IPC International Community magazine an association member publication
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APRIL 2026 I I-CONNECT007 MAGAZINE 19 identify bottlenecks, and test process limits before anyone spends money on laminate and copper. In other words, we can fail faster and far cheaper. Occasionally, we discover that the "impossible" design isn't impossible after all. When DFM Isn't Enough DFM still matters. Many PCB projects still go side- ways because of poor documentation, unrealistic tolerances, or material selections that have no con- nection to the real supply chain. Standards devel- oped by organizations like the Global Electronics Association exist for a reason. Good design still means choosing tolerances that manufacturing can hit, materials that actually exist, and processes that won't cause your fabricator to quietly blacklist you. But there's another idea that needs more discus- sion: Sometimes the infrastructure needed to build the idea simply doesn't exist. When that happens, innovation stalls. Manufacturers might admire the idea, but still decline the job. If you've ever watched "Shark Tank," you've heard the phrase: "Great concept! But for that reason, I'm out." A Lesson From the Space Race History provides a useful reminder. The technologi- cal surge driven by NASA during the space race accelerated countless technologies we now take for granted: integrated circuits, satellite commu- nications, GPS navigation, advanced materials, miniaturized sensors, and entire disciplines like systems engineering. But getting those technologies into everyday products wasn't easy. Many early innovations were classified, expensive, or dependent on specialized manufacturing techniques that didn't exist outside government labs. Eventually, those ideas filtered into the commercial world, but it took time, transla- tion, and a lot of stubborn engineers. The Ecosystem Problem Innovation doesn't happen in isolation; it happens in ecosystems. Government programs fund risky research. Entrepreneurs identify real-world op- portunities. Manufacturers build the infrastructure needed to turn ideas into products. When those three forces line up, industries are born. When they don't, the idea goes back in the drawer. TA RG E T C O N D I T I O N Where Does That Leave Us? The future doesn't belong exclusively to DFM or MFD; we need both. DFM keeps designers from doing ridiculous things that manufacturing can't support. MFD pushes manufacturing to evolve so that tomorrow's ridiculous ideas eventually be- come the norm. Bad design ignores reality. Good design under- stands the ecosystem it lives in and pushes it just far enough to make progress. Bad manufacturing falls behind design trends. Good manufacturing anticipates where those trends are headed. Innovation rarely happens by staying safely inside today's limits. It happens when someone designs something that shouldn't work, and manu- facturing steps in to prove them wrong. Kelly Dack, CIT CID+, specializes in DFx-driven PCB design and applica- tions engineering at Pioneer Circuits, Inc., a global leader in high- reliability flex and rigid-flex printed wiring boards for defense, aviation, near-earth orbit and deep-space exploration systems. To read past columns, click here. Figure 5: GPS III satellite rigid-flex assemblies. (Source: Pioneer Circuits)