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Inexpensive CAD Software, Expensive Design?
By W. Scott Fillebrown, CTO, Libra Industries
clunky. We have gone from big through-hole devices to chip scale leadless de- vices, even at times stacking parts on top of each other. During this period, we have seen the cost of CAD software tools go from being a major capital expen- diture to, in some cases, costing very little. These low-cost tools have allowed electrical engineers to transition easily from engineer to PCB designer, with a click of a mouse. The question that needs to be asked, however, is this: Does this approach create a cost-effective design? The answer to this question is a clear and decisive “maybe!” While this
T
seems like a simple question, there are actually several considerations to make. First it is important to understand the issue. To a certain point, there is nothing wrong with buying inexpensive CAD software. One of the changes over the years has been a company’s ability to buy a CAD tool that fits its needs. So if the issue is not the software, then what is? The answer is simple: It is who is sitting behind the software; no one becomes a designer with a sim- ple click of a mouse.
Dedicated Designer A professional PCB designer should not be perceived as an expense but
instead considered as an investment in the future of a company — one that will always have a positive ROI. Here are a few of the benefits of using a ca- reer designer:
Trained specifically in design. The professional designer has the experi- ence and training needed to complete a design using the latest manufacturing techniques. Typically they have a broader background, which gives them the ability to use knowledge from previous experience to ensure a quality design.
Minor mistakes in the design will result in delays and added costs. One minor design decision change or correction can cost a significant amount of money in the life of a product and may not be apparent. The designer is respon- sible for bringing the three major areas together — engineering, bareboard man- ufacturing and the assembly facility —balancing the cost tradeoffs to produce the most cost-effective product possible. It is not so much about avoiding the obvious potholes, but rather the little things that add up over time.
The material matters in material handling
Ability to focus on the single task of design. Having a design house or an internal designer handle layout will free up the resources of the electrical en- gineers, allowing them time in the lab or time to work on another board. It also allows singular focus on what can be a complex task, resulting in a faster design time, because the designer uses the layout software on a daily basis and knows it better than the occasional user. To be clear though, there are electrical engineers who can design, and
there is a time and place for that approach. The next step is to understand a few of the questions to ask before proceeding.
On to Production The first question to answer is the number of boards to be built. The
Exceeds ANSI/ESD standards for ESD protection Working range of –60° to 250° F Permanent ESD properties over life of product High load-bearing capacity
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lower the quantity of the boards, the more likely that manufacturers can over- come design-related issues. It is one thing to fix a design issue on 25 boards, but it is another to correct the same problem on 2,500. This is one of the biggest hidden costs with volume production: the loss of time due to avoidable design mistakes, whether it is at the fabrication level or the assembly level. Most assemblies are straightforward and can be produced easily if industry standard pad geometries are used. Of course, there are times that technology becomes the major driver. Technology can be a good reason for an engineer to perform his/her own
design, as in the case of RF circuitry. As previously mentioned, it is their job to gather information from board and assembly suppliers to make sure the board is designed for success. Packages like flip chip/CSPs take time and ex- perience that comes from designing as a daily profession, not a “once every few months designer.” Library sharing is just the beginning; there are placement challenges with those parts and others. One of the most common issues is ceramic capacitors placed too close and
parallel to the board edge. This puts the board at risk during depaneling where micro cracks can be created, causing a catastrophic failure, including the risk of fire. Routing is yet another area in which the professional design- er shines. Whether it is differential pairs, parallelism, controlled impedance or simply the latest memory buss, they will bring a vast background of indus- try knowledge to accomplish the task in an efficient way. If you are producing high-volume, advanced technologies or require high
reliability, it is clear that you should use a PCB layout professional for quali- ty and financial reasons. However, if you are only creating small quantities, have few reliability issues or lower-end electronics, then the decision is sim- ply a financial one. The final question to ask is if laying out a board is more important, or if there is a higher priority for the electrical engineer. Either way, the upside of an OEM having CAD tools is the added ability for the lay- out professional and the electrical engineer to effectively communicate
throughout the design process. Contact: Libra Industries, 7770 Division Drive, Mentor, OH 44060 % 440-974-7770 E-mail:
sales@libraind.com Web:
www.libraindustries.com r
he last 30 years have borne witness to incredible changes in the PCB, the backbone of any electronic product design. Package sizes that we thought were small and powerful are now are considered to be big and
June, 2016
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