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PCB007-Mar2024

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80 PCB007 MAGAZINE I MARCH 2024 Are you suggesting that once laser drilling is necessary, you should just use it as your default? You would have fewer mechanically-drilled holes, but once a designer has introduced microvias due to the complexity of the design, then they should use them to the fullest extent because they'll save a lot of electricity and time used in the drilling process. Mechanical drill is the most time-consuming process in PCB fab- rication. When you have a large production panel and 20,000 holes, that takes hours on a mechanical drill whereas 20,000 laser-drilled holes will take two to five minutes. You have to consider lamination steps and the pressing of the material for every two layers that you are adding, but since you have already intro- duced microvias and multiple lamination into the process, you are unlikely to be increasing the lamination cycles by adding more microvia connections. That is a perspective on utilizing laser drill that I don't think I've heard anybody express, but it makes a lot of sense. Value Engineering That's a great segue into a discussion on value engineering. How are some of the ways that ICAPE Group adds value for customers from the design phase all the way through the manufacturing process? ere is a lot that ICAPE does with and for customers, but the greatest value comes when we are able to engage with the customer early on with their PCB design. ere are a lot of choices to be made by a designer. What core thicknesses do you need? What prepreg styles? What copper thickness? We help with these decisions. An area where we oen support our customers is PCB specifications. We know from experience that this is a weak spot for many customers: specifying correctly so they get what they want in the end product. Most of the time, they know what they want, but oen don't know how to describe it. So, we clear up any misunderstandings, address their doubts, and solve their problems. It is certainly the case that designers are focused on what their performance specifica- tions are, but they also must make sure that they are implementing in the board exactly what's on their schematic. There is a lot of focus on their layout to make sure that it is electrically correct with the schematic, but there is so much more to consider regarding manufacturability, and increasingly the mate- rials themselves—different metals, and even copper smoothness—which all plays into speed and signal integrity and manufacturability. Oftentimes, these things are at odds. Managing those physical attributes is key to achieving the same or better performance. is is where ICAPE adds great value. Of course, quality is one of the best gateways to cost sav- ings. As an example, a few years ago, I was asked to do a review of a flex PCB design for an exo- skeleton muscle-stimulating suit to be used for the physically

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