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PCBWay PCB fabrication and assembly — turnkey/consigned assembly, design rules, ordering workflow. Alternative to JLCPCB for manufacturing. Use with KiCad.
Passed 22 of 23 test cases with the skill, and 11 of 23 without it.
and 13 more in the full report
11 fixed11 passed either way1 still failing0 broke
Tokens, turns and time describe resource use, not a dollar price.
One of 11 test cases the skill fixed. Same model, same prompt, with and without the skill.
During layout review for a PCBWay production run, a junior engineer poured ground copper planes up to 0.1mm from the board outline. What is the minimum required copper-to-edge clearance for PCBWay fabrication?
| Checked | Without skill | With skill |
|---|---|---|
| States that copper clearance from the board edge must be at least 0.3mm. | Missed | Passed |
The instructions your model reads when the skill loads.
PCBWay is a PCB fabrication and assembly service based in Shenzhen, China. It is an alternative to JLCPCB with similar capabilities and pricing.
Typical usage: Order bare prototype PCBs + framed stencil from PCBWay during prototyping (parts sourced separately from DigiKey/Mouser, hand-assembled in lab). For production runs (100s qty), order fully assembled boards from PCBWay using turnkey component sourcing (PCBWay sources parts by MPN). JLCPCB is the primary alternative. For BOM management, gerber/CPL export, and stencil ordering, see the bom skill.
| Skill | Purpose |
|---|---|
kicad | Read/analyze KiCad project files, DFM scoring |
bom | BOM management, gerber/CPL export, stencil ordering |
digikey | Search DigiKey (prototype sourcing, primary — also preferred for datasheet downloads via API) |
mouser | Search Mouser (prototype sourcing, secondary) |
lcsc | Search LCSC (production sourcing, JLCPCB parts) |
jlcpcb | JLCPCB PCB fabrication & assembly (primary alternative) |
emc | EMC pre-compliance risk analysis — run before fab to catch EMC issues |
spice | SPICE simulation — verify analog subcircuits before committing to fab |
| Feature | PCBWay | JLCPCB |
|---|---|---|
| Component sourcing | Turnkey (PCBWay sources by MPN) | LCSC parts library (you provide LCSC PNs) |
| Parts library | No fixed library — sources globally | LCSC library (basic/extended parts) |
| Assembly fee model | Quote-based per project | Per-part fees (basic free, extended $3 each) |
| Pricing turnaround | Manual quote, 1–2 business days | Instant online pricing |
| BOM format | MPN-based (manufacturer part numbers) | LCSC PN-based |
Plan around manual quoting. PCBWay assembly requires a human-reviewed quote before you can place the order — typically 1-2 business days after uploading files. JLCPCB shows assembly pricing instantly at checkout. If you're prototyping and need to iterate quickly, the JLCPCB feedback loop is much tighter. PCBWay's value is in sourcing parts JLCPCB can't, not in turnaround speed.
When to use PCBWay over JLCPCB:
test cases passed, vs 11 / 23 without
More skills from the same source and nearby in the registry, with their headline benchmark lift.