What does the number 0402 mean on an SMD part?

It is the size in inch: 0.04 inch long, 0.02 inch wide, so 1.0 x 0.5 mm. Watch the metric spelling, which is the most common mix-up in this field: metric 1005 is the same part as imperial 0402, while metric 0402 is the much smaller imperial 01005 at 0.4 x 0.2 mm. Read the metric number as an imperial one and you order a part that is out by a factor of two and a half.

What is the smallest SMD package that can still be placed by hand?

The 0402, at 1.0 x 0.5 mm. From the 0201 down, PCBoffer's costing holds the package as fine pitch and rules out hand placement, and the same applies to 01005, TSSOP, QFN, QFP and BGA. On a sample of five pieces that is the difference between an hour at the bench and a full machine setup.

How many feeder lanes does an SMD aluminium electrolytic capacitor occupy?

Three. It ships in 24-mm tape and one feeder lane is 8 mm wide. A chip resistor in 8-mm tape takes one. That is why counting part numbers answers a different question from the one the machine asks: part numbers count components, lanes count room in the setup.

When does a setup change happen, and what does it cost?

One feeder swap is costed at 15 minutes. How often it happens follows from the lanes needed divided by the lanes available, rounded up, minus one. At 260 lanes needed on a 100-lane machine that is two swaps, half an hour that only ever shows up in the setup and never in a bill of materials.

Why does an 0201 cost more to build than an 0402 when the part itself is cheaper?

Three reasons, and none of them is in the part price. The required placement accuracy tightens from 0.10 mm to 0.08 mm. The package is held as fine pitch, so hand placement is out even for a sample. And the stencil becomes the bottleneck at paste printing: IPC-7525 wants an area ratio above 0.66, and an aperture of 0.30 x 0.30 mm reaches only 0.58 at a stencil thickness of 0.130 mm.

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SMD package sizes: what each package means for the placement machine

50 SMD packages from 01005 to BGA, the chip packages with their metric code and size in inch, plus what decides the setup effort: tape width, feeder lanes occupied, required placement accuracy and seated height.

The values come from the package tables PCBoffer uses to cost a real board: the same figures an offer rests on.

Metric or inch: one number, two parts

An 0402 in inch is a 1005 in metric, 1.0 × 0.5 mm. An 0402 written in metric, however, is the much smaller 01005 in inch, 0.4 × 0.2 mm. Put the system next to the size in the bill of materials and the order, for example 0402 (inch) or 1005 (metric), and the part that arrives fits your pad.

Find a package

SMD packages with sizes, tape width, feeder lanes, placement accuracy and seated height
Package	Metric	Body (mm)	Body (in)	Height (mm)	Tape width (mm)	Feeder lanes	Accuracy (mm)	Placement
Chip resistors and capacitors
01005	0402	0.40 × 0.20	0.016 × 0.008	0.13	8	1	0.05	machine only
0201	0603	0.60 × 0.30	0.024 × 0.012	0.30	8	1	0.08	machine only
0402	1005	1.00 × 0.50	0.040 × 0.020	0.55	8	1	0.10	machine or by hand
0603	1608	1.60 × 0.80	0.060 × 0.030	0.95	8	1	0.15	machine or by hand
0805	2012	2.00 × 1.25	0.080 × 0.050	1.35	8	1	0.20	machine or by hand
1206	3216	3.20 × 1.60	0.120 × 0.060	1.60	8	1	0.25	machine or by hand
1210	3225	3.20 × 2.50	0.120 × 0.100	1.80	8	1	n/a	machine or by hand
1812	4532	4.50 × 3.20	0.180 × 0.120	2.00	12	2	n/a	machine or by hand
2010	5025	5.00 × 2.50	0.200 × 0.100	0.65	12	2	n/a	machine or by hand
2512	6332	6.30 × 3.20	0.250 × 0.120	0.75	12	2	n/a	machine or by hand
MELF packages
MicroMELF		2.20 × 1.10		1.10	8	1	n/a	machine or by hand
MiniMELF		3.60 × 1.40		1.55	8	1	n/a	machine or by hand
MELF		5.90 × 2.20		2.20	12	2	n/a	machine or by hand
Tantalum and electrolytic capacitors
TANT-A		3.20 × 1.60		1.60	8	1	n/a	machine or by hand
TANT-B		3.50 × 2.80		1.90	8	1	n/a	machine or by hand
TANT-C		6.00 × 3.20		2.60	12	2	n/a	machine or by hand
TANT-D		7.30 × 4.30		2.90	12	2	n/a	machine or by hand
TANT-E		7.30 × 6.00		4.10	12	2	n/a	machine or by hand
Alu-Elko		n/a^[4]		n/a^[4]	24	3	n/a	machine or by hand
Chip LEDs
LED-0402		1.00 × 0.50^[3]		0.45	8	1	n/a	machine or by hand
LED-0603		1.60 × 0.80^[3]		0.55	8	1	n/a	machine or by hand
LED-0805		2.00 × 1.25^[3]		0.80	8	1	n/a	machine or by hand
LED-1206		3.20 × 1.60^[3]		1.10	8	1	n/a	machine or by hand
Diodes (SOD and DO-214)
SOD-923		n/a^[2]		0.50	8	1	0.15^[11]	machine or by hand
SOD-323		1.70 × 1.25		0.95	8	1	0.15^[11]	machine or by hand
SOD-123		2.70 × 1.60		1.10	8	1	0.15^[11]	machine or by hand
SMA		4.60 × 2.60		n/a^[9]	n/a^[5]	2^[5]	n/a	machine or by hand
SMB		4.60 × 3.60		n/a^[9]	n/a^[5]	2^[5]	n/a	machine or by hand
SMC		7.00 × 5.90		n/a^[9]	n/a^[5]	2^[5]	n/a	machine or by hand
SOT packages
SOT-666		n/a^[2]		0.60	8	1	0.20^[11]	machine or by hand
SOT-323		n/a^[2]		1.10	8	1	0.20^[11]	machine or by hand
SOT-353		n/a^[2]		1.10	8	1	0.20^[11]	machine or by hand
SOT-363		n/a^[2]		1.10	8	1	0.20^[11]	machine or by hand
SOT-23		2.90 × 1.30		1.10	8	1	0.20^[11]	machine or by hand
SOT-89		4.50 × 2.50		1.60	12	2	0.20^[11]	machine or by hand
SOT-223		6.50 × 3.50		1.80	12	2	0.20^[11]	machine or by hand
Power packages
DPAK		6.50 × 6.10		2.30	12	2	n/a	machine or by hand
D2PAK		n/a^[2]		4.40	24	3	n/a	machine or by hand
IC packages
MSOP		3.00 × 3.00		1.10	12^[6]	2	0.10	machine only
TSSOP		n/a^[1]		1.20	12	2	0.15	machine only
SOIC-8		6.00 × 5.00^[10]		1.75	12	2	n/a	machine or by hand
SOIC-14		8.70 × 6.00^[10]		1.75	16	2	n/a	machine or by hand
SOIC-16		10.00 × 6.00^[10]		1.75	16	2	n/a	machine or by hand
DFN		n/a^[1]		0.90	n/a^[5]	2^[5]	0.20	machine only
SON		n/a^[1]		0.90	n/a^[5]	2^[5]	0.20	machine only
LGA		n/a^[1]		0.90	n/a^[5]	2^[5]	0.20	machine only
QFN-24		4.00 × 4.00		0.90	12^[6]	2	0.20^[11]	machine only
QFN		n/a^[1]		0.90	12	2	0.20	machine only
QFP		n/a^[1]		≥ 1.60^[7]	n/a^[5]	2^[5]	0.30	machine only
BGA		n/a^[1]		1.50^[8] (uncertain, datasheet)	n/a^[5]	2^[5]	0.30	machine only

[1] For TSSOP, QFN, QFP, BGA, DFN, SON and LGA the body size depends on the pin count, not on the class name. The costing holds no class size for them, so the cell stays empty.
[2] For this class the costing holds a seated height and a lane count, but no body size. The outline is standardised, it is simply not in those tables, so the cell stays empty rather than borrowing a datasheet figure nothing is costed with.
[3] The outline is the one of the chip code of the same name, and the costing holds it only once, under that chip code. The seated height is held separately: an LED sits lower than a ceramic capacitor in the same outline.
[4] For an alu electrolytic, body size and seated height follow the capacitance and not the package, so the costing holds neither for this class. What it does hold are the feeder lanes: three, that is 24-mm tape.
[5] Where the tape width follows the pin count rather than the class name (QFP, BGA, DFN, SON, LGA) and for the DO-214 cases SMA, SMB and SMC, the costing holds no class entry: a QFP-32 ships in 16-mm tape, a QFP-208 in 44-mm tape. It therefore applies its default of two feeder lanes rather than inventing a figure.
[6] The tape is wider than the body size suggests. On an MSOP the figure that counts is taken over the leads, 4.9 mm against a 3.0 mm body; on a QFN-24 the costing holds two feeder lanes although the 4 mm body would arithmetically fit 8-mm tape.
[7] The seated height of QFP is explicitly flagged as too low in the costing. LQFP and PQFP are that tall or taller, so the value stands here with a ≥ as a lower bound and not as a measurement.
[8] For BGA the costing holds 1.50 mm and flags the value as too low. The real height depends on the version: a TFBGA is at most 1.20 mm tall, so below it, a PBGA well above. The value is therefore neither an upper nor a lower bound, and for the keepout and the bill of materials you take the height from the datasheet.
[9] For SMA, SMB and SMC the costing deliberately holds no seated height. The height column of those parts in the components DB scatters from 0.43 to 5.50 mm with no unit and is not the seated height of a DO-214 body. Too low is the dangerous direction, so the cell stays empty.
[10] The size is taken over the leads, not over the plastic body. What counts for the tape is the outer dimension.
[11] This accuracy applies to the family as a whole: 0.20 mm for the SOT and QFN packages, 0.15 mm for the SOD packages. The costing does not draw on the family figure: under the name of a single package such as SOT-23, SOD-123 or QFN-24 it holds no entry.
Source of the table values: PCBoffer's own package tables, that is body size, seated height, feeder lanes, placement accuracy and the fine-pitch boundary. The mapping from body size to tape width follows EIA-481.

Why a feeder lane says more than a part number

A placement machine does not hold part numbers, it holds lanes 8 mm wide. How many of them a component occupies depends solely on the tape it ships in, and the tape follows the largest body dimension. Whether a setup fits on the machine is therefore a different question from how many different components a board carries.

The tape sets the lanes

The lane count is the tape width divided by 8 mm, rounded up. An 8-mm tape takes one lane, a 12-mm and a 16-mm tape two each, a 24-mm tape three.

The body sets the tape

Up to a largest body dimension of 4 mm the 8-mm tape is enough. Up to 8 mm it becomes the 12-mm tape, up to 12 mm the 16-mm tape, up to 20 mm the 24-mm tape.

The machine has 90 to 100 lanes

The placement machines in the stored machine park state 90, 96 and 100 lanes per machine. That is the hard limit a setup is planned against.

What does not fit costs setup time

If the lanes run out, the line is re-set in the middle of the lot. One feeder swap is costed at 15 minutes.

An example from the costing

A board with 180 different part numbers, 40 of them in wide tape, occupies about 260 lanes. Count part numbers and you expect one setup change on a 100-lane machine. Count lanes and you see two. The difference is 15 minutes that either appear in the costing or are missing from it.

What the accuracy column means for your layout

The column states the placement accuracy the machine has to hold for that package. It runs from 0.30 mm at the BGA down to 0.05 mm at the 01005, and it is the reason smaller SMD package sizes are not automatically the cheaper ones.

The gap to the neighbour

Two neighbouring components need at least twice the placement tolerance in clearance between them, plus the tolerance of the paste print and of the outline. At a required accuracy of 0.05 mm there is far less room for a shift than at 0.25 mm.

Where hand placement stops

01005, 0201, TSSOP, QFN, QFP and BGA are held as fine pitch in the costing and are therefore excluded from hand placement. On a sample of five pieces that is the difference between an hour at the bench and a full machine setup.

The chip size fixes the footprint, not the height

Seated height is held per class and, for the common versions, at the upper edge: a 1206 stands at 1.60 mm in the table because a thick ceramic capacitor is that tall, while a 1206 resistor measures 0.55 mm. Tall special versions go above it. For a keepout the value is therefore a guide and not a dimension; as a height figure for one individual part it is no use. QFP is the reverse: there the height is a lower bound, marked with ≥ in the table. For BGA the range runs from below to well above the table value depending on the version, so the cell reads "uncertain, datasheet". In both cases the keepout follows the datasheet.

Stencil thickness and area ratio

Whether the paste stays on the pad or in the aperture when the stencil lifts is decided by the area ratio: the aperture area divided by the area of the aperture walls. IPC-7525 puts the limit at 0.66. Below it the paste tears off, and the fault only shows after reflow as an open joint.

Area ratio = (L × W) / (2 × (L + W) × stencil thickness)

Area ratio after IPC-7525 for three packages at different stencil thicknesses
Package	Example aperture	Stencil thickness	Area ratio	Verdict
0402	0.50 × 0.55 mm	0.120 mm	1.09	uncritical, well above the limit
0201	0.30 × 0.30 mm	0.100 mm	0.75	works, but with no margin
0201	0.30 × 0.30 mm	0.130 mm	0.58	below the limit, the paste stays in the aperture
01005	0.20 × 0.25 mm	0.080 mm	0.69	only with a thin stencil
01005	0.20 × 0.25 mm	0.100 mm	0.56	below the limit

The aperture sizes are examples, the actual aperture follows from the pad in the layout. This section comes from IPC-7525 and not from the costing, which carries no stencil model. You can still check the area ratio here before the first stencil is cut.

What this table does not say

The seated height is a class figure, not the size of your part. For the common versions it sits at the upper edge, while tall special versions go above it: for a keepout it is a guide, not a dimension, and for a bill of materials it is no use. For QFP a ≥ stands in front of it, and there it is a lower bound. For BGA it is marked "uncertain, datasheet", because depending on the version the real height lies below or above it. In both cases the keepout needs the height from the datasheet.
For QFP, BGA, DFN, SON, LGA and the DO-214 cases the tape width is missing. The two feeder lanes there are the costing's default and not a measurement.
For the large chip sizes and for the MELF, tantalum, LED and power packages no placement accuracy is held. The cell stays empty rather than borrowing the neighbour's value.
Placement rate in components per hour is deliberately absent from the table: it is a property of the machine and not of the package.
The table names no price. What a package costs in euros depends on the machine park, the lot size and the sourcing.

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What the package costs in euros

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Frequently asked questions

What does the number 0402 mean on an SMD part?: It is the size in inch: 0.04 inch long, 0.02 inch wide, so 1.0 x 0.5 mm. Watch the metric spelling, which is the most common mix-up in this field: metric 1005 is the same part as imperial 0402, while metric 0402 is the much smaller imperial 01005 at 0.4 x 0.2 mm. Read the metric number as an imperial one and you order a part that is out by a factor of two and a half.
What is the smallest SMD package that can still be placed by hand?: The 0402, at 1.0 x 0.5 mm. From the 0201 down, PCBoffer's costing holds the package as fine pitch and rules out hand placement, and the same applies to 01005, TSSOP, QFN, QFP and BGA. On a sample of five pieces that is the difference between an hour at the bench and a full machine setup.
How many feeder lanes does an SMD aluminium electrolytic capacitor occupy?: Three. It ships in 24-mm tape and one feeder lane is 8 mm wide. A chip resistor in 8-mm tape takes one. That is why counting part numbers answers a different question from the one the machine asks: part numbers count components, lanes count room in the setup.
When does a setup change happen, and what does it cost?: One feeder swap is costed at 15 minutes. How often it happens follows from the lanes needed divided by the lanes available, rounded up, minus one. At 260 lanes needed on a 100-lane machine that is two swaps, half an hour that only ever shows up in the setup and never in a bill of materials.
Why does an 0201 cost more to build than an 0402 when the part itself is cheaper?: Three reasons, and none of them is in the part price. The required placement accuracy tightens from 0.10 mm to 0.08 mm. The package is held as fine pitch, so hand placement is out even for a sample. And the stencil becomes the bottleneck at paste printing: IPC-7525 wants an area ratio above 0.66, and an aperture of 0.30 x 0.30 mm reaches only 0.58 at a stencil thickness of 0.130 mm.

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