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Design007-Jan2024

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38 DESIGN007 MAGAZINE I JANUARY 2024 • Start capturing some of these standards and get them documented. Even if all you do is create some simple bullet points, it's a good place to begin. You don't have to start out by trying to write a novel; just get the basics down in one place. Once you gather some of these ideas, you will prob- ably find that they will start flowing into what will eventually become a good work- ing document. • Once your documentation starts to build up, make sure that it is published for all to see and incorporate its use in your job requirements. It is important that design- ers see quality as an important part of their overall job performance. 3. Automate It Now that you've started the process of creat- ing your DFM documentation and are enforc- ing its use by the design team, the next step is to automate. Look for ways to incorporate automated DFM checking into the design process, because there is a big difference out there in how this is being done. Some design teams don't have any DFM checking processes in place and rely solely on their manufacturer to find, report, and even fix DFM errors. Oth- ers will perform only a visual check of their designs, while others have built in a very sophisticated automated checking process. Traditionally, automated DFM checking has been handled by the manufacturing vendors with their results reported back to the original designers. Any problems that are found require design changes, and sometimes the board lay- out has to be completely redone to resolve any bugs found by the manufacturer. Since these same types of DFM checking tools used by manufacturers are available to design teams, engineering teams should put them to work. ere are a lot of applications that will incor- porate DFM checking into the design process, and it may even be that the tools you're using have some new and enhanced features built in that can help. Believe me, full DFM checking by the engineering team before the design goes to manufacturing will save you a lot of time and effort later. But there's still one important step that can potentially save your design team a lot of time and effort: Communication. How Can We Make It All Work? One of the best things we can do to help the relationship between design teams and our manufacturing partners is to improve com- munications. Too oen this relationship has been looked at as one of merely throwing the design "over the wall." at may have worked in the past, but it's very outdated considering the amount of information that needs to be exchanged between engineering and manu- facturing for a design. rowing things over the wall is just as likely to end up hitting you squarely in the head and knocking you flat. I know it's tempting to want to dump the com- pleted design in someone else's hands and move on to the next exciting project, but that doesn't work anymore. Our goal as designers should be to see the project through all the way from inception to completion, and that means partnering with our manufacturing vendors to accomplish this task together. One way to strengthen communication is to encourage participation between designers and manufacturers. Many vendors will happily schedule an onsite visit so you can see exactly what happens during the production of your circuit board. Manufacturers also put a high value on pre-design meetings, design reviews, and in-process questions and check-ins. So, do yourself a favor and spend some time with the people who will build what you design. In the long run it can only help you to design a bet- ter product and grow in your career. Until next time, everyone, keep on designing. DESIGN007 Tim Haag writes technical, thought-leadership content for First Page Sage on his longtime career as a PCB designer and EDA technologist. To read past columns, click here.

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