DFMA – Preparing for the Best! - Electronic Systems Design

PCB designers work on a budget for both time and costs. We can’t afford time delays that come from poor planning, taking shortcuts, or absorbing the cost of having boards fabricated that end up in the recycle bin. Every decision has a cost.

In a recent article published by Printed Circuit Design and Fab entitled 6 Pillars of PCB DFMA Success, I discuss six areas of DFMA (design for manufacturability and assembly) to consider throughout different areas of the design flow to help ensure that product designs are formally evaluated, product cost is low, that the process cycle time optimal, and that designs achieve the highest possible fabrication yields.

The 6 questions I’m suggesting you ask yourself during PCB design are:

1. Is your design overweight with unnecessary components?
2. Are you over-constraining your design?
3. How does virtually prototyping your design help?
4. Do you have a test plan in place early on?
5. How do you avoid issues with solder paste aspect ratios?
6. Does your PCB fabricator tweak deigns to improve yields?

When DFMA is considered throughout the design flow, it helps ensure the PCB manufacturing and assembly goes smoothly, stays on schedule and the end-product is of the highest quality and reliability.

PCB Handshake — Partner with your fabricator to ensure fabrication success.

Click here to read the article in Printed Circuit Design and Fab entitled 6 Pillars of PCB DFMA Success. Also take a look at this webinar entitled: Implementing Lean Manufacturing in to Your Current PADS Flow to learn how to Identify and resolve manufacturability obstacles before production in the PADS flow with Valor DFM Analysis technology and communicate design intent with ODB++. And, watch this short video on Ensuring Manufacturability of your PCB designs.