Only 80 units a year. Does a dedicated PCBA test fixture make sense?
Low annual volume does not automatically mean “no fixture.” The decision should be based on total test effort and manufacturing risk.
Start with the failure you are trying to prevent
If a failure in the field is expensive, safety-critical or difficult to diagnose, repeatable production testing can be worth more than the annual quantity suggests.
Calculate manual test effort
Compare fixture cost with repeated operator time, setup variation, probing mistakes and the engineering time needed to interpret ambiguous results.
Look at repeatability
A fixture is valuable when it turns a judgment-heavy test into a repeatable production step. For very simple products, a controlled manual test may still be the better answer.
Do not ask only “How many units per year?” Ask “What does one reliable test cost without a fixture, and what is the consequence of an escaped defect?”
Have Gerber, BOM and assembly files ready?
Send your released files and manufacturing requirements. Qtech can review manufacturability, sourcing and test execution before quotation.