The electronics industry is facing another supply-chain challenge. This time it isn’t just semiconductors.
During 2026, increasing pressure has been reported across the PCB material supply chain, with shortages affecting the raw materials used to manufacture printed circuit boards. Shortages that initially affected specialist high-performance laminates are now beginning to affect more conventional FR-4 materials, with increasing lead times, higher prices and allocation of some supplies.
Why is this happening?
Rapid expansion of AI and data-centre infrastructure is creating enormous demand for sophisticated multilayer PCBs. These boards consume significant quantities of specialist glass fabrics, copper foil and resin systems — the same underlying manufacturing resources used to produce more conventional PCB laminates.
At the same time, demand from electric vehicles, renewable energy, networking and other electronics markets continues to compete for capacity.
As laminate manufacturers respond by prioritising production of higher-performance materials, capacity available for conventional FR-4 can become constrained. The result is increasing pressure on availability, lead times and price for PCB manufacturers and ultimately their customers.
Could the PCB specification itself be part of the problem?
We cannot solve a worldwide material shortage — but there may be things we can do about its effect on an individual product and make it easier to live with the situation as it exists today.
PCB specifications often evolve over many years. Requirements appropriate when a product was originally designed may remain on the drawing long after the reason for them has disappeared.
When materials are readily available this may simply add a little cost. When supplies become constrained, however, an unnecessarily restrictive specification can also make a PCB considerably more difficult to source.
It may therefore be worth reviewing such things as:
- PCB material and laminate specifications
- Multilayer stack-up
- Copper weights
- Surface finishes
- Manufacturing tolerances
- Alternative technically equivalent materials
- PCB dimensions and panel utilisation
Even relatively small changes can sometimes improve manufacturing efficiency or give PCB manufacturers greater flexibility in sourcing materials.
Of course, cheaper isn’t better if it changes the way the product performs. Any proposed change needs to consider electrical and thermal performance, EMC, mechanical requirements, reliability, safety and any relevant approvals.
Let us review your PCBA
If you have an existing product that is becoming increasingly expensive to manufacture — or you’re concerned about future PCB availability — it may be worth taking another look at the design rather than simply accepting increasing prices.
Send us your PCB/PCBA information and let our engineers review it. There may be opportunities to improve panel utilisation, allow alternative materials or simplify specifications — potentially reducing cost and improving supply resilience without compromising the original product performance.
Sometimes the best way of dealing with a supply problem isn’t simply finding another supplier.
It is making the product easier for suppliers like Arrow Technical to manufacture.
