Short answer: Compare PCB assembly on total landed cost, not on the assembly quote. For industrial electronics in volumes up to a few thousand units per year, a European EMS is usually equal or cheaper once you add freight and duty (typically 8–15 % of value), air-freight expedites, quality assurance visits, incoming inspection, rework and returns, buffer inventory tied up for 8–12 weeks of sea freight, and your own engineering time across time zones. Asia wins on very high volumes of stable consumer products; Europe wins on low and mid volumes, frequent revisions, regulated products and anything where a week of delay costs more than the assembly labour.
The seven hidden costs of distance
| Cost | Typical size | Why it is easy to miss |
|---|---|---|
| Freight, duty, insurance | 8–15 % of board value (sea); 20–30 % (air) | Quoted separately or not at all |
| Expedites | Air freight on every schedule slip | Appears on later invoices |
| Quality assurance | Audit visits, third-party inspection, translated specs | Sits in a travel budget |
| Incoming inspection and rework | 1–3 % of value plus engineering time | Charged to your own factory |
| Inventory | 8–12 weeks of stock in transit and buffer | Cash tied up, obsolescence risk |
| Engineering communication | Overnight question cycles, misread specifications | Slower iterations, more revisions |
| Compliance and IP | RoHS/REACH evidence, documentation, IP exposure | Rarely priced |
Where Asia still wins
Stable, high-volume products with mature designs, consumer price points and no revision churn: tens of thousands of units a year, where the labour line dominates and the supply chain is set up once. If that is your product, use it. If your product is industrial, regulated or evolving, it is probably not.
A worked example
An industrial controller at 500 pieces per year: the Asian assembly quote is around 35–40 % below the Finnish one on the assembly and test line. Because assembly and test are only 10–20 % of the unit cost, that saving is 4–8 % of the board price. Freight and duty alone consume it; expedites, inventory and one engineering trip turn it negative. The illustrative index in the cover image summarises the pattern we see.
Key facts
- Assembly labour is typically only 10–20 % of an industrial board's unit cost; components dominate.
- Sea freight from Asia adds 8–12 weeks of inventory; air freight adds 20–30 % of value.
- Reshoring is driven by lead time, revision speed and compliance as much as by cost.
- Comtec Labs builds in Vaasa, Finland: prototypes and series on the same lines, no import duty inside the EU.
How to compare properly
Request quotes with identical files and quantities, then add freight and duty to your delivery point, an expedite per quarter, one audit trip per year, incoming inspection time, 10 weeks of inventory carrying cost and the engineering hours your team will spend. Comtec Labs provides a landed-cost worksheet on request.
Frequently asked questions
Is PCB assembly in Finland more expensive than in China?
On the assembly labour line, yes. On total landed cost for industrial products in low and mid volumes, usually not, once freight, duty, expedites, inspection, inventory and engineering time are included.
What volume makes Asia cheaper overall?
Typically tens of thousands of units a year of a stable design. Below that the fixed costs of distance dominate.
Are there import duties on PCBs from Asia into the EU?
Assembled boards commonly attract duty plus VAT at import and require RoHS/REACH evidence; inside the EU there is no duty.
Can Comtec Labs take over a product currently built in Asia?
Yes. Reshoring starts with a DFM review of the existing files, a prototype run for qualification and a phased transfer against your inventory position.
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