Issue link: https://iconnect007.uberflip.com/i/1417991
OCTOBER 2021 I DESIGN007 MAGAZINE 11 to these questions: Is there really a problem with having three perfectly good design data formats? Does the industry have to unite around one? Or do we all just like a good horse race? ese are just a few of the questions that our contributors discuss in this issue. We start off with interviews with representatives of each format: Cadence's Ed Acheson of the IPC-2581 Consortium, Patrick McGoff of Sie- mens EDA for ODB++, and Ucamco's Karel Tavernier and Eurocircuits' Dirk Stans for Gerber. ey all make their cases for their formats, with surprisingly little "smack talk" about the other formats. Matt Stevenson has a feature column on finding the value of Gerber files. Jen Kolar of Monsoon Solutions explains how her company decides which data format to select for each job. Hemant Shah and Patrick Davis delve into the advantages of IPC-2581, including being open and neu- tral. Gene Weiner discusses the role of tribal knowledge in the data format conversation. Sunny Patel of Candor Industries talks about the data formats that he sees each day, and we have another short piece by Matt Steven- son discussing the ins and outs of Gerber and ODB++. We also have columns from regular contribu- tors Barry Olney, Martyn Gaudion, Tara Dunn, John Coonrod, Kelly Dack, Beth Turner, and Joe Fjelstad. And this month, we're launching a new Siemens column, Digital Transformation, which will focus on the drive to digitize PCB design and manufacturing data. It's almost time for SMTA International and PCB Carolina is right around the corner. I hope to see you all on the road. It's been too long. DESIGN007 Andy Shaughnessy is managing editor of Design007 Magazine. He has been covering PCB design for 20 years. He can be reached by clicking here. Pro tip: If you're ever moderating a design panel at a trade show and the discussion is starting to lag, just mention Gerber, ODB++, and IPC-2581. You're guaranteed a half-hour of rambunctious conversation, complete with stories of how one format saved the day and that other guy's format almost sank a design project—nay, the entire company, possibly Western civilization. In fact, the only really nasty emails I've ever received (not counting those from ex-wives) have been related to my reporting on data for- mats. In each case, I wasn't even championing one over the other; it's not my job to pick win- ners and losers. I was just passing on informa- tion. But some people come unglued when you say anything negative about their favorite data format, or anything positive about the other guy's favorite. Without picking winners, I think we can agree that all three formats are perfectly capa- ble of transferring your design intent to a fab- ricator and creating a PCB. So, we surveyed our designer readers about their chosen data format. As you can see in Figure 1, it's Gerber's ball game all the way. at makes sense: e PCB design community is chock-full of people who have been designing boards for more than 35 years, and they've been using Gerber for their entire careers. is group of designers is slowly aging out of the industry, and there's a chance that the next generation of designers will embrace the two "intelligent" formats, ODB++ and IPC-2581. Each of these newer formats has its own set of advantages. ODB++, originally a Valor for- mat, was designed to work with Valor CAM tools already in use by many fabricators and assembly providers. And IPC-2581 is now part of IPC's Connected Factory Exchange (CFX) flow, allowing design-through-assembly data transfer. All three formats are currently being used to produce circuit boards. Which brings us