US Circuit Board Maker CircuitHub Claims Its Robotic System Delivers Faster Than Chinese Competitors

CircuitHub, a printed circuit board (PCB) manufacturer based in Massachusetts, USA, claims that its robotic manufacturing system called 'The Grid' can complete certain orders faster than its Chinese competitors. The company states that demand is already well ahead of what it can build and plans to quintuple its capacity this year.

'The Grid' is described as 'one large robot,' replacing conventional fixed production lines with coordinated machinery and mobile platforms transporting boards between manufacturing stations. Each board follows its own route, allowing different products to undergo manufacturing simultaneously without conventional production-line changeovers. The system handles 100 different designs using shared manufacturing equipment.

CircuitHub compared its factory with a typical quick-turn manufacturer in Shenzhen, China, using an example involving five assembled motor-controller boards. Producing these boards through 'The Grid' costs $630, with delivery to a United States address taking four days. The equivalent Shenzhen order costs approximately $465 after shipping expenses and United States import tariffs, with median delivery taking nine days. The American factory therefore charges approximately $165 more, although customers receive their completed circuit boards five days earlier.

CircuitHub argues that the shorter delivery period gives engineering teams additional time to continue development rather than waiting for foreign manufacturing. However, this comparison comes from CircuitHub and concerns one particular order, rather than independently established performance across different manufacturers.