Issue link: https://iconnect007.uberflip.com/i/1470111
10 DESIGN007 MAGAZINE I JUNE 2022 Feature Interview by the I-Connect007 Editorial Team When we started planning this issue of design with manufacturing, or DWM, we knew we needed I-Connect007 columnist Dana Korf to weigh in on this new acronym, and what true DWM would look like in operation. In this interview, Dana explains what it will take to achieve total communication among all the stakeholders in the PCB development cycle. He also stresses the need for everyone involved in PCB design and manufacturing to stop making assumptions, even at the risk of being labeled as "that guy" who asks too many questions. Andy Shaughnessy: Dana, we're hearing more talk about design with manufacturing, or DWM. For all the talk about DFM, communi- cation among the designers, fabricators, and assemblers just doesn't happen as oen as we might expect. In your opinion, what does true DWM look like? And how do we get designers and manufacturers to embrace it? What Happens When You Assume? Dana Korf: When I first heard about DWM, I thought it implied we were currently design- ing without manufacturing. I'm not clear what it actually means because that's what we're doing today. I've simplified the problem into three parts. First, the fabricators don't provide all the design rules that front-end engineering uses to evaluate a design for their customers. In some companies, the process engineers won't tell the front-end engineers all the rules. Second, the data transfer we're using is based on an N/C technique from the 1950s, with a lot of files, and people have to unintelligently guess what the data is supposed to be instead of using more intelligent formats like IPC-2581 or ODB++. Neither intelligent format is per- fect, but they're definitely better than Gerber- based packages. ird, the design tool can't utilize the fabricator design rules even if they were provided.