Economics And Scale Limits Of Small Us Contract Manufacturing
Sources: 1 • Confidence: Medium • Updated: 2026-04-11 20:30
Key takeaways
- David Ray reports that most Cyber City Circuits jobs are 100–250 units, they typically handle up to 1,000 units, and they have done runs as large as about 2,500 units.
- Cyber City Circuits typically requests 10% extra components for assembly and 20% extra for 0402 passives due to handling losses.
- David Ray states CyberCityCircuits offers PCB design for small businesses and individuals with all-inclusive pricing (no separate design invoice), free shipping, and an initial prototype turnaround target of roughly 8–12 weeks.
- David Ray states he can be found as MakeAugusta on X, on LinkedIn, via CyberCityCircuits.com, and he publishes a YouTube Shorts channel explaining electronics.
- Cyber City Circuits bought a used AOI machine off eBay for $0.99 plus a few hundred dollars freight, it did not work, and they ultimately resold it.
Sections
Economics And Scale Limits Of Small Us Contract Manufacturing
- David Ray reports that most Cyber City Circuits jobs are 100–250 units, they typically handle up to 1,000 units, and they have done runs as large as about 2,500 units.
- At the end of 2019, David Ray cashed in retirement accounts to fund pick-and-place machines and factory equipment for Cyber City Circuits.
- Cyber City Circuits set up factory equipment in February 2020, shortly before COVID-19, and planned education-related work disappeared overnight.
- At its peak, Cyber City Circuits had a 6,000 square foot facility in downtown Augusta and seven employees, and David Ray says people management became a major challenge.
- In 2019, a Charm High pick-and-place machine cost Cyber City Circuits about $6,000 USD including tariff impacts.
- David Ray says that during a 500-board run, placement errors requiring operator intervention can occur roughly once per 10 boards or every few hundred placements.
Smt Yield Drivers Are Upstream Process Controls Not Magic Reflow Profiles
- Cyber City Circuits typically requests 10% extra components for assembly and 20% extra for 0402 passives due to handling losses.
- David Ray states that good solder paste stencil application is foundational for reliable reflow and cannot be compensated for by thermal profile tuning.
- David Ray states reflow thermal profiles generally stay stable except when using 2-ounce copper boards or heat-sensitive parts that can melt.
- David Ray claims GC10 solder paste stays usable on a stencil for roughly 48 to 72 hours, while cheaper pastes dry out and can yield joints that appear not to reflow.
- David Ray reports GC10 solder paste was originally made by Henkel under the Loctite brand and in 2022 was sold to Haramatech, after which it became harder to find and rose from about $125 to about $200 per tube.
- David Ray states Charm High pick-and-place machines can perform better when acceleration vectors are tuned because default acceleration can cause inertial placement issues.
Service Differentiation Via Dfm And Consultative Design For Low To Mid Volume Customers
- David Ray reports that most Cyber City Circuits jobs are 100–250 units, they typically handle up to 1,000 units, and they have done runs as large as about 2,500 units.
- David Ray states CyberCityCircuits offers PCB design for small businesses and individuals with all-inclusive pricing (no separate design invoice), free shipping, and an initial prototype turnaround target of roughly 8–12 weeks.
- Cyber City Circuits solders through-hole parts by hand rather than using wave or selective soldering equipment due to upkeep burden.
- Cyber City Circuits offers a free one-hour Design for Manufacturing consultation and uses DFM review to prevent double-sided reflow issues such as parts falling off.
- David Ray states CyberCityCircuits works with small businesses, individuals, and startups who may not know what they need and can require consultative guidance before buying.
Marketing And Distribution As Operational Dependencies
- David Ray states he can be found as MakeAugusta on X, on LinkedIn, via CyberCityCircuits.com, and he publishes a YouTube Shorts channel explaining electronics.
- David Ray states his YouTube Shorts have not produced revenue yet and their impact is difficult to measure.
- David Ray has published roughly 24 technology history articles for DigiKey's online magazine over about two years.
- For roughly the first two to three years, David Ray reports about 95% of Cyber City Circuits revenue came from relationships built on Twitter/X.
- Cyber City Circuits ran a soldering kit-of-the-month subscription for about 18 months, and David Ray says it was exhausting and not a reliable way to pay bills due to kitting labor and replacement-part mistakes destroying profit.
Capex Procurement Risk And The Hidden Cost Of Used Equipment
- Cyber City Circuits bought a used AOI machine off eBay for $0.99 plus a few hundred dollars freight, it did not work, and they ultimately resold it.
- David Ray warns that buying used industrial pick-and-place machines in the U.S. often means inheriting heavily worn equipment and other people's problems unless the seller is going out of business.
- David Ray advises not buying used pick-and-place machines and recommends buying the best new machine you can afford even if you must start smaller.
Watchlist
- David Ray expects to publish a comprehensive John Fluke biography around August and plans interviews in March with the former CEO of International Rectifier whose father founded the company.
Unknowns
- What is Cyber City Circuits' current utilization (machine hours, staffing level) versus the cited peak scale, and how has it changed since the early years?
- What share of revenue currently comes from each acquisition channel (X, LinkedIn, website, DigiKey writing, YouTube), and has the earlier platform concentration decreased?
- What are the actual achieved lead times (distribution, variance, on-time delivery) relative to the stated 8–12 week prototype target?
- What are the shop's measured defect rates (first-pass yield, rework rate) and how do they change with framed stencils, paste choice, and machine tuning?
- How frequently do component shortages/obsolescence events drive redesign work for their customers, and what is the typical time/cost impact?