Issue link: https://iconnect007.uberflip.com/i/1408619
52 DESIGN007 MAGAZINE I SEPTEMBER 2021 still needed some method or device to get his characters in and out of the action quickly. To resolve this problem, the transporter beam was conceived and became a basic fixture of the show. e actor would step into the transporter chamber on the sound stage, and then step back out with the camera still running. During post-processing the special effects department would cut and splice that footage together to make it seem like the actor had disappeared. To complement this vanishing act, footage of falling sand filmed under a high-intensity light would be optically merged with the disappear- ing actor to complete the illusion of futuristic transportation. I probably should have preceded that rev- elation with "Spoiler Alert" before writing it, and hopefully I haven't ruined the show for you. My point, however, was to describe how financial necessity is oen the mother of inven- tion, and not just in 55-year-old science fiction television programing either. We can see how efforts to cut expenses and become more effi- cient can help create a better product in our own industry as well. Circuit board design used to be a more com- plicated and lengthy process than it is now with the need to build scores of test circuits, develop multiple prototypes, and toiling with manual design operations. I'm not sure how many designers now have ever had to work with X-Acto knives, Rubylith, and opaque tape on a light table like I used to long ago, but if you did you will know what I'm talking about. Even aer CAD systems were introduced into the design cycle, it could still be a lengthy pro- cess. e one good thing about all the time it took was that it gave ample opportunity for everyone to be involved. However, with so much automation in use, and with the ever- increasing need for faster time to market, many designs today seem to fly through the design cycle at warp speed. e great thing about speed, of course, is that when everything is going well, it is a glorious achievement. But if something goes wrong, that fast pace can pro- duce a wreck on a wreck. It has been reported to me that some designers have said that they don't even know which fabricators will be building their designs until the job is already out the door. On the flip side, I have talked with PCB con- tract manufacturers who want more interac- tion with PCB designers but aren't getting it. ey have told me that they prefer to work together with designers prior to PCB layout to review the design and offer their input. Instead, the first they oen know of a design is when they receive the completed manufac- turing files. is forces them to find ways to make what they already have work, instead of helping the designers optimize their layout for better production yields and circuit board performance. In our rush to get the product "out the door," are we sacrificing quality for market share? Are we spending more effort in trying to push a poor design through production rather than taking the time to improve it for error-free manufac- turing, higher yields, and less expense? Are we finding out that here, too, financial necessity is going to be the mother of invention; in this case, the invention will be a more collaborative relationship between circuit board design and manufacturing? e plain and simple truth is that the need for better collaboration should be at the heart of all PCB process improve- ment. Here are some ideas on how we can go about doing it: We can see how efforts to cut expenses and become more efficient can help create a better product in our own industry as well.