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JUNE 2019 I PCB007 MAGAZINE 51 did they do it? Simple! They took a piece of pa- per, scissors, and started to cut the paper into the shape of the flexible PCB to be designed. Next, they glued this to samples of the rigid PCB and started to simulate the application. Not only did they examine how it fit into the application, but they also checked the man- ual assembly process and found areas where the paper was torn. Then, the model was im- proved, and the process started again until the sample hit perfection. It was rough, honest, handcrafted work. As for Josse's treetop hut, Didrik's wooden go-kart, or Jan's paper models, we all want our design to hit perfection each time. However, to make that happen, we know that working thoroughly in the beginning. Involving the right parties to the table and setting the right parameters is a good start. As we say at Elmat- ica: What is your product or design challenge, and how can we assist you? PCB007 John Steinar "Josse" Johnsen and Jan Pedersen are senior technical advisors and Didrik Bech is CEO at Elmatica. To read past columns or contact the PCB Norsemen, click here. The following statement says it all: "It's unwise to pay too much, but it's worse to pay too little." Of course, it's unnecessary to pay too much. But if a higher cost is equal to better reliability, transparency, and security, then paying too little is just the beginning of the trouble that might come. Because when it comes to PCB de- sign or design in general, there are always some parameters to follow and adapt the design. You need to have important dis- cussions and answer crucial questions, such as: • Hardware design: What mm and tolerance requirements are there? • Environment restrictions: Are there any? • PCB technology: Which one is best suited for the product? • Material restrictions: What is needed, and what environment will the product and PCB face? • Reliability level: What is expected and mandatory? • Test and qualification: How, when, and by whom? • Standards and regulations: What standards does the product apply for, and are there any regulations that you need to handle? Planks, Blocks, and Legos: Designers Evolve Childhood in the '60s and '70s encouraged de- signing through planks, blocks, Legos, or what- ever else we found by stacking, assembling, disassembling, sorting, or molding. We pushed the boundaries we had and developed design skills and thinking. Whether Josse's incredible PCB design skills and knowledge started with him designing a treetop hut, we will not say for sure, but it all started with the design. We have learned that even if designing has evolved since then, the tools to facilitate it have been through an even steeper inventiveness. A good example is a previous column Jan Pedersen wrote about how the unfinished printed circuit was tested before computer- based 3D simulations were a possibility. How John Steinar Johnsen Jan Pedersen Didrik Bech