Issue link: https://iconnect007.uberflip.com/i/344372
July 2014 • The PCB Design Magazine 39 CONCURRENT DESIgN continues beyond design • The ability for multiple designers to access and merge a PCB database. • A mechanism to accurately identify and compare databases. • The capacity to display the differences and allow the lead designer to informatively select the best outcome of any conflicts. Also, live collaboration is now possible. Each designer defines a work region and this is dis- played clearly on each designer's database view, enabling the avoidance of conflicts. Other tools allow designers to work with the one database in real time with no need to partition and re-assemble the design. The tool manages edits from all users and continually sends updates to the entire team. Team collaboration can result in extreme reductions in design time with a typical 13 week complex design be- ing reduced to five weeks and in some cases, providing a 60% increase in productivity. 4. Virtual Prototyping: ECAD/MCAD Collaboration Like simulation, the in- tegration of mechanical as- pects of the design process is generally not considered un- til late in the design process. This leaves the design open to change once the mechanical issues have been identified— hence delay. With stylish housings, how do designers fit the tightly packed, complex shaped electronics into the box? Traditionally, design- ers assumed there was no problem and simply handed over the CAD drawing to be manufac- tured. But after years of denial, it has been con- cluded that this approach did not work too well. The challenges that many companies face when they use both 2D and 3D solutions is that these tools are fundamentally disconnect- ed. A design that is created in 2D, in order to be reused in 3D, has to either be imported or recreated into the 3D tool. This disconnection causes inefficiencies in the design process. Also, any changes that are made in the 2D environ- ment are not automatically reflected in 3D. This means that the user either has to go through the re-import process or create the change twice. However, this issue has been overcome by some tools that bridge the gap between elec- tronics and mechanical design so that you can be assured that your product fits together every time. This is accomplished by using 3D DRC in- terference checking at the PCB design level and dynamically linking the 2D back into the 3D design space. This is a great solution to the problem—a native 3D en- vironment. In conclusion, concurrent design offers significant ben- efits to product development teams providing a competi- tive advantage by reducing time-to-market, and cost while providing high-perfor- mance, reliable products on time. Delivering a product on schedule provides higher returns due to a longer pres- ence in the market. This all of course leads to higher profits. Points to Remember • The traditional PCB design process is to execute each stage of the design in sequence. • Concurrent design is the practice of developing prod- ucts, in which the different stages run simultaneously. • Typically, a high-speed computer based product takes two to three iterations to develop a working prototype. This impacts company profit by increasing prototype costs and the time-to-market. • Concurrent engineering gives a competi- tive advantage, enhances productivity and de- creases development time. • Process improvement is a series of actions taken to identify, analyze and improve existing design processes. With stylish housings, how do designers fit the tightly packed, complex shaped electronics into the box? Traditionally, designers assumed there was no problem and simply handed over the CAD drawing to be manufactured. But after years of denial, it has been concluded that this approach did not work too well. " "