FEATURE PARTNER FOCUS
DESIGN FOR MANUFACTURABILITY
One key element that has helped the growth of Circuit Solutions (Cambridge) Ltd., a contract electronics manufacturer, over the last 20 years has been to offer a high level of technical and engineering expertise to their customers at the early stages of product manufacture. The engineering term ‘Design for Manufacturability’ (DFM) captures this expertise when addressing the manufacturing issues that arise and in particular when a new product is introduced into volume production
the manufacturability of the product and ensuring it conforms to the customer’s specifications as well as meeting any industry standards such as IPC or UL.
Other benefits of DFM: • Ensure that efficient volume production
process can start at the earliest timescale
• Capture and resolve any design errors before they can cause any production issues
• Integrate any test procedures for the product directly into the design
• Ensure product rework ability is simplified and easily accessible should there be a requirement during manufacture
• Optimise the manufacturing process to cover SMT and PTH stages, also covering box build, test and packaging
T
he DFM process ensures that most manufacturing issues are identified
and resolved by carrying out a wide range of DFM best practice processes and checks. Circuit Solutions’ aim is to eliminate as many manufacturing issues as possible and review the quality and reliability at the new product introduction stage.
WHAT IS DESIGN FOR MANUFACTURABILITY The definition of Design for Manufacturability is the designing of the product so that it is easy and efficient to Manufacture, while at the same time resolving any bad practices and reducing any potential issues with the product manufacturability. This process of
28 DECEMBER/JANUARY 2021 | ELECTRONICS
designing and engineering the product efficiently and effectively is also aimed to achieve the lowest possible assembly costs for the customer. At Circuit Solutions, the DFM process allows any potential problems to be identified and resolved at the design stage which is the least expensive time to address such issues. The DFM guidelines help to precisely define various tolerances, spacing and placement rules and other common manufacturing checks related to a new product.
BENEFITS OF DESIGN FOR MANUFACTURABILITY Circuit Solutions considers the largest benefit in the DFM process is at the prototype stage where the focus is on
Figure 1: AOI inspection
• Review the PCB design layout ensuring the correct pad sizes match the recommended footprint sizes and positions to the component manufacturer’s data
• Additionally, carry out design rule checks, tolerance analysis and positional check to confirm the manufacturability of the assembly
• Analyse manufacturing costs and recommend any cost savings that can be achieved during the assembly process
• Optimise the PCB panel design and size to fit the assembly process ensuring maximum efficiency. This includes the waste strip, breakout positions and fiducials for alignment. This is carried out as a check list with the PCB manufacturer
• Review the number of different component types, values and sizes and rationalise where possible
/ ELECTRONICS
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