In recent years, indigenisation has become a frequently used word in Indian electronics and defence ecosystems. Yet, the term is often treated as a loosley defined check box. We have made so many lables, "Make in India","Made in India", and the coveted "Manufactured in India". Usually when our team is approached by a client who "values" indigenous work, the focus soon shifts from "is it" to "can it be labelled".
In reality, indigenisation in electronics—particularly PCB design and assembly—exists on a continuum of capability, not a binary state.
At 8OL Robotics, we believe that true self-reliance is built by progressively owning design, process, and manufacturing control, while solving real engineering problems along the way.
This article outlines how we classify indigenisation in PCB assembly, and how we are building toward scaled, in-house manufacturing with a clear technical intent.
The Four Classes of PCB Indigenisation
Category 1: Design-Led Indigenisation
This is the foundation.
In this class:
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Schematics, PCB layout, stack-up decisions, and firmware are designed or modified in India
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Gerbers, DFM checks, and design iterations are handled locally
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PCB fabrication and assembly are executed overseas (most commonly in China)
Either because its your first board, or (most often not) because the Indian manufacturing DRCs do not match. This is a significant resctriction to those of us who are engineering critical solutions. Inability to tackle small track widths, stringent DRCs in PCB fab, and bad QC's are just some of the problems we face on the day to day.
This stage establishes intellectual ownership.
Even though manufacturing is offshore, the system architecture, firmware logic, and performance characteristics are controlled in India.
For early-stage products and fast iterations, this is often the most practical starting point.
Category 2: Assembly Initiation in India
Here, manufacturing begins to shift.
In this class:
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Design and firmware are fully developed in India
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Bare PCBs are sourced from overseas fabs
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Partial assembly is performed in India—selective SMD placement, through-hole soldering, rework, and validation
This phase reflects current ecosystem realities.
Advanced PCB fabrication capabilities in India—HDI, controlled impedance, RF stacks—are still limited in scale and consistency.
Class 2 allows teams to:
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Develop assembly skills
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Build early manufacturing SOPs
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Reduce turnaround time for iteration and repair
Category 3: Manufacturing Control in India
This is where manufacturing becomes a core capability.
In this class:
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Design and firmware are Indian
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Bare PCBs may still be sourced from China
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Complete PCB assembly, testing, and validation are executed in India
At this stage, teams gain control over:
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Yield optimisation
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Process repeatability
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Assembly-driven design feedback
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Reliability testing and failure analysis
This is the level where serious defence, aerospace, and industrial electronics begin to take shape. Having assembly control at least saves critical data breaches and "random" component placement.
Category 4: Full-Stack Indigenisation
This is the highest maturity level.
In this class:
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Design, firmware, and system architecture are Indian
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PCBs are fabricated in India
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Assembly, testing, QA, and scaling are fully Indian
Achieving Class 4 requires:
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Mature PCB fabs
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Reliable material supply chains
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Strong quality systems
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Volume-ready manufacturing discipline
It is not easy—and it should not be rushed for optics alone. This requires continious iterations with the PCB manufacturers, constant query and return, where we face cryptic DRC's (Design rule checks), and have to make passes in your own designs quality and size constraints to meet their capability. To no fault of the manufacturer, simply put most PCB orders in India are still for regulators, LED strips and fairly simple circuits.
Where 8OL Robotics Fits In
At 8OL Robotics, our focus indigenisation as an engineering outcome.
We are actively building scaled, in-house manufacturing capability, centered around:
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Fully owned pick-and-place (PNP) assembly
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Controlled soldering processes
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Repeatable testing and validation
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Tight feedback loops between design and manufacturing
It is about enabling new kinds of problems to be solved.
When manufacturing is in-house:
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We can push performance boundaries
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Firmware teams can iterate faster
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Reliability issues surface early, not in the field
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Custom, low-volume, high-complexity electronics become viable
These are essential for defence, aerospace, and mission-critical systems. Hopefully some day we can even start PCB and FR4 fab in our facility, once we get our environmental clearances!
Solving New Problems Requires Owning the Process
India does not need more imported reference designs assembled locally.
It needs teams that:
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Understand why a board fails at altitude
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Can tune RF performance at the assembly level
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Can redesign power stages based on thermal behaviour
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Can scale without losing traceability and control
This only happens when design and manufacturing live under the same roof.
Our investment in in-house PNP and assembly infrastructure is a deliberate step toward that future.
Because real self-reliance should not be declared.
It will be earned.
