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36 DESIGN007 MAGAZINE I JANUARY 2024 ments come from an outside vendor. Design teams oen are more concerned about whether their design is functioning as intended, as opposed to how it gets built. On the other hand, the manufacturer can be more focused on building the design rather than on how it will function once it is built. For the PCB layout engineer, it is essential to realize that neither should be labeled as "the bad guys." Instead, they both have important needs that must be met. I have spoken with many different compa- nies, and have found that adherence to manu- facturing requirements in PCB layout varies quite a bit. On one side are those design groups that don't exercise a lot of caution when it comes to manufacturing requirements. ese are oen designs produced in lower numbers, and error-free yields aren't their primary con- cern. e boards are manufactured knowing they will require a lot of manual clean-up to get working units finished. On the flip side are those companies whose designs are produced in high numbers, and error-free manufacturing is critical to cutting costs. e manufacturing requirements are usually very detailed and process automation is essential to reduce overhead and increase yields. As you would expect, some companies fall between these two extremes. Many of these companies will use different levels of manufac- turing requirements depending on the needs of the project, such as prototype vs. regular production builds. But whether your design team is building prototypes or high-production runs, your suc- cess lies in understanding how to work with your manufacturer. DFM: A Bridge Between Design and Manufacturing e key to designing circuit boards that can be successfully manufactured with minimal errors is to follow design for manufacturing (DFM) rules. We are all familiar with our CAD system's suite of DFM checking routines, but design for manufacturability is more than just checking off a standard list of rules. It means working with your manufacturer to find out what they need before you hand them the