Zuken incorporates Würth Elektronik design for manufacturing rules into CADSTAR

Stefan Keller, Product Manager for HDI/Microvia at Würth Elektronik said, We’ve defined a shared set of design principles for PCB features such as layer stack-ups, route-widths, spacing and via sizes. By implementing them as templates in CADSTAR during the layout process, we can achieve significant benefits in reliability and efficiency for developers, designers and manufacturers.

Communication increases reliability and efficiency
With PCB designs becoming more complicated and manufacturing costs squeezed, it is more important for PCB designers to communicate design details to their PCB manufacturers at an early stage. Ignoring this step can lead to unbalanced designs, inaccurate design data, increased costs and reduced reliability. Zuken and Würth Elektronik’s collaboration addresses this critical issue.

Jeroen Leinders, the CADSTAR Distribution Manager at Zuken said, The adverse effects of design data not defined with upfront manufacturer-driven rules occur mostly when designing complex, high-speed printed circuit boards. For impedance-controlled boards with fine pitch BGA components and HDI microvias, the layer structure must be designed with precision and specifications of both the components and PCB manufacturer must be considered.

Würth Elektronik’s design rules and layer structures will be incorporated into the latest version of CADSTAR as templates which can be applied during the layout process. They will be available for download from Zuken Global Support for all on-maintenance customers.

This collaboration also means that PCB designers can look forward to further design for manufacturing improvements in the future.