Issue link: https://iconnect007.uberflip.com/i/1470111
20 DESIGN007 MAGAZINE I JUNE 2022 Who, what, when, where, why, and with? I've slowly become disillusioned over the past decade with the whole "design-for" schtick. Design for manufacturing or "DFM" has become extremely subjective. I am even becoming hesitant to splatter the acronym "DFM" when referencing job descriptions or when considering a layout tool's manufactur- ing analysis audit because the term is so cli- ché. I know it shouldn't be construed in such a way, but from my perspective, running a DFM check on a PCB design layout is inadequate unless the audit routine checks against the manufacturing constraint values of the volume supplier which, in most cases, it is not until it is too late. Design for Failure Believe it or not, there was a time years ago in PCB design when PCB designers were influ- enced to believe that they alone oversaw the successful outcome of a PCB design project. To them, DFM meant they had convinced them- selves they had the knowledge and capability of producing "camera ready" PCB artwork and foisted their design data down from their perch for use by the nether-realms of manufactur- ing for fabrication, with notes which read like the "thou shalt nots" written on the tablets of stone. "ou shalt not modify this artwork with- out express written consent om company XYZ engineering." Designing With the 5Ws and Other Acronyms Target Condition Feature Column by Kelly Dack, CIT, CID+