwork says. NDAA §848 names flight controllers, radios and data-transmission devices, cameras and gimbals, ground control systems, and operating software. A flight controller is a populated board — so on a turnkey build, whether your aircraft complies is substantially a question of what the manufacturer's purchasing department bought.
The useful question is therefore not where the board was assembled, but whether the process can enforce your rules and prove it did. Ask for an approved vendor list the manufacturer will honor, a change-control process that forbids silent substitution, and per-unit traceability records you can hand to your own customer. Ask specifically what happens when a part goes on allocation — that is the moment the rules are actually tested, and the answer tells you most of what you need to know.
Programs under the Drone Dominance Program (DDP), and European buyers working to a prime's supplier standard, generally require this rather than a country-of-assembly statement. Specify it before the first build. Retrofitting traceability onto boards already assembled is expensive and sometimes impossible.
One further point: if firmware is loaded during assembly, decide up front who supplies the image and who holds the signing keys. That is a security question as much as a compliance one, and it is far easier to settle before a production run than after.
What happens after you submit
We review every sourcing request — typically within two business days — and screen it against the U.S., EU, UN, UK, Japanese, and Australian restricted-party lists we subscribe to before we contact anyone. Requests that clear are matched to manufacturers whose capabilities fit, and we make a direct introduction — from that point the conversation is between you and the manufacturer. We are not a broker, we hold no inventory, and we do not handle payment or logistics. An introduction is a qualified starting point for your own diligence, not a compliance determination.
Other categories we source
Propulsion & power
Electronics & control
Frequently asked questions
Do I need IPC Class 3?
If the board flies and its failure brings the aircraft down, usually yes — flight controllers, ESCs, and power boards in certified or defense programs are typically Class 3. Ground-side accessories and non-flight-critical electronics are usually fine at Class 2. It matters because Class 2 is what an unspecified quote assumes, so two quotes can differ substantially for reasons that never appear on either.
Can Taiwan handle a large board run?
Volume electronics assembly is what Taiwan's manufacturing base is best known for, so this is usually the easier half of a UAV sourcing conversation rather than the harder one. The thing worth getting right is which number you are quoting: because each aircraft carries several boards, plus spares and yield, the board count can be far larger than the aircraft count. Quote the board number, and tell us the aircraft number separately.
How do I know the components are genuine?
Ask which channel each BOM line is sourced from. Franchised distributors carry the manufacturer's own guarantee; open-market brokers are how programs survive shortages and also how counterfeit and re-marked parts enter a build. Neither is automatically wrong, but you should know which you are getting, what incoming inspection is performed on open-market parts, and what traceability documentation comes back with the boards.
Do you charge buyers to submit a sourcing request?
No. Submitting a request and receiving an introduction is free for buyers.
What information is screened?
Every inquiry is checked against the U.S., EU, UN, UK, Japanese, and Australian sanctions and restricted-party lists we subscribe to, along with jurisdiction checks, before we contact any manufacturer.
Do you handle the transaction?
No. We make a direct introduction and step out. Your procurement relationship is directly with the manufacturer.