Issue link: https://iconnect007.uberflip.com/i/1533085
12 DESIGN007 MAGAZINE I MARCH 2025 dard process for how all outputs and pack- ages should be created. However, many of our customers add their own tweaks. Speaking of language, when fab shops don't have CAM350 and they're using a lower-end tool, I have seen issues flagged as errors when they were not actually errors. It's happened many times. I try to avoid having designers send both Gerbers and ODB++ because invariably, the fab vendor will have differences, and you'll spend a lot of time with the fab vendor trying to resolve this. Kelly Dack: Jen and I have had similar experi- ences. She hit the nail on the head about send- ing ODB++ and Gerber in parallel. One North American supplier built it using the ODB++ data, and when the boards came in, the cus- tomer asked, "Why is this different from the PCBs we received from our offshore supplier?" Well, it turned out they had Gerber data dif- ferent from the ODB++ data. Jen, where does it all start with the design tool? It's so easy for designers to start clicking away and have our layout tools guide us through the process using the standard design rule settings. New design- ers don't know what they don't know, and they may be relying on standard out-of-the-box set- tings from their layout tools. Kolar: Yes, the design tools will let you build something non-manufacturable. ey don't protect you in any way unless you set the rules up properly, which means you actually have to know how to set it up. It's very easy—espe- cially if your customer might make edits and tweak or change something—not to notice that they've removed a clearance or keep-out rule that matters. It's common in complicated designs. We'll do pre-DFM with the fab vendor and they'll say, "Here's what our tolerances are." But when they get the final data, they'll say, "No, we actu- ally can't do that. Now we have to shi this." We see this commonly when we're doing Class 3, even if we tell the fab shop in advance, or even if we're doing our due diligence. To iter- ate with the fab shop on more sophisticated, complicated designs is a moving target. Dack: Oen, we'll have issues when we have a board that's already designed and being quoted for volume fabrication. e problem is that the board shop doesn't see and understand every- thing in a design package; they look at mate- rial usage, layer count, and stackup, but they don't necessarily want to get into the weeds of design performance and take the time to per- form a full DFM review. ey want to give you, in a sense, a budgetary quote because they're quoting dozens of designs per day. Kolar: ey don't have time. Jen Kolar Kelly Dack