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How Motherboards Are Made
Techno-consumerist writes "Ever wonder how motherboards are made? How all those little electronic bits and pieces are put in place, and how each board is tested? PCstats takes a look behind the scenes of the Nan-Ping Gigabyte factory in Taiwan, and documents the amazingly complicated process from start to finish. Very cool, but surprising about how much labour goes into each board."
With the amount of work going into making of each motherboard and cosidering the amount of automation in the process how much does it exactly cost to make a single m/b? What is the profit margin when it arrives at my local computer store counter?
If you ever been to Taiwan you'd know most girls there look absolutely great (it's not only me noticing this). I don't know how did they achieve it.
I was really facinated by the article and I'm curious as to what kind of education is required for designing these manufacturing plants?
Not that I'm an overoptimistic daydreamer but just curious..
Not to sound like an ingrate, because this is really cool, but I'd love to see a video tour of this. Growing up in the 80's I have fond memories of randomly catching Mr. Roger's Neighborhood and watching him tour some factory. I'd like to see that in the factories today.
The amount of labour that goes into a board depends entirely on the relative cost of labour and machinery.
For a long time, we have been able to build completely automated board facilities. Since the seventies, we have been able to build and test boards completely untouched by human hands. Automation is really expensive so even in North America such facilities are rare.
I find it interesting how much time they put into testing each motherboard. It looks like they spend more time testing it than assembling it.
I had to start checking when buying parts or finished computers where the MB was manufactured. The China boards had a big failure rate before the equipment was rotated out but the Taiwan boards had a nearly 100% chance of being working and in shape to sell or donate at the end of the cycle. Things may have changed since I was involved at that level but you couldn't give me a mother board (or power supply) made in China
Too lazy to create a sig...
Very interesting process... Anyone know of any facilities that host public tours? In the US? In Europe? Etc.?
what is so special about the whole setup? Motherboards have been around for more than 20 years.
True, but what's up with the blue boards? They've been green for 20+ years, and yet in the past couple of years they've all been coming out blue. Are they using different materials of some sort, or is it just stylistic?
Javascript + Nintendo DSi = DSiCade
In general, board color doesn't make any difference- the color comes from the solder mask- you can use any color you want. Where I work the color of the solder mask tells you what revision the board is- red boards are the first iteration, usually pretty buggy, lots of reworks. It freaked me out at first when I saw all the red motherboards at Fry's- my first reaction was ACK!-- stay away!
1. Local regulations concerning emissions and chemical handling
2. State/ Federal regulations
3. Local colleges/ school providing trained labor
4. Managers who know how to manage and make good decisions.
This article could have been written in the late 70's early 80's about any of the hi tech businesses that used to dot the Silicon Valley or Route 128 belt
The once vibrant pc board business in New England is as dead as the textile business. Once again the US is facing the results of not investing in the manufacturing base of basic industries. AS the manufacturing base declines so does the support industries and eventually the design jobs.
Engineering as a profession is not as attractive as it was 30 years ago. A recent Wall Street Journal article ( no link) told how today's senior hi-tech executives can't get their own children interested in enrolling in engineering school. So what is the point of this rant? If you are in the engineering profession today your chances of employment are average to good; there is no one coming up behind you but you better stay up to date . For those thinking of entering the profession; You had better love it and get a minimum of a masters degree in your chosen field of study and whatever you do avoid manufacturing and industrial engineering. There are no factories left. They are all gone.
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The most complex? Not even close. The disc drive is way more complex. The hard drive has a mini motherboard of its own, complete with processor, flash memory, dram (or ROM), high speed data channel, motor controller, etc. Oh, and did I mention the there are spinning discs in there with read/write heads moving a few nanometers above the surface?
What the fuck are you blathering about?
Mobos lose money because margins are pathetic (and they're pathetic because of too much competition). And price competition is fierce not only in mobos but in virtually all components and parts that go into one (resistors, PCBs, capacitors, on-board chips, etc.). Even chipsets don't make money (at least in case of VIA - just look at their less-than-stellar results).
Because of all that, mobo manufacturers are extremely cost conscious.
For same reasons, there are almost no mobo factories left in Taiwan - they've all moved to China or (a few) to SE Asia. There's no way a company can afford to make mobos (at profit) in Taiwan. (I bet the factory in that article won't survive beyond 2005. In fact I was very much surprised to hear that there actually is a mobo factory in Taiwan that is still in use.)