Issue link: https://iconnect007.uberflip.com/i/1511130
50 DESIGN007 MAGAZINE I NOVEMBER 2023 ever, processes and procedures are not ever- fresh on their own. ey can get stale quickly and must be reviewed regularly to look for areas needing optimization and enhancement. For example, do you remember many years ago when PCB designers had to create an aperture list with every set of Gerber files that was sent out? I remember how I used to manually optimize my traces and pad sizes to match the limited amount of aper ture p o s i t i o n s o n t h e mechanical aper ture wheel in the photoplotter. ankfully, apertures began to be included in the Gerber file when the file format was updated to RS-274X, which cer tainly made life much more convenient for me as a designer. And yet , many design department processes and procedures continued to insist that a separate aperture file still had to be created along with the set of Gerbers. Why? Look at the processes and proce- dures you have in place to determine whether you can increase your and your staff 's overall efficiency. Here are some areas to keep an eye out for: • Design reviews: ese meetings are essential, but do you need the same reviews you've always done? Many design reviews are driven by the needs and tech- nologies of the time, so something may have changed and made some of these reviews redundant. On the other hand, some of your newer processes may reveal the need for an additional review at a spot you didn't expect. • Workflow: Just as with the aperture list, areas of your documented workflow may have changed. Over time, you and your staff probably have adjusted to these changes without realizing it, and you could be in for some surprises when you hire and train someone new. • SOPs: Like the workflow documentation, CAD departments oen have a bunch of SOPs to help with everything from how to create a padstack to filling out a timecard. While SOPs like this should be docu- mented, more oen than not they exist as hidden text files and sticky notes. Here is where open communica- tion is essential to ensure that everyone in the department is aware of process changes and where to find official docu- mentation on how to stay current with these changes. To keep our department processes from getting "stopped up," we must work diligently to pre- vent our workflows from being unnecessar- ily complex. As we have seen, this includes not only the processes and procedures that guide our groups in their daily work, but also the design rules and constraints used to lay out a circuit board. Until next time, keep on designing everyone—and yes, "live long and prosper." DESIGN007 Tim Haag writes technical, thought-leadership content for First Page Sage on his longtime career as a PCB designer and EDA technolo- gist. To read past columns, click here. To keep our department processes from getting "stopped up," we must work diligently to prevent our workflows from being unnecessarily complex.