Press and announcements

A Look at Boardera's Costing & Quoting Software

The interview was recorded and published by PCEA.

ANAHEIM, CA: Boardera Software Inc., a Canadian electronics manufacturing technology company, announced the launch of PCB FAB Notes Extraction Automation Beta, a breakthrough capability that automatically reads design notes embedded in uploaded Gerber, ODB++, and PDF files. This process interprets fabrication and assembly requirements, and pre-selects the correct board options, giving manufacturers a complete, transparent picture of what was detected, why, and where there are conflicts.

The result: dramatically faster quoting cycles, fewer manual review and configuration steps, and a significant reduction in errors caused by missed or misread fabrication notes.

“We built this to help eliminate the friction between a design package and a confident, accurate quote,” said Curtis Hunter, CEO, Boardera Software Inc.

The Challenge: Critical Notes Buried in Design Files

PCB manufacturers have long faced a hidden bottleneck in the quoting process: fabrication notes, sometimes conflicting, embedded in PCB design files. These notes (specifying controlled impedance, surface finishes, stack-up requirements, UL markings, and assembly instructions) are critical to accurate pricing and product manufacturing, yet extracting and acting on them has traditionally required manual inspection, expert interpretation, conflict resolution, and customer communication cycles.

Missed or misinterpreted notes are one of the most common causes of quoting errors, re-work, and customer dissatisfaction in the PCB manufacturing industry.

The Solution: Automatic Extraction, Interpretation, and Transparency

PCB FAB Notes Extraction Automation addresses this challenge end-to-end through four core capabilities:

• Automatic extraction. Parses design notes directly from uploaded Gerber, ODB++, and PDF files the moment they are received, with no manual review required.
• Intelligent interpretation. Translates raw note text into fabrication and assembly meaning, understanding what each note requires in terms of materials, finishes, tolerances, and processes.
• Smart pre-selection. Automatically maps interpreted requirements to the correct board configuration options in the quoting system, reducing time and errors when creating a digital twin. If there is a conflict, it is presented for review.
• Provenance reporting. Presents every detected note alongside the system's interpretation and the option that it selected.

Key Benefits for Manufacturers

• Quote faster with fewer manual steps: eliminate the tedious work of reading and interpreting notes file by file, freeing estimators to focus on value-added review
• Ensure nothing is missed: every note is captured and surfaced, reducing the risk of overlooked or conflicting requirements that lead to costly re-work or customer escalations
• Build confidence in every quote: the system shows exactly what was detected and why each option was selected, so manufacturers can stand behind their quotes
• Accelerate onboarding: new estimators ramp up faster when the system handles note extraction and interpretation, with reasoning made visible
• Reduce quote-to-order errors: pre-selected options grounded in the actual design file mean fewer discrepancies between what was quoted and what gets built

Availability

PCB FAB Notes Extraction Automation is available to select customers and partners in the Boardera Platform and through the Boardera API. Boardera demoed FAB Notes Extraction Automation at the March 17-19 APEX 2026 Conference in Anaheim, California, Booth #4001. Contact our sales team for more information.

ANAHEIM, CA: Boardera Software Inc., a Canadian electronics manufacturing technology company, announced the commercial availability of the Boardera API, a proprietary AI-powered PCB project analyzer designed to integrate directly into the workflows of PCB fabricators, assemblers, and OEMs. The platform reduces manual review time and accelerates the path from design submission to production-ready intelligence.

Electronics manufacturers face mounting pressure to quote faster, reduce costly errors, and keep up with increasingly complex PCB designs, sourcing needs, and managing assembly costs. The Boardera API addresses these challenges by automating these tasks and returning structured, actionable intelligence in minutes rather than hours.

“The release of an externally facing API that can leverage our automation pipelines to feed our partners' and customers' workflows and systems is important and exciting, knowing we are now in a time where custom-built workflows are easily achievable. This is just a new way for Boardera to help the industry move forward with AI and automation in the industry,” said Curtis Hunter, CEO, Boardera Software Inc.

Four Powerful Modules, One Integrated API

• PCB Fabrication. Eliminates manual review of fabrication notes by automatically extracting and organizing fab requirements, layer stackup and count, board dimensions, copper area, drill data, layer spacing statistics, and pad dimensions directly from submitted design files.
• BOM Purchasing Plan. Automates component research by cleaning and mapping BOM data, generating procurement links, assessing sourceability and end-of-life (EOL) risk, pulling real-time component cost and availability, and flagging compliance status, including RoHS and REACH. Tariff automation and exception handling for manual review are also included.
• PCB Assembly. Replaces manual assembly labor estimation by calculating unique part counts, total placements per unit and job, and automatically classifying component packages and package families to help understand assembly mechanics and complexity.
• Project Pricing. Moves pricing from guesswork to automation. Supports PCB-only, assembly-only, and turnkey project configurations. Delivers market-specific and Fab/EMS-specific pricing models.

Built for the Entire Electronics Manufacturing Supply Chain

The Boardera API is designed to serve three primary segments: PCB fabricators looking to automate design-for-manufacturability reviews and fabrication notes consolidation, PCB assemblers seeking faster and more accurate quoting, and OEMs aiming to streamline their NPI planning, procurement, and project management processes.

Boardera demoed the Boardera API at the March 17-19 APEX 2026 Conference in Anaheim, California, Booth #4001. Contact our sales team for more information.

With this deployment, European PCB fabricators and EMS assembly companies can now leverage the full capabilities of the Boardera Platform while maintaining their data within Europe. This enhancement reinforces Boardera's commitment to data security and regulatory alignment.

By deploying EU data hosting services, Boardera directly addresses key concerns for manufacturers operating under GDPR and other European regulatory requirements. Sensitive customer data, engineering files, and pricing intelligence remain under EU jurisdiction, supporting compliance objectives without compromising access to advanced automation and AI-driven capabilities.

“One of our primary objectives is to ensure our global partners can utilize the platform's services, with data compliance and residency regulation being top of mind. Designs and design data are to be treated as top secret within any network of partners involved with manufacturing in this industry. We look forward to servicing EU partners while maintaining that standard,” stated Curtis Hunter, CEO of Boardera Software Inc.

Through this partnership, Boardera and Revco will work together to automate the PCB costing and quoting process and deliver faster and more accurate quotes to their customers and prospects.

This partnership further strengthens Boardera's growing network of industry collaborators and underscores its ongoing commitment to helping manufacturers adapt to evolving market demands through automation, intelligence, and connected digital workflows.

“Revco is delighted to be partnering with Boardera, which we feel will enhance our quotation response time to our customers' inquiries,” explained Greg Gonzales, Vice President of Business Development at Revco Products. “We feel that Boardera's interface will be able to provide a more thorough customer service experience while at the same time supporting more customers. We feel this partnership is a game-changer.”

“Boardera is excited to partner with Revco Products, a pioneer in the EMS industry. Together, we look forward to achieving Revco's operational efficiency goals in PCBA costing and quoting, but are equally excited to partner for future innovations that will have a meaningful impact on Revco, their customers, and the industry as a whole,” stated Curtis Hunter, CEO of Boardera Software Inc.

About Revco Products Inc.

Revco Products has over 48 years of experience in Contract Electronic Manufacturing (CEM), including full-service PCB assembly with automated SMT and through-hole equipment. From prototyping to production, their cutting-edge equipment and highly trained technicians produce unmatched quality and workmanship. They begin each project with a Design For Manufacturability (DFM) review to improve quality, reduce time-to-market, and reduce costs. They support their customers by offering both consignment and turn-key manufacturing services.

Key Points

• The joint effort addresses a pressing issue in the circuit board assembly industry by slashing the time to procure components by several days, saving substantial human effort during procurement and quoting and getting products to customers faster.
• Automated data transmission is a hallmark feature of the integration. By securely transmitting a designer-managed, clean Bill of Materials (BOM) to Cofactr, the system automates the creation of both a BOM entry and a purchasing program, streamlining approval and purchasing.
• While benefiting all industries, the collaboration particularly caters to prototyping. Automating the prototyping process leads to cost reductions, fewer errors, and quicker turnaround times for companies engaged in rapid product development.
• Cofactr's platform stands out for its turnkey kitting service. Managing complex logistics across multiple distributors, Cofactr consolidates efforts and costs, providing circuit board assemblers and large design firms a platform to easily procure from every distributor.
• The collaboration aims to empower designers by putting critical decisions about design and component choices in their hands at the time that matters most, ensuring designers are aware of component challenges early on and aligning designs with current market availability.
• Notably, the integration supports assemblers in maintaining profitability during prototyping, an area traditionally prone to financial challenges.

“This collaboration is a watershed moment for circuit board assembly. By automating component procurement and expediting delivery, we empower designers and assemblers to navigate component sourcing complexities with unprecedented efficiency,” said Curtis Hunter, CEO, Boardera.

“Cofactr is proud to partner with Boardera on this powerful integration. Our data intelligence, turnkey procurement, and logistics simplifies the entire circuit board assembly workflow,” said Matthew Haber, CEO, Cofactr.

About Cofactr

Cofactr is the “get there” platform for electronics. Hardware leaders get to market faster and build resilient supply chains with Cofactr's data intelligence, procurement, and logistics infrastructure. Cofactr provides the most extensive end-to-end platform for integrating supply chain data, BOM management, procurement automation, inventory, and electronics-specific 3PL services.