Not exactly.
I am not saying that they are NOT fabricating PCBs. I am saying that they could be assembling whereas when fabrication of the circuitry is concerned → I do not have enough data to be fully convinced that they are manufacturing complex PCBs (end-to-end) → unsurety doesn’t mean denial
I’ll explain my rationale and let you judge before sharing my detailed POV. To keep things simple, here’s how I will divide the PCB manufacturing steps:
- Green is where I think they might have the skills/manpower
- Yellow is where I am unsure they have skills/resources (once again, unsurety doesn’t mean denial)
- Red is where I can’t find an employee at BCC
Now I’ll try to showcase, why I think the probability of them doing end-to-end PCB manufacturing is low.
I have taken the below employee details from their AR of FY22 (on LinkedIn, they seem to have even fewer employees - 3).
In the best case, they have a maximum of 5 technical employees to do everything.
- Sr.Engg, Asstt Engg & HOD Quality: Looking at their skillsets I guess they are involved in Step 1 while QA is Step 5.
- Production Officers: I am not sure how to consider Mr.Sharma - but since this is the best-case scenario, let’s assume production officers can do everything else than step 1.
- Manager (Maintainance): I assume this person is at max involved in steps 5 and 6 - unless “maintenance manager” refers to the person who is responsible for taking care of the office such as cleaning/opening of the premises etc.
We haven’t even considered the worst-case scenarios (if I consider worst-case, would the probability be in favor of investors?). I’ll leave you with some open questions (I do not have definite answers here):
- Who would the run PCB fabrication machinery?
– Are the engineers running it?
– Can a team of 2 production officers run the PCB manufacturing machinery?
Being a little daring, I’ll put up some more questions:
- If PCB manufacturing is this easy, then why would companies outsource PCB manufacturing?
- Let’s say it is this easy. PCBs can be manufactured by buying machinery and a two-person team. Then is there a moat for you to invest in?
My POV:
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What piece in value chain does BCC fit in: Locally-made electric rickshaws also have a PCB. Automobile machinery such as wheel-balancing machines have a PCB (a friend of my father used to manufacture those machines in India back in 2015 and his PCBs were made in India). However, the system is very far from what you would expect in a commercial passenger electric vehicle such as those in a Tesla (or Ather’s bikes might have). Maybe BCC is manufacturing PCBs for lesser complex systems. Maybe it’s just a small module such as a lighting system
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Team fails to convince me: Making reliable PCBs is more than just cost. From designing a circuit to shipping it, the entire stage is complex (for example: choosing the right component before designing itself is challenging, then while packaging certain PCBs cannot be touched with bare hands as it can damage the PCB). I am not 100% convinced that all of this can be done with the given 5 technical members. I think the probability is against me.
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But maybe I am wrong: They have quantified the water they need as a part of the production. So maybe I am wrong and being judgemental. They could be using their employees more efficiently than I am thinking. I haven’t spent much time researching them so please don’t blindly go by my words. I would love to be wrong here because I want to see multi-layer PCBs being manufactured and exported from India someday.
- You would get PCB boards from China and paste the components (resistors, ICs, etc.) on that board (hope, that’s what SMT assembly means). Was it done manually or via machines?
- Is there any need for a technical partnership for SMT assembly?
- I guess there would be hardly any value addition for pasting components on a board. Instead, I feel BCC Fuba might be manufacturing these PCB boards. Or is this not possible in India and we need a fab to manufacture these boards?
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No and Yes.
So the entire system is divided into modules. Let’s say you have a modern car. It will likely have multiple modules such as a lightning module that maintains the headlights, GPS tracking system etc. All of these modules will together form the system. At times we would get the components assembled from China (Machines do the assembling). At times for certain modules, we will do it in-house from hand. Another scenario is when suddenly some component change is needed in a module that was made in China, we would do it with hands. However, for large commercial production, soldering is preferred with machines. -
I am sorry but I do not have an answer here. My experience says large-scale professional SMT assembly needs proper investments and machinery. If manual soldering is concerned, at times, it is not humanely possible to solder components manually.
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PCB manufacturing is already done in India - but it depends on the complexity of the system you are thinking of. A smartphone’s PCB will be different than TV remote’s PCB. The central system of an autonomous electrical vehicle will be different than headlight module of a scooter.
I have worked in designing and programming electronic systems and not in the “fabrication of PCBs”. There are a few details that I am not aware of and this is where I will recommend that you do more research.
(There are a few things I would like to add especially about the “copper clad” mentioned in their AR. I haven’t been able to add the details due to time crunch. Will try to them add later)
Disclaimer: I have no position on this stock. I do not have plans to own this stock unless I am convinced and foresee them scaling big.