Last year, I foolishly embarked on a mission to collect data on the top 200 PCB manufacturers. The effort took months, and the resulting list contained many errors. This year I've learned. In order to minimize errors, I abandoned the task of collecting data from companies with revenues under $50 million. Much more data are available from larger makers than from smaller ones, most of which are privately owned. Privately owned manufacturers typically do not publish or reveal their performance. There were 110 PCB makers that qualified using this criterion. Even so, every year data collection becomes harder, the result of continuous consolidation; rapid globalization; even the flex circuit makers' shifting of back-end operations to low-cost countries (Thailand, the Philippines, Vietnam and China). (Indeed, many flex board makers perform simple assembly operations, and their data do not distinguish between assembled and bare boards.) Furthermore, while many companies disclose data for this list, some, such as 3M, are silent.
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