IoT hardware
Turnkey IoT gateway: sourcing + fab + assembly under one program
4-layer rigid · full turnkey PCBA
A startup needed finished gateway boards for a pilot customer without standing up a full purchasing team for a 120-line BOM.
Challenge
- BOM mixed catalog passives with two allocation-risk wireless modules and an undocumented alternate list.
- OSP-finished boards and kit timing had to converge; a late kit would age the finish before SMT.
- The team wanted one owner for shortage calls, alternate approvals, and first-article polarity checks.
Approach
- Turnkey RFQ started with a costed BOM scrub: lifecycle flags, package checks, and proposed alternates for constrained lines.
- Fabrication and procurement ran in parallel after stackup and BOM approval; OSP age and kit readiness were tracked on one schedule.
- First-article AOI plus a customer-supplied smoke-test procedure closed the pilot gate before the remaining quantity released.
Outcome
- Pilot boards shipped as finished goods with a single revision index across fab, materials, and assembly.
- Shortage and alternate decisions stayed on one thread instead of three vendors.
- The same turnkey traveler became the template for the next small-batch release.