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MARCH 2021 I DESIGN007 MAGAZINE 67 ers, most notably manufac- turing. Jasbir Bath has been integral in the development of the IPC-2231A, where he employed his experience as a support advisory engineer at Koki Solder to enhance its information regarding pro- cess engineering. "Manufacturing yield needs to be improved and documents such as 2231A [can] help designers understand more about the challenges in manufacturing to help design products with improved manufacturing yield," Jasbir said, adding that he was most excited about "generally updated information on sol- dering materials, processing temperatures, board finishes, and reliability concerns" within IPC-2231A. Jasbir was far from alone in feeling the need for more understanding of DFM within indus- try. Scott Vorhies, a primary contributor for all DFX-related information concerning the assembly of PCBAs within SpaceX, hopes that IPC-2231A will "provide a source of informa- tion helping manufacturing engineers trou- bleshoot assembly issues from start to finish," noting that "this document, if allowed to be a source of truth, would greatly enhance the ability of designs to be manufactured at a lower cost and higher reliability, and help bridge the gulf between design and manufacturing." Geok Ang Tan of DSO Laboratories agreed, and similar to Patrick's sentiments above, said that "with this, staff can share with management that there are a lot of details in the manufactur- ing process to produce electronics hardware; new staff will gain a lot from it." Jon Bruer of Creation Technologies Inc. is most excited about the Design for Testability (DFT) section of IPC-2231A, which he has helped shape for the new revision by channel- ing his more than 32 years of experience in test engineering and DFT. Regarding the need of a DFX guideline in industry, Jon said that "cer- tainly from a test perspective there is a huge need for a stronger understanding of DFT and test requirements for produc- tion test, mostly with respect to OEM engineering teams. at said, as a contract man- ufacturer, my company helps to provide input and helps to fill the gaps for our custom- ers. I think that the more awareness there is in the industry for DFT thinking to occur at the earliest stage in prod- uct design, the more testable product designs will be as they move into the production area." e overall outcome of IPC- 2231A, according to Karen McConnell of Northrop Grum- man and a current co-chair of the IPC 1-14 DFX Subcom- mittee, is to help companies that "do not have a DFX cham- pion to facilitate the insertion of best practices into processes." Moreover, she expects that the practices described in IPC-2231A should and will be rolled down to subcontractors, so that excellence can be maintained throughout the supply chain. Regardless of which "X" in DFX is being considered, all members of the 1-14 DFX Sub committee ag ree that no company is perfect, and any design process can be enhanced. IPC-2231A DFX Guidelines is expected to be available in early Q3 2021, and until then, I will leave you with one of my favorite quotes from my poll of the 1-14 Subcommittee. When asked about the importance of DFX in design, Murilo Levy Casotti of Embraer, simply replied that "[DFX is] primordial. All 'design for' are very important." DESIGN007 Patrick Crawford is the man- ager of design programs and related industry programs at IPC. To read past columns or contact him, click here or email PatrickCrawford@ipc.org. Jasbir Bath Jon Bruer Karen McConnell Murilo Levy Casotti