Reels of electronics components

Creating a Good Parts Kit

We’re seeing more and more of our PCB assembly jobs come in as kitted orders. In the past, it was often more convenient to buy all new parts for an assembly job and ignore the spare cut strips in your miscellaneous parts drawer. With parts shortages rampant these days, those spares have become very important and it’s now often more convenient to dig for ten parts than risk a delay due to shortages in components distribution. That being the case, it’s a good time for a bit of a refresher on packaging up your parts kit.

The kit used in the video was a pretty small sample, but it is representative. Some notes to add:

  • Full reels, partial reels and Digi-reels (or equivalent) are also excellent ways to send components.
  • The job identifier can you your Screaming Circuits quote/order number (like 9999-9999), a job or order number given to you by your Screaming Circuits customer service representative or a PO number that we have been given and accepted.
  • If reference designators get too messy, you can include a copy of your BOM and put the line item number on to component package. Just make sure to identify it as a line item number.

For our Full-Proto service, we’ll take your parts in reels, tubes, cut strips or trays. For our Short-Run production service, we need reels (full or partial) or uncut strips of at least 12 inches. Tubes and trays are fine for Short-Run too.

Thru-hole parts can be packaged any way that does not put them at risk of damage, either physical or electrostatic.

Now that you’ve had your kit refresher, jump over to our PCB assembly quote page and quote your assembly. And don’t stress too much. We are here to help.

Duane Benson
Video did not, in fact, kill the radio star