Technology

ELM 327 OBD-II Diagnostic Scanner Teardown

07 February 2013
The following is an overview of a teardown analysis conducted by IHS Benchmarking.

IHS Insight Perspective

ELM327 is an automotive interface device that's designed to wirelessly connect an external computer to a vehicle's onboard computer for diagnostics purposes. Manufacturer of this module is unknown. This seems to be a 'generic' design which multiple variants of ELM327 found at e-tailer sites at the time of this analysis. It links vehile computer via a 15-pin OBD2 connector and communicates with a PC through onboard Bluetooth Module.

ELM 327 OBD-II Diagnostic Scanner Main ImageELM 327 OBD-II Diagnostic Scanner Main Image

Feature Significance

Very limited information about this device found. Features include:

• Wireless (Bluetooth)
• Read diagnostic trouble codes, both generic and manufacturer-specific
• Display sensor data

Design Significance

This seems to be a 'generic' design which multiple variants of ELM327 found at e-tailer sites at the time of this analysis. At the core of this device is Microchip (PIC18F2480-I/SO) 8-Bit MCU. This device also has a onboard Bluetooth Module which features a CSR (BlueCore4-Ext) Bluetooth solution. It also contains a Macronix 8Mb NOR Flash, along with a Microchip CAN Transceiver.

ELM 327 OBD-II Diagnostic Scanner - Main PCB TopELM 327 OBD-II Diagnostic Scanner - Main PCB Top

Target Market

Automotive after-market

Released

Unknown

ELM 327 OBD-II Diagnostic Scanner - Main PCB BottomELM 327 OBD-II Diagnostic Scanner - Main PCB Bottom

Pricing and Availability

$15 USD

The lowest e-tailer price found at the time of this analysis was $12.5 USD.

Worldwide
This device is believed to be available worldwide

Volume Estimations 7,500 Annual Units
5 Total Years

For the purposes of this teardown analysis, we have assumed an Annual Production Volume of 7500 units and a Product Lifetime Volume of 5 year(s).

Teardown volume and production assumptions are primarily used for our cost analysis in terms of amortized NRE and tooling costs, especially for custom components specific to the model being analyzed (mechanical components especially). Unless assumed volumes are different by an order of magnitude, minor changes in volume (say 1 million vs. 2) rarely have a large net effect on our final analysis because of this.

ELM 327 OBD-II Diagnostic Scanner Cost AnalysisELM 327 OBD-II Diagnostic Scanner Cost Analysis

Cost Notes

Our analysis accounts for low volumes in pricing, however, keep in mind that in low volumes, pricing disparities from one customer to the next, for the same parts, can be huge, and make the job of estimating such purchases prices much harder.

Total BOM: $8.97
Top Cost Drivers below: $8.12
% of Total BOM 91%

Main Cost Drivers below

Bluetooth Module - V2.0+EDR, w/ Built-in Antenna- (Qty: 1)
Microchip PIC18F2480-I/SO MCU - 8-Bit, 40MHz, 16KB Flash, 768B RAM, 256B EEPROM, 25 I/Os, 8Ch x 10-Bit ADC, SPI/I2C/CAN Interface- (Qty: 1)
Pin Header - OBDII, Dual Row, Shrouded, w/ 8 Discrete Insulated Wires & 1 8-Position Pin Socket Connector, Heat Shrink Tubing- (Qty: 1)
Enclosure, Main, Top - Injection Molded Plastic- (Qty: 1)
Enclosure, Main, Bottom - Injection Molded Plastic- (Qty: 1)
Microchip MCP2551-I/SN CAN Transceiver - Up to 1Mbps, 112 Nodes- (Qty: 1)
2-Layer - FR4, Lead-Free- (Qty: 1)
Regulator- (Qty: 1)
Top Faceplate - Polycarbonate Sheet, Painted, Die-Cut, w/ PSA- (Qty: 1)
Pin Header - Vertical, Shrouded- (Qty: 1)

Not Included in Analysis

The total materials and manufacturing costs reported in this analysis reflect ONLY the direct materials cost (from component vendors and assorted EMS providers), AND manufacturing with basic test. Not included in this analysis are costs above and beyond the material manufacture of the core device itself - cost of intellectual property, royalties and licensing fees (those not already included into the per component price), software, software loading and test, shipping, logistics marketing and other channel costs including not only EMS provider and the OEM's margin, but that of other resellers. Our cost analysis is meant to focus on those costs incurred in the manufacture of the core device and exceptionally in some circumstances the packaging and literature as well.

We do provide an Excel tab 'Overall Costs' where a user can enter their known pre and post production costs to build a per unit cost reflective of theirs actual expenditures.

Manufacturing Notes

For the purposes of our analysis, our cost structures in manufacturing represent the cost to the manufacturer, without markup. If an EMS is involved, one would have to add a fair margin for the EMS provider, on top of our cost assessment, in order to provide a 'fair price' to the manufacturer. EMS providers often operate in the low single digits on margins, but tend to make up for such low margins when working with low volume products such as this.

Country of Origin

For the purposes of this analysis, we are assuming the following country(ies) of origin for each level of assembly, based on a combination of 'Made In' markings, and/or assumptions based on our knowledge of such equipment.

Bluetooth Module - China
Main PCB - China
Other - Enclosures / Final Assembly - China

Country of origin assumptions relate directly to the associated cost of manufacturing, where calculated by iSuppli. In the cases of 'finished' sub-assemblies (such as Bluetooth Module), we do not calculate internal manufacturing costs, but rather assess the market price of the finished product in which case country of origin assumptions may or may not have a direct effect on pricing.

Labor rates are applied directly only to hand inserted components and systems in our bill of materials, and although regional assumptions do, these new rates do not have a direct effect on our modeled calculations of placement costs for automated SMD assembly lines. "Auto inserted components (such as SMT components) placement costs are calculated by an iSuppli algorithm which allocates a cost per component based on the size and pincount of the device. This calculation is affected by country or region of origin as well.

Design Complexity

Component counts by assembly and the number of assembly are indicators of design complexity and efficiency.

Component Qty: 62 - Main PCB
Component Qty: 8 - Other - Enclosures / Final Assembly
Component Qty: 24 - Bluetooth Module
Component Qty: 94 - Grand Total

Component counts have a direct bearing on the overall manufacturing cycle times and costs, and also can increase or decrease overall yields and re-work. Our calculations of manufacturing costs factor counts and more qualitative complexities in the design.

Note that manual labor has a much smaller effect on auto-insertion assembly lines (for the Main PCB, for example), where manufacturing costs are much more capital equipment intensive and driven by these investment costs.

Design Notes

This seems to be a 'generic' design which multiple variants of ELM327 found at e-tailer sites at the time of this analysis. At the core of this device is Microchip (PIC18F2480-I/SO) MCU - 8-Bit, 40MHz, 16KB Flash, 768B RAM, 256B EEPROM, 25 I/Os, 8Ch x 10-Bit ADC, SPI/I2C/CAN Interface. This device also has a onboard Bluetooth Module which features a CSR (BC417143B-GIQN) - BlueCore4-Ext, V2.0+EDR Bluetooth solution. It also contains a Macronix (MX29LV800CBXBI-70G) Flash - NOR, 8Mb, along with a Microchip (MCP2551-I/SN) CAN Transceiver - Up to 1Mbps, 112 Nodes.

ELM 327 OBD-II Diagnostic Scanner - Disassembly View 1ELM 327 OBD-II Diagnostic Scanner - Disassembly View 1



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