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Launch HN: ProvenMetal (YC S26) delivers circuit boards in days instead of weeks

provenmetal.com

51–60 of 161 posts

Re: Launch HN: ProvenMetal (YC S26) delivers circuit boards in days instead of weeks

#51
post #9

Any idea what pricing will be like? The fact that you call out Drone and Defense industries on your page suggests to me this is extremely expensive. I recently priced out getting a PCB done in China and its insanely cheap. My design isnt complicated, a few ICs, a few connectors, an a dozen or so passives. PCB manufacturing, parts, and soldering/assembly is on the order of $10-20 total per board and that is with zero…

Drones and defense have nothing to do with expense. It is 100% about getting on the approved vendor list, at which point the prices go up. It’s not like PCB boards in the defense industry are somehow special, though they probably should be.

> Drones and defense have nothing to do with expense

I would disagree? Look at Helsing, the german manufacturer of loitering munitions, and its direct competitors who are trying hard to get per-unit costs way down. Without even mentioning the myriad of Ukrainian manufacturers who are building cheap and cheerful things under $10,000 per unit (or even under $2500 per unit). There is a very real push within all NATO militaries now to basically copy many of the capabilities the Ukrainians have built in the last 4-5 years.

Not saying that we won't still have lots of huge dollar items and massive programs like the AGM-158 JASSM, but there's a reason why the US paid a company to basically clone the Shahed-136 as the LUCAS at under $50k per unit.

Re: Launch HN: ProvenMetal (YC S26) delivers circuit boards in days instead of weeks

#52
post #50

When you say PCB at the beginning are you referring to raw PCBs or PCBAs? Presumably your service will be sourcing raw PCBs from China still and just doing PCBA? When my pal’s raw PCB company went out of business, you could buy a finished PCB from China for less than the cost of FR4, which also came from China. How do you intend to address this supply chain risk? Once China raises your cost of raw PCBs your price arg…

We source PCBs from both China and USA. Some of our customers want incredibly fast turn where Chinese shipping times don't cut it.

> How do you intend to address this supply chain risk?

Haven't yet figured it out. Options are opening bare board fabs or partnering with US fabs and panelizing orders.

Re: Launch HN: ProvenMetal (YC S26) delivers circuit boards in days instead of weeks

#53
post #9

Any idea what pricing will be like? The fact that you call out Drone and Defense industries on your page suggests to me this is extremely expensive. I recently priced out getting a PCB done in China and its insanely cheap. My design isnt complicated, a few ICs, a few connectors, an a dozen or so passives. PCB manufacturing, parts, and soldering/assembly is on the order of $10-20 total per board and that is with zero…

It's also the immense know-how Chinese manufacturers have accumulated at this point. For a 5-piece hobby order $25 shipped, I got feedback confirming a wrong-looking part of my design before they printed.

Re: Launch HN: ProvenMetal (YC S26) delivers circuit boards in days instead of weeks

#54
Each of these pretty established suppliers offer this service:

- Sunstone

- Advanced Assembly

- Sierra Circuits

- Osh Park

They all have ~7 day lead time or shorter. It all comes down to choosing simple processes with generic parts.

Do you have your own machines or just outsource these orders and ensure the supply chain stuff moves along quickly?

I like the idea, more heads in the game makes it cheaper for everyone, but this seems like another hat in the ring.

Re: Launch HN: ProvenMetal (YC S26) delivers circuit boards in days instead of weeks

#55
post #4

Nice but the USA are not our global friends anymore. Anything available in the EU?

Disclaimer: CTO & Co-Founder of AISLER here

We're trying to make electronic manufacturing (PCB & PCBA) simple, affordable and speedy. A high grade of automation allows prices starting at 12.20 Euros including VAT and shipping. Our software platform is completely built in-house, including state-of-the-art ODB++ integration. Let me know if you've any questions, happy to answer.

Re: Launch HN: ProvenMetal (YC S26) delivers circuit boards in days instead of weeks

#56
Congratulations!

Your timing could not have been better. Yesterday I was talking to a friend about starting a company to tap into the domestic solar inverter market that is about to have a healthy growth due to FCC banning foreign made inverters with radios.

We are planning to build it around STM32 or ESP32 with US parts sourcing and manufacturing.

We are in the project scoping phase. Hopefully we can get something going soon.

Re: Launch HN: ProvenMetal (YC S26) delivers circuit boards in days instead of weeks

#57

Congratulations! Your timing could not have been better. Yesterday I was talking to a friend about starting a company to tap into the domestic solar inverter market that is about to have a healthy growth due to FCC banning foreign made inverters with radios. We are planning to build it around STM32 or ESP32 with US parts sourcing and manufacturing. We are in the project scoping phase. Hopefully we can get something g…

Interesting stuff, definitely a lot of new demand due to the FCC rules. Curious to see how they hold up though.

Re: Launch HN: ProvenMetal (YC S26) delivers circuit boards in days instead of weeks

#58
post #53
post #9

Any idea what pricing will be like? The fact that you call out Drone and Defense industries on your page suggests to me this is extremely expensive. I recently priced out getting a PCB done in China and its insanely cheap. My design isnt complicated, a few ICs, a few connectors, an a dozen or so passives. PCB manufacturing, parts, and soldering/assembly is on the order of $10-20 total per board and that is with zero…

It's also the immense know-how Chinese manufacturers have accumulated at this point. For a 5-piece hobby order $25 shipped, I got feedback confirming a wrong-looking part of my design before they printed.

Which manufacturer was that?

Re: Launch HN: ProvenMetal (YC S26) delivers circuit boards in days instead of weeks

#59
post #54

Each of these pretty established suppliers offer this service: - Sunstone - Advanced Assembly - Sierra Circuits - Osh Park They all have ~7 day lead time or shorter. It all comes down to choosing simple processes with generic parts. Do you have your own machines or just outsource these orders and ensure the supply chain stuff moves along quickly? I like the idea, more heads in the game makes it cheaper for everyone,…

They all have this service, but they don't often stick to these lead times in my experience. We help hold them accountable and in the long term we are opening a facility to bring the cost down further.

Re: Launch HN: ProvenMetal (YC S26) delivers circuit boards in days instead of weeks

#60

Earlier quoted context omitted.

Drones and defense have nothing to do with expense. It is 100% about getting on the approved vendor list, at which point the prices go up. It’s not like PCB boards in the defense industry are somehow special, though they probably should be.

> Drones and defense have nothing to do with expense I would disagree? Look at Helsing, the german manufacturer of loitering munitions, and its direct competitors who are trying hard to get per-unit costs way down. Without even mentioning the myriad of Ukrainian manufacturers who are building cheap and cheerful things under $10,000 per unit (or even under $2500 per unit). There is a very real push within all NATO mil…

Volume unit costs matter a lot. What matters less is cost during prototyping and development, where speed to iteration becomes way more important.
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