East West in Costa Rica offers turnkey solutions in advanced electronics manufacturing, including printed circuit board assembly and top level assembly through our ISO 9001 and ISO 13485 facility in San Jose. With the country's many free trade agreements, including with the United States, China, and Mexico, EW-Costa Rica is uniquely positioned as a solution to de-risk your supply chain and save you from unwanted tariffs.
All products are backed by the reliability and high quality results our customers demand. Automated Optical Inspection (AOI) technology scrutinizes solder, polarity and part number placement, so you can have peace of mind that each piece meets our quality standards and workmanship guarantee.
Our Costa Rica operations specialize in highly complex, sophisticated PCBAs with a stable design and mixed technology requirements. We have the capabilities for:
- Surface mount technology (SMT)
- Through-hole
- Hand soldering (Lead and lead free)
- Selective soldering (Lead and lead free)
- Wave soldering (Lead and lead free)
- Routing
- Hand assembly
- Conformal coating
- Final box build assembly
This location is best equipped for medium volume projects requiring quantities from 1,000-100,000. Additionally, we can test in-house, including x-ray (BGAs), functional testing and in-circuit testing (ICT).
Our Costa Rica facility serves a broad scope of industries such as:
- Medical
- LED lighting
- Automatic metering
- Safety systems
- Industrial controls and more.
Watch the video below for a look inside our factory in Costa Rica:
What are the benefits of manufacturing in Costa Rica?
Nearshore manufacturing is a trend that is continuing to rise as China’s trade sector becomes more complex. For those exploring options closer to the U.S., Costa Rica provides many benefits, especially in the EMS industry. In fact, electronics were the country’s no. 1 manufacturing export last year. Some of the perks include:
Ease of communication
Costa Rica operates in Central Standard Time which allows companies in the U.S. the ability to schedule calls and receive feedback quickly. Additionally, English is their second language and the country’s government is investing significant funds to increase the number of English-speaking citizens by providing elevated levels of education and certifications.
Expedited, low-cost logistics
At the end of the day, it’s all about how much is my product going to cost, how good will the quality be and how fast can you get it here? The average shipping lead time from Costa Rica to the United States is only 10-12 days, and they have ports easily accessing both the Atlantic and Pacific oceans. This savings is on top of having 14 free trade agreements in place, including the United States and China, providing access to 57 global trade partners.
A skilled, young workforce
There is no shortage of talent in Costa Rica, with a labor pool of 2.3 million and the number of university engineering graduates rising steadily at a rate of 7.1% per year since 2010. The workforce, 35% of whom are 15-34 years old, requires low wages which puts them in direct contention with both China and Mexico. The literacy rate in Costa Rica is 98%, putting them on par with the United States.
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