Project Overview
Turnkey PCBA manufacturing for a European manufacturer of AC/DC EV charging equipment, supplying both residential and public charging stations across the region. The build is a control and power-management board for the charger, taken from prototype through pilot production into volume. Kilandu sources the components, fabricates and assembles the board, tests it, and ships it with per-lot traceability.
Customer Requirement
- Multi-layer PCB designed around a dense power-control section
- Mixed SMT and through-hole assembly on a single board
- A defined communication interface between the charger controller and the vehicle and meter side
- Power-management function with deterministic behaviour across the operating range
- Functional test coverage before shipment
- Conformal coating on designated areas
- Traceable production records
Engineering Challenges
The board combined a high component count with several long-lead semiconductors and passive parts, which made component availability the critical path for the whole programme rather than assembly capacity. Production also had to move from a small prototype batch to a repeat build without process drift, and the functional test and coating steps had to be brought in at that point without adding cycle time the ramp could not absorb. Coating imposed a masking requirement as well: connectors and test points had to stay clean while the designated areas were covered.
Manufacturing Solution
Kilandu's engineering team reviewed the Gerber, BOM and assembly files in a DFM stage before any material was committed, so long-lead parts were identified and quoted as a schedule item rather than discovered mid-build. Components were sourced under a build-to-print model with no silent substitution, and long-lead or allocation-risk items were flagged at quotation stage.
Assembly ran on our SMT lines with in-line SPI and AOI, with through-hole parts handled on our DIP lines. Selected builds received X-ray inspection. A customer-approved functional test procedure validated the control and power-management functions before shipment. Conformal coating was applied to the designated areas with connectors and test points masked. Every lot shipped with per-lot traceability records.
Build and Capability Data
| Parameter | Specification |
|---|---|
| Assembly | Mixed SMT + DIP |
| In-process inspection | SPI + AOI + X-ray |
| Electrical test | Functional test to customer-approved procedure |
| Coating | Conformal, designated areas, connectors and test points masked |
| Traceability | Per-lot inspection and process records |
| Quality system | ISO 9001:2015 (CN27125Q0392R0S) |
| Lead time | Prototype 5–8 working days · volume production 2–5 weeks · repeat order 2–3 weeks |
| Layer count, board size, BOM count, production volume | Available under NDA on request |
Result
The prototype was transferred to pilot production and then into series production without a change to the released process. First-article approval was completed and retained as a golden sample before the volume run was released. Coating and functional test were folded into the standard route rather than handled as special operations, and the build was standardised for repeat orders against the same approved BOM, process parameters and test limits.
What This Demonstrates
EV charger PCBA · turnkey PCBA manufacturing · functional testing · conformal coating · traceability.
What was the difficult part of this EV charger build?
Component availability, not assembly capacity. The board combined a high component count with several long-lead parts, so the supply plan was the critical path, and the ramp from prototype batch to repeat build had to happen without process drift while functional test and coating were brought into the route.
How was the coating handled?
Conformal coating was applied to the designated areas with connectors and test points masked, and it was folded into the standard production route rather than run as a special operation, so repeat orders do not need a separate coating conversation.
What testing did the board receive?
A customer-approved functional test procedure validated the control and power-management functions before shipment, on top of in-line SPI and AOI, X-ray on selected builds, and per-lot traceability records.