Issue link: https://iconnect007.uberflip.com/i/1538269
36 DESIGN007 MAGAZINE I AUGUST 2025 TA RG E T C O N D I T I O N By a show of hands, how many PCB designers have been asked to start a layout without a board outline, keep-out zones, or even height constraints? How many have had to work within a specific enclosure before the schematic was finalized? If this sounds familiar, you're not alone. Starting a PCB layout with- out critical constraints is like hir- ing an interior designer to buy fur- Floor Planning Without a Floor by Kelly Dack , CIT, CID+ niture and carpet for a house you haven't even purchased yet, or, even worse, trying to fit four bedrooms' worth of furniture in a one- room cabin. Premature Initiation Beginning your PCB layout before key constraints are known isn't just a waste of time; it leads to manufacturing delays, rework, and performance issues later in the development cycle. We all talk about "early collaboration" in PCB design, but too often this term is treated like a cheap buzzword—a 25-cent cliché that's used to jus- tify skipping protocol and pushing designers to "just get started." Some project managers seem to believe PCB designers have noth-