New Paradigm for Design Through Manufacture

Michael Ford
Mentor Graphics, Wilsonville, OR USA

Working through the New Product Introduction (NPI) flow between the product design and manufacturing is usually a challenging process, with both parties being experts in their own fields and inextricably linked in the flow of getting a new, differentiated product from an idea into physical, profitable reality. Suggestions intended to reduce costs and improve time-to-market are often met with reluctance due to an inability to effectively communicate between these diverse technology cultures.

PCB systems design follows basic or generic manufacturing rules, but still, the manufacturer will find many issues or "opportunities to improve" in each design. Any one of these opportunities can be result in significant cost savings; a small correction up-stream can result in a huge saving when scaled by the volume of manufacturing. The cost of the design alteration "spin" however is also high and potentially delays the product release.

Another factor is the quality of information passed to the manufacturer from the designers. In most cases this is, for example, basic Gerber data format, which must be reverse-engineered, introducing potential for errors and variation. Time needed to reverse-engineer the data results in the reported opportunities to improve often coming too late and less effective than they could be.

A breakthrough, practical methodology to represent and communicate manufacturer's needs, capabilities, and preferences upstream to the design process would reduce or eliminate the need for respins. Conversely, going down-stream, the manufacturer wants all of the information required to set and prepare processes without reverse engineering.

This paper explores manufacturing needs, and benefits to both design and manufacturing as well as the benefits of efficient transfer of key information from design into manufacturing, eliminating reverse engineering. Together these define a new paradigm for Design to Manufacturing.