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14 The PCB Design Magazine • July 2015 system in place to set the arena for managing the supply chain. If we define the PCB design supply chain as resources involved in moving from concept or design requirements to PCB delivered to end- customer, we see a better graphical representa- tion of the supply chain in Figure 3. Figure 1 may be highly simplified, while Figure 3 might be over-complicated, depend- ing on your view. But they all depict examples of a PCB design supply chain, with a design-to- product process that is loosely the same, differ- ing only in amounts of detail. What happens in between these charts may be contributed to design complexity, company infrastructure, de- sign processes and a myriad other possible as- pects that impact how PCB designs flow from design-to-product. A variety of mega-overhead, non-design oriented offices are involved in the process of PCB design. To be successful in today's time-to-market metrics-driven design environment, many com- panies have discerned that the supply chain for the design-to-product process must be tightly managed. If implemented well, supply chain management can be a game-changer in the pos- itive aspect. A well-managed supply chain leads to a vari- ety of positive outcomes, such as feedback from the fabricators and assembly folks. Any errors within a design are transmitted back into the design process to be fixed and to stop the repeat offenders. Some other issues that a managed supply chain can preclude: 1. Fab notes that are ambiguous, causing fab delay awaiting clarification. 2. New fab processes used in a design without fabricator interface and input, causing delays. 3. Fab data anomalies, errors and bad application of design parameters. 4. Less-than-desired component placement or land pattern. 5. No process called for special assemblage. Reducing these items would be a definite plus for reduction in time-to-market. There can also be some advantages upfront in the design process: 1. Standardizing parts and suppliers. 2. Board design rules by organization or company interest. 3. Design rules for DFF/DFM and different technologies. 4. Having a central library with active procurement data to minimize obsolete/ high price point part selection. There can be some very positive impacts with a managed supply chain. But a supply chain that is poorly implemented could be a bit of a hindrance to the design-to-product process. SUPPLy CHAIN CHALLENGES AND OPPORTUNITIES continues feature Figure 3: a more complete chart of a design-to-product supply chain.