There is a large knowledge gap between designers and production companies regarding the feasibility of electronics. Dirk Stans from Eurocircuits will explain during the D&E event what the pain points are and how these pain points can be addressed. With a dose of common sense and the use of the free-to-use Visualizer smart tools from Eurocircuits, it should be possible for designers to create a layout that is “right first time for manufacturing”. FHI spoke to him briefly.
By: Dimitri Reijerman
Dirk Stans states: “The lack of knowledge about the feasibility of electronics among electronics designers is a very old problem. We are dealing with two different worlds here. The electronics developers think about electronic functionality and move in the world of CAD (Computer-Aided Design). PCB and EMS production companies are focused on manufacturability and are moving in the CAM world (Computer-Aided Manufacturing).”
He continues: “These two worlds each use their own systems (CAD and CAM) to handle data. So in addition to a different focus, they each also have different tools with which they work. So the big question is: how do you connect those two different worlds. It is clearly necessary that the design world knows what is feasible. At the same time, it is necessary that the manufacturing industry receives the design data correctly and that it is understandable and producible. So how do you bridge the gap between CAD and CAM?”
According to Stans, the first question is: “How do you build a dialogue between designers and producers? Traditionally, companies do this with a one-on-one relationship. Many PCB and EMS companies can do it this way because they thrive on a business with only twenty to a hundred customers. But how do you do that when you have thousands of customers? Then it is no longer applicable. At Eurocircuits, with more than twenty thousand online users, we have managed to achieve this dialogue with the design world in a different way.”
Solutions
“Eurocircuits opted for the constant supply of knowledge to the design (CAD) world on the one hand and for the development of an extensive free toolset that can be used by the developer on the other hand,” says Stans: “From the CAM side we have to understand the market, the electronics designers in particular, offer technical information regarding manufacturability in a user-friendly manner so that it can easily be found and designers deliver designs right first time for manufacture. In addition to the technical content that mainly describes the how and why of the manufacturing options, we mainly offer very practical help in the form of design rules, buildups and indications of what works with what kind of PCBs. Traditionally, this information had to be obtained from catalogues, but no one reads it anymore. That's why we've developed a smart tool that provides designers with everything they need to know. When choosing the desired technical parameters for the PCB, we can validate the design per selection and indicate whether there are any impossibilities. In this way we offer the feasibility conditions on a silver platter.”
“We have been working on these tools for ten years, which now contain a huge amount of information,” Stans concludes his story. “In addition, designers use our tools to extract the DRC values that are important to them and enter them in their CAD package. This way they get started with the right buildup and the right design parameters. This way, customers virtually no longer make mistakes and they receive their PCBs on time.”
Are you curious about Dirk Stans' lecture? Then click here to register for a free event visit.
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