Issue link: https://iconnect007.uberflip.com/i/1470111
22 DESIGN007 MAGAZINE I JUNE 2022 Manufacturing for Success In my role working for an EMS provider, I am given the opportunity to review dozens of PCB designs each week which have been cre- ated by designers from around North America and Europe. e design output can reflect a very simple two-sided PCBA or a very complex multi-layer rigid-flex PCBA utilizing ultra-fine pitch devices on one section while sporting relatively massive power supply component clusters on another. Sometimes the designs are problematic for our offshore volume suppliers, but we do not know until we begin our manu- facturing workflow audit. One of the first steps in setting up for manu- facturing success in any manufacturing work- flow is to take measurements. In the world of electronics manufacturing services (EMS) an audit of the designer's manufacturing data must be performed to make certain that all the data required to produce the bare PCB is via- ble. Simplified, the workflow goes something like this: Audit Report Correct Proceed But because of various degrees of understand- ing regarding the subject of DFM, the PCB man- ufacturing workflow almost always stops aer the "report" phase due to an unmanufactur- able issue measured within the design data. e PCB supplier's computer automated machining (CAM) department performing the audit must issue a report outlining a suggested fix, which must be sent back to the EMS provider, who must present the issue to the original customer to modify the data or allow the supplier to mod- ify it before the job can proceed. e process is very time consuming and must not be taken lightly as millions of dollars could be at stake if a manufacturing assumption is made and changed without approval from the customer. Going back to the original PCB designer to inform them that a supplier has identified some "er, uh, DFM issues" is not always met with a spirit of gratitude by customers, nor a response query like, "How can we help?" An EMS provider is oen put into the position of tactfully communicating a need for clarifica- tion or even modification of the existing design data because the production supplier has, in effect, "called their baby ugly." But the problem is hardly the PCB designer's fault. It is commonly known that many design- ers do all but pull teeth to obtain relevant design constraints before starting a PCB lay- out. e May issue of Design007 Magazine cov- ered the topic of designing PCBs in a vacuum and interviewed a few designers who admitted that they are oen put in the position of fly- ing blind at the beginning of a project without having a clue as to who would be fabricating the PCB in volume production. ey empha- sized that PCB designers are simply not given enough vision to start a PCB design with the end in sight. ey are forced to do the best they can to incorporate a knowingly inadequate, cliché form of DFM without considering the five Ws in their unique contexts. • Design for who in manufacturing? • Design for what in manufacturing? • Design for when in manufacturing? • Design for where in manufacturing? • Design for why in manufacturing? If PCB designers cannot be provided enough information to gain a five Ws type of vision regarding PCB manufacturing in advance of starting a project, is it time to consider perhaps Sometimes the designs are problematic for our off- shore volume suppliers, but we do not know until we begin our manufacturing workflow audit.