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Less Is More! Fewer Prototypes Equals More Savings!

By John McMillan

Are you using a Best-In-Class design flow? An Aberdeen study entitled” Why Printed Circuit Board Design Matters to the Executive: How PCBs Are a Strategic Asset for Cost Reduction and Faster Time-to-Market (2/2010)  included an item that really struck me: how best-in-class design processes impact the products bottom-line particularly with regards to PCB design prototypes.

In this study, PCB prototypes were found to represent 31% of the overall product cost. This may surprise you – but, in a nonintegrated design flow, it was found that an average of 14.1 physical prototypes were required for a moderately complex PCB design, that is compared to a “best-in-class” design flow where only 3.8 prototypes were required per design. That’s a huge reduction, particularly when you consider the cost for each of these prototypes averaged $8929.

In a recent TechValidate survey, 60% of PADS customers reported a reduction in the number of prototypes required using PADS’ fully integrated correct-by-design flow. That’s very significant, given that fewer prototypes mean reduced costs, shorter design cycles, and faster time to market. To learn more about the PADS integrated flow and the capabilities of the upcoming PADS VX release, register for our webinar: Redefining Productivity: Faster, Smarter, PADS!  today.

John  @JohnMc_Mentor

 

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This article first appeared on the Siemens Digital Industries Software blog at https://blogs.sw.siemens.com/electronic-systems-design/2014/02/27/less-is-more-fewer-prototypes-equals-more-savings/