Issue link: https://iconnect007.uberflip.com/i/1475604
12 DESIGN007 MAGAZINE I AUGUST 2022 cator, depending on their eight-layer through- holes and what they charge, will have different RCIs. But at least RCIs give you some help in design when you're comparing alternatives. Matties: Are the designers driven to reduce cost or conserve material, or are they just driven by schedule? Holden: ey're singularly driven by schedule. Matties: Now with supply chain issues hitting, I would think that they have to now start think- ing about reducing the number of materials they use in each PCB. Holden: Ah, yes, and that's the big bugaboo. is came out of nothing. Now that people can't get to components, they have to change the component, which changes its footprint, etc. e whole supply chain and virus lock- down has changed many rules, but nothing is available. Nobody was prepared for this. I've had that RCI chart out for 30 years now. Manufacturers actually like how bad design- ers are because that gives them a much greater profit. If designers were designing optimally, much of their extra profits would go away, so what's their incentive to educate the designer to do it better? Matties: at's the question that's percolating in my mind. What's the incentive for the designer to conserve material? Holden: Right now, his biggest incentive is get- ting his boards out, and figuring out what he's going to do when fabricators come back with a huge increase in pricing on materials because of the scarcity. Matties: Inflation is the driver, of course. We have to lower the cost by whatever means we have, because of supply chain issues. So, you have double incentive to create a shi in the paradigm. Holden: Yes, but nobody teaches this. So, how does a designer learn this? Dan Feinberg: Happy, I don't think that the design team's management rewards them for this sort of behavior. Holden: Yes. It certainly will punish them if they don't meet the schedule, but it won't necessar- ily reward them. You're right. Matties: So, you fall back on tried-and-true methods. You just need to make sure that this is functional, rather than spending a lot of time saving the company money when there's little in it for you individually. Holden: If you sandbag and over-design a board, it still works, and only its cost goes up. But if you're trying to minimize the cost, then you've taken on risk, in terms of meeting the schedule and everything else. You know how much everybody likes to avoid risk. e solu- tion to risk aversion is just to make things more complicated and expensive. At least it won't come back to you. Feinberg: ere's one factor that we're not talk- ing about: ere's the cost of materials and of design, but let's not forget profit. You must put Happy Holden