Issue link: https://iconnect007.uberflip.com/i/1470111
JUNE 2022 I DESIGN007 MAGAZINE 23 designing PCBs with a sixth W—with—as in "with all the other PCB design and manufac- turing stakeholder counterparts." I've contemplated a re-write of a general job summary for a PCB designer to somehow reflect this. Job summary: Performs PCB design and CAD layout of complex printed circuit assem- bly products as part of a project team com- prised of procurement, mechanical and elec- trical engineering, fabrication, assembly, and test stakeholders. Works with procurement to maintain awareness of key suppliers, location, logistics, capabilities, and contractual agree- ments. Works with mechanical engineering to evaluate and provide feedback on mechanical design constraints. Works with fabrication and assembly stakeholders to ensure layouts incor- porate design for manufacturing and assembly philosophies which correspond to appropri- ate supplier capability. Works with test engi- neering stakeholders to ensure functional and in-circuit test strategies and requirements are well-defined at the beginning of a project and successfully implemented. The Key to Designing PCBs With But wait a minute here. One PCB designer might be thinking, "Wow, how can one PCB designer be expected to sit alongside so many project stakeholders at once while laying out a PCB? Another may exclaim, "Too many cooks in the kitchen." Still others, shaking their heads with arms folded, may say, "If Peter sees how I've robbed him to pay Paul, there's going to be a fight." Please, let's put this cozy version of designing together aside. It's not where I am going here. e key to designing with will not be found by pushing all the project stakehold- ers together into an office and not letting them out until a viable design is created and released to manufacturing. e key to "designing with" lies in changing the way we think about who has access, and can leverage and add rich improvement, to the source PCB design data throughout the life of a project. Designing with PCB manufacturing stake- holders of the future will require intercon- nection between machines, devices, sensors, and stakeholders who will be communicating with each other using the internet of things. It will require massive collection of information and transparency so that informed decisions can be made over all parts of the manufactur- ing process. It will utilize systems created to help stakeholders with decision making and even utilize systems created to make decisions automatically, all based upon steady streams of gathered data. Industry 4.0, CFX, Intelligent Data Formats, and Lights-out Manufacturing Can we even imagine PCB layout data so powerful, so sharable and visible, that it could be viewed "live" by any and all proj- ect stakeholders 24/7 and run manufacturing systems autonomously—ordering materials, adjusting the bill of materials—even auto- matically updating footprints in the dynamic PCB layout correcting for supply chain issues? It's coming. And I believe this is a whole new take on the concept of "designing with" as I've heard it discussed. It is much different. You may have to make that popular brain-explod- ing gesture with your hands flaring out away from both sides of your head when you begin to grasp what some established electronics industry visionaries consider with regard to designing with. ese folks aren't talking about PCB design- ers sitting down to design with all the other stakeholders and getting their feedback to incorporate into their layout. ey are envi- sioning all stakeholders and their automated machinery having access to the intelligent PCB design data via the internet of things—aer the PCB designer completes the layout—to dynamically and automatically change a design aer the designer is off onto another project. is spin on DWM spreads requirements for production out to the stakeholder ordering and manufacturing maintenance systems which