Issue link: https://iconnect007.uberflip.com/i/1401769
AUGUST 2021 I PCB007 MAGAZINE 19 Gerber, so it's tough to shoot something. I keep asking, "Why should we use something that's 60 years old?" Korf: I'm not worried about them still pushing it, but it's the user that's got to quit using it. I don't blame them at all. It's the users that have to move out of the 1960s and into the 2020s on data formats, right? Holden: Dana, is there any chance that CFX will get modified so we can use it in fab auto- mation? Korf: I haven't heard of any movement by IPC along those lines yet. So, I don't know. Shaughnessy: Is there anything that we haven't covered that you'd like to mention? Any big takeaways here? Korf: Andy, the summary from my standpoint is three-phased. What do we need to go for- ward? One, we need to get fabricators to re- lease the design rules to the designers, so they could be designing against the rules that the designs are being checked against, and not consider it IP. ey don't need to tell the de- signer how to build the board, just what the rules are. en we've got to get people to quit using dumb data and use intelligent data, and that will grow over time. e third element is getting the CAD systems to build and accom- modate all rules that would be given to them so the designer gets as much knowledge embed- ded in the system as they can. at's my answer to what needs to happen going forward. Holden: Dana, one of the emails you sent me from China said, "You don't understand my problem. I've got 60,000 young engineers here that don't know anything about PCB design rules." And if they do, they find financing and create their own company because everybody wants to be an entrepreneur and be the boss. Korf: e last Chinese city I worked in, Zhuhai, is next to Macau. ey've built four brand-new large fab shops in that town since I le there al- most two years ago. Where'd those front-end people come from? ey're all brand new. It takes months to teach designers the fabrication rules and how to interpret customer data pack- ages. at's a challenge. It's not something you can do in an hour-long PowerPoint presenta- tion. Shaughnessy: ank you all for the great dis- cussion. Lots of stuff to think about here. Thompson: ank you, Andy. PCB007