Manufacturing and Ordering

The Manufacturing tab takes a finished board from checks to a PCBWay review, and produces the documents a fabricator or assembler needs. Open it from the Add tab menu (the + at the end of the editor tabs), under the tools group, next to BOM.

You need to be signed in: quotes, sending files, recording accepted warnings, the vendor list and your order history all go through your Embedr account. Without a session the tab shows "Sign in before using manufacturing quotes or checkout."

Choose the order type

The switch at the top of the tab has two options:

Option	What PCBWay does	Steps
PCB only (default)	Makes bare boards. You solder the parts yourself.	Board, Configure, Delivery, Review
PCB + assembly	Buys the parts in your BOM and solders them. Its engineers review the order first and may email you about substitutions.	Board, Configure, Sourcing, Send

The header shows "Fabricated by PCBWay" or "Assembled by …" for the vendor in use. The info toggle next to the switch shows more detail about each option; for assembly it notes that review takes 1–2 days and that the order needs a synced BOM with stock evidence and an orientation check.

The step bar works like a checklist. A step can only be opened once everything before it is satisfied, and finished steps show a check mark. The button in the footer always performs the next action, and the status text beside it says what is blocking you.

Step 1: Board

The Board step summarizes the board and runs the manufacturing checks.

PCB details lists Size, Layers, Thickness, Components, Tracks, Unrouted, Material and Finish, read from the KiCad board.

Click Check board to run the checks (the button reads Checking… while they run, and Check again once a current result exists). Each check gets a row in Manufacturing checks · PCBWay:

Check	What it covers
Process selection	The board matches a manufacturing process the fabricator offers.
Layer consistency	The layer count in your source matches the KiCad board.
Zen ERC	Electrical rules on the schematic source.
KiCad DRC	KiCad's design rule check on the board.
Provider DFM	The fabricator's manufacturability rules (minimum features, holes, clearances).

Each row reads status · N errors · N warnings, plus "N unconfirmed" or "N not evaluated" when the DFM check could not measure something. Up to eight findings are listed per check as KIND: message.

DFM findings that have a position on the board offer Show on board. It switches to the Board tab and centres the finding there; the Board tab's checks panel lists the same DFM findings beside DRC under its DFM filter.

When the checks pass, the footer button becomes Continue.

What blocks ordering

The footer status tells you what is wrong. Common messages:

Status	Meaning	What to do
Check board to continue	No current check result.	Click Check board.
Board changed	The board was edited after the last check. Changing layers, copper weight, vendor or order type also marks results stale.	Click Check again.
N DRC warnings to fix or accept	KiCad DRC warnings remain.	Fix them, or accept them one by one (below).
KiCad DRC: N errors (or another check's name)	A check has errors.	Fix the errors; they can never be accepted.
… couldn't confirm N measurements / couldn't evaluate N rules	The DFM check could not decide some rules.	Fix the geometry it points to, then check again.
… couldn't run	A check failed to run.	Check again; see Troubleshooting.
Board unavailable	No KiCad board was found for the project.	Create or sync the board first (Board and KiCad).

If the source and the KiCad board disagree on layer count, an error banner appears above the steps.

Accepting DRC warnings

Only KiCad DRC warnings can be accepted. Everything else always blocks:

• DRC errors,
• any ERC warning or error,
• any DFM warning or error, including measurements it couldn't confirm and rules it couldn't evaluate,
• Process selection and Layer consistency failures.

Acceptable warnings come from KiCad's rule violations, unconnected items, and schematic/board parity reports. Items you already excluded in KiCad are not counted.

When warnings remain, the Board step shows DRC warnings · X/Y accepted with the note "Errors always block ordering. A DRC warning can be fixed, or accepted when you have checked it is harmless for this board."

1. Read each warning and its location (x, y mm). Use the Board tab to look at the spot.
2. Tick the warnings you have confirmed are harmless.
3. Click Accept N warnings.
4. To take one back, click Undo on it.

Acceptance is recorded per warning against your account, not as a blanket setting. After you edit the board, Embedr matches each accepted warning to the new results by its KiCad objects or, failing that, its position; new warnings need their own decision. Checkboxes are disabled while results are stale, so check the board again first. Results from before warning acceptance existed show "These results predate warning acceptance. Check the board again to review them one by one."

Step 2: Configure

Board size and layer count come from the board and cannot be edited here (size shows W × H mm, or "Custom size" when it can't be measured).

Field	Options	Default
Quantity	5, 10, 20, 30, 50, 75, 100	5
Thickness	0.6, 0.8, 1, 1.2, 1.6, 2, 2.4 mm	1.6 mm, or the board's own thickness
Solder mask	Green, Black, Blue, Red, White	Green
Surface finish	Lead-free HASL, Leaded HASL, ENIG	Lead-free HASL

The advanced section adds Laminate Tg (TG130, TG150, TG170), Outer copper (1, 2 or 3 oz), Inner copper (boards with more than two layers), Silkscreen colour (White, Black, Yellow, None), Vias (Tenting vias, Plugged vias, Vias not covered), Edge rails, and Product number (Keep, Remove, Choose location). Board type, minimum feature, minimum hole, gold fingers and silkscreen sides are shown for reference.

For PCB only, the Order summary on the right shows Total · USD, the fabrication price, the price per board before shipping, and shipping ("At checkout" until delivery is known). The footer button reads Calculating… while the quote updates. Prices are PCBWay's estimate; PCBWay confirms the final price after its file review.

Step 3 (PCB only): Delivery

Enter Name, Email, Phone, Country, State / region, City, Postal code (shown as ZIP code for the US and PIN code for India) and Address. The fields start from your account details. Continue validates them and refreshes the quote with shipping. If the footer says Refresh delivery estimate, click Continue again after changing the address.

Step 4 (PCB only): Review

The last step lists the estimated total and the note "PCBWay will review your files and confirm the final order, delivery and payment on its site."

Click Review files on PCBWay. Embedr then:

1. re-verifies the checks against the files on disk,
2. builds Gerber and drill files from the board,
3. sends them, with the board size and layer count, to PCBWay,
4. opens PCBWay's review page in your browser (a new tab on the web).

You finish the order on PCBWay: its engineers review the files, and you confirm options, delivery and payment there. The order appears under Orders in the tab with the status Finish on PCBWay. Later statuses include PCBWay is reviewing and Question from PCBWay ("Reply to their email to keep it moving").

PCB + assembly: Sourcing and Send

Assembly needs a bill of materials with sourcing. If the footer says Sync the BOM to continue, click Open BOM and sync it (see BOM workspace).

The Sourcing step shows each BOM line with References, Part, Manufacturer part number, Class, Stock, Needed and a Status of Ready, Check or Blocked. The quote panel shows an Estimate before parts: board fabrication and assembly labour, with components priced "After PCBWay review".

Orientation review

Parts whose pin 1 or polarity matters are listed under Orientation review with Ref, Kind, Package, Side and Rotation. The panel asks you to "Check pin 1 and polarity on these parts in the Board tab." Wrong orientation is the most common assembly fault.

1. Open the Board tab and look at each listed part's pin 1 marking and rotation.
2. Fix anything wrong on the board, then check the board again.
3. Click I've checked these orientations.

The confirmation is saved with the BOM in pcb/bom.json, so it survives restarts.

Send

Click Send files to PCBWay. Embedr sends the verified Gerbers, drills, BOM and placement file. PCBWay engineers review them, usually within 1–2 days, and email the address on your PCBWay account about substitutions or orientation. You confirm parts, the final price and payment on PCBWay. After sending, the status reads "Files sent for PCBWay review" and Open PCBWay review reopens the page.

Deliverables

The Deliverables card on the Board step renders the finished board automatically ("Rendering the finished board…"); the render is also saved as <board>-render.png. The card offers one-click documents:

Button	File
Fabrication drawing	<board>-fabrication-drawing.pdf
Board summary	<board>-summary.html
BOM (JLCPCB CSV)	<board>-bom-jlcpcb.csv
Pick and place (CPL)	<board>-cpl.csv
Gerbers from IPC-2581	<board>-ipc2581-gerbers.zip

On desktop, files are written to .embedr-board/deliverables/ beside the board file. PDFs open in the editor and other files are revealed in Finder or Explorer; the note reads "… saved to ". An unchanged board reuses the files already made. In the browser, the file downloads instead.

pcb/layout/
  main.kicad_pcb
  .embedr-board/
    deliverables/
      main-render.png
      main-fabrication-drawing.pdf
      main-cpl.csv
      main-ipc2581-gerbers.zip
    manufacturing-readiness.json

If the render fails, click Retry. If Embedr reports that the PCB runtime is too old, update the app.

BOM workspace

Open BOM from the Add tab menu, or Open BOM in the Sourcing step.

• Empty state: "No bill of materials yet" with Generate BOM, which creates pcb/bom.csv from the schematic source.
• Header: component and line-item counts, Copy CSV, and Show file (desktop).
• Toolbar: total price, Build quantity, currency, a search box ("Search parts, references, packages, or MPNs") and Show DNP.
• Columns: References, Part, Qty, Package, Sourcing (manufacturer and MPN, or "No MPN"), Unit price, Stock (In stock, Limited, Below qty, Out of stock, Unknown; "(stale)" when old), Status.
• Groups: Needs details, Stale sourcing, Stock issues, Do not populate.
• Row: press Enter or click to expand and edit Supplier, Supplier part number, Source URL, Datasheet URL, Lifecycle, Mount, assembly class and stock, Unit price, MOQ, Lead time and a sourcing note, then Save. Row icons open the datasheet or supplier page.
• Footer: the BOM path and Sync.

What the agent can and cannot do

The agent can run the manufacturing checks, read their results, fix DRC and DFM problems on the board, sync the BOM, export deliverables, and prepare files for PCBWay review. Ask, for example:

Run the manufacturing checks for the main board and fix any DFM errors.
Export the fabrication drawing and pick-and-place file.

Some decisions stay with you. The agent never:

• accepts DRC warnings,
• confirms the orientation review,
• places an order,
• pays.

When the agent prepares files for PCBWay, it only uploads them for review. Orders and payment always happen through your own clicks and on PCBWay's site.

Progress and switching tabs

Switching to another tab keeps the Manufacturing tab as it was: your step, options, quote and delivery details stay. When you come back it re-reads the board and only resets results if the board changed.

After closing the project or restarting:

• check results and accepted warnings are restored from .embedr-board/manufacturing-readiness.json,
• the orientation confirmation is restored from pcb/bom.json,
• the order list is loaded from your account,
• quote options, delivery details and the selected step start fresh at Board; you can move forward again as long as the checks still pass.

If an earlier upload finished after you changed options, a banner offers Open previous checkout.

Related: Board and KiCad, Placement and routing, Component library.