Design/test tools slash time to market and costs

In contrast, the best local fabricators in Europe and the USA have procedures in place to analyse customers’ data as it is received, and provide feedback on achieving faster deliveries, lower costs and increased reliability. This support model has one drawback: it is time-consuming at a stage when time to market is critical. The designer must wait for the fabricator to prepare proposals to fix production issues or improve manufacturability. If technical reasons mean the proposals can’t be implemented as they stand, yet more time is lost.

Eurocircuits says online “self-service” DFM tools overcome this drawback. The designer gets immediate answers as soon as required. What solution will work and what not is clear. The designer can experiment with several different solutions, and decide the balance between technology, delivery and cost.

The new tools provide online NPI support.

The Build Editor with around 700 pre-set multilayer builds helps the user to select the best build for his purpose and to specify it exactly (layer order, materials, drill holes including blind/buried vias etc.).

A Rules Engine in the price calculator uses around 300 built-in parameter validation rules to guide the designer towards solutions that are faster to deliver, more reliable and cost less. PCB Configurator analyses the resulting design.

It pinpoints on screen any DRC violations or areas where small DFM changes can reduce costs further (sometimes up to 25%). Using these tools at every stage of PCB layout optimises the NPI workflow.

Other new online tools tackle production requirements which are not well suited to CAD systems. The Panel Editor allows the designer to build a custom delivery panel on screen, and the Marking Editor to add order-specific QR codes, text, date codes and logos.

Design for Test (DFT) is a more recent concept than Design for Manufacturability, but it can play a critical role in cutting time to market.

Eurocircuits’ eC-test-mate has been developed to provide a functional test solution for populated prototype PCBs without the time and cost needed to prepare test fixtures. The hardware comprises a docking station and 3 hand-held test-heads, each containing 21 test pins and the hardware for a specific range of tests.

The designer integrates the eC-test-mate footprints into a PCB layout, and writes a test program using the eC-my-test software, a powerful scripting language based around standard test commands. To test the board, the user simply plugs the test-head into its footprint and runs the test. When the design goes into volume production, the footprints provide a clear, single-sided location for a conventional fixture on production test equipment.

The products will be on show at electronica in Munich (Nov 11-14)