12/21/2015 DesigningforManufacturability

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DesigningforManufacturability
August26,2015byTrentZiemer(/author/trentziemer)

Howtomakeelectricalplatformsthatcanbeeasily,cheaply,
andquicklymanufactured.

Let'ssayyouhaveagreatidea.Itinvolveselectronics,itworks,anditwillsell.
Youhaveitandpeoplewanttobuyit.Youcreatedaschematic,afew
prototypes,andanestimateofyourreturnoninvestment.Let'smakesome
moneyandgetthisthingintopeople'shands!

Intermsofmanufacturing,however,you'vegotnothing.

Thereisahugegapbetweenagreatideacomingfromagreatengineerevenif
youhaveafleshedoutconceptandbeingabletomakeonethousandorone
millionoftheproduct.Withsoftware,it'seasy,butwithhardware?It'salongroad
fraughtwithperil,paperwork,andpainfuldesignrevisionsunlessyoudoitright
thefirsttime.Properlyplanningyourelectronicdesignsiscritical.Proper
considerationoflargescaleproductionforthedesignisevenmorecritical.

Yourfirsttwodecisionsarebetweenbasingyourdesignaroundaprototype
boardoraprintedcircuitboard,andbetweenusingthroughholecomponents,
surfacemountdevices(SMDs),oramixofboth.

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12/21/2015 DesigningforManufacturability

TypicalPCBs.

Prototypeboardsaregenerallycheaperforsmallscaleproductionbecausethey
don'trequireexpensivespecializedequipment,whilePCBsrequireinvestments
ineitherasoldermaskmachine,apickandplacemachine,andareflow
solderingoven,orathirdpartytodoitallforyou.Thisgreatlyincreasesupfront
costs,sosurfacemountboardsareusuallymoreexpensiveunlessyouwillbe
makingtensofthousandsofboards.Designsthatuseprototypeboardscanbe
quicklyandcheaplymadefrompartsyoucangetatalocaltechstoreanddon't
requireproficiencywithelectronicdesignautomationsoftware(i.e.CADfor
electricalengineers)however,arobustPCBdesignismoreflexibleincost
requirementsforlargescaleboardproductions.

Thefirststepisusuallydeterminingifonemethodsimplywontworkforyour
designduetosomeexternalconstraint,suchasyourcompanysusual
methodology.Ifbothmethodsareavailabletoyou,aninformedengineering
decisionshouldbebasedoffofcostestimationsforeachmethod.However,
somedesignsarecheapestwhentheyusebothmethods:throughhole
componentsforlargeresistorsandcapacitors,andsurfacemountcomponents
forintegratedcircuitsandlowpowerconsumptionparts.

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Throughholecomponents.

Muchoftheminiaturizationofmodernelectronicscomesfromwelldesignedand
extremelyspecializedprintedboardsthatarecustommadeinsteadof
prototypeboardsthatuseexclusivelythroughholeparts.PCBscanbemadeto
beverycompactusingsurfacemountdevicesthatcomeinavarietyofsizes,
includingresistorsassmallasafifthofamillimeterwideandintegratedcircuits
thathavemorethan100pinsinasquareinch.Integratedcircuitsforprototype
boardsaretypicallylimitedtodualinlinepackages(DIPxx,forthenumberof
pinstheyhave)whosepinsaremuchlargerthanthepinsavailableforICson
PCBs.TheseICpackagescanhaveamuchhigherconcentrationofpinsfora
givensurfaceareabyputtinghugearraysofpins*under*thepackageitself,
whicharethensecuredduringthespecializedreflowsolderingprocessthat
PCBsundergo.Exceptwhenthelargesizeofthroughholepartscomesinhandy
forheatdissipationpurposes,itistypicallybettertousePCBandSMDboards
formassiveautomatedproduction.

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12/21/2015 DesigningforManufacturability

TypicalSMDboard.

ThereareseveralaspectsofPCBbaseddesignthatrequirespecialattention
duringthedesignphase.Whileprototypeboarddimensionsarepredetermined
bythevendor,adesignerisfreetochooseanysizetrace(aPCBwire)andany
distancebetweentracesorcomponentsonPCBs.Withcompleteflexibilityinthe
rangeofpossiblelayouts,thepropertiesofyourcircuit'ssignalsandthephysical
boardstructuremakeitnecessarytodesignandarrangeyourboardwith
caution.Forexample,signalsthatareverysensitivetonoiseshouldnotrun
closelytoanypowersupplies,highcurrent,ormagneticcomponents,andthere
isalimittohowclosetwotracescanbe.Componentpadsshouldbeproperly
sizedsothatthecorrectpartcanfitonthemwithoutoverhangingontoanother
pad.Holesthataretobedrilledinyourboardandplatedviasthatcarrysignals
fromoneplanetoanotherneedtobeproperlymeasuredandhaveamaximum
toleranceassociatedwiththembeforebeingfinalized.Aviathatistoosmall
mightnotreceivethecorrectamountofcopperplatingtoconductitssignal,while
aholethatendsupbeingtoolargemightclipordestroyanearbypad.
Consideringpossiblemanufacturingerrorsinthecreationoftheprintedboardis
alsoacriticalstepinmakingsurethatyourlayoutwillmeetspecifications.There
isahugenumberoffactors,bothelectricalandmechanical,thatconstrainthe
physicallayoutofyourboardandrequireathoroughunderstandingofwhat
restrictionsapplytoyourdesign.Ultimately,itisimpossibletoreplaceexperience
withtheboardlayoutprocesswithanythingbuttakingthetimetolayoutaboard.

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12/21/2015 DesigningforManufacturability

Typicalboardlayout.

Aftercreationoftheprintedboardsthemselves,thenextstepistoapplythesilk
screenandaddcomponents.Insupportofthismanufacturingstep,yourboards
shouldbeclearlylabeledtoassistwithassembly,revisionandpartnumbers,and
partoutlines.Whilesomeonewithtechnicalknowledgeoftheboardshouldbe
availabletothemanufacturers,incorporatingthatinformationintotheboarditself
easilypreventsmanycommonissues.Makesurethatthetechnicians,
assemblers,andanyoneelsewhomightseeorhandlethePCBscaneasilyfind
outwhattheproductis,whatstageitisin,howitshouldbeorientedfor
assembly,andwhetherornotthepartshavebeencorrectlyplacedontothe
board.Rememberthatyourboardtextforthemanufacturersissometimesyour
onlyformofcommunicationwiththem,andevenaslighterrorcanmakean
entireboardorpanelofboardsworthless.

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12/21/2015 DesigningforManufacturability

MakingsurethePCB'stextiscorrectisvitaltothesuccessofyourproject.

However,iftheerrorisnotdiscovereduntiltheboardhasbeenshippedtoits
applicationtheconsequencesarefarmoredire.Oftentimesthebestcase
scenarioisthatyourcompanydisappointsacustomerandhastopayfor
potentiallythousandsofdollarsinshippingandpartcosts,whiletheworstisloss
oflife.Efficientlyyetreliablytestingyourboardandmakingaplan,whether
cursoryorextensive,tovalidatethatyourboardsarereadyfortheirapplicationis
akeystepintheoverallengineeringdesignprocess.

Oneofthemorestraightforwardmethodsoftestinginvolvessimplyplacingyour
productintoitsapplicationbeforeitleavesthemanufacturingcenter.Thiswill
workforsimpleelectronicslikelights,powersupplies,andanalogdevices,butit
isnotsufficienttoprovethatyourdesigncanwithstandrepeateduse,thetestof
time,orcomplexuserinterface.Thismethodmayalsonotbeefficientforlarge
quantitiesofproduct,orwhentheproductistimeconsumingordifficulttoplace
intoitsapplication.Commonindustrialpracticeistobuildtestfixtures,which
mightbeadesignprojectoftheirown,thatcaneasilyprovidearangeofinputs
andclearlyindicatesuccessorfailuretothetester.Considertheadvantagesof
creatingaspecializedbedofnailsdevicewhichcaneasilyandsimultaneously
testallboardsfromaPCBbatch.

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Thebedofnailstest.

Forproductsthatmustbedurabletohumaninteractionorwithstandmanyhours
inthefield,itisoftenbesttotakeasmallsampleofeachbatchandstresstest
theminashortenedtimeframeorbeginconductingtestsbeforetheproductwill
beavailableforsale.Manyadvancedsystemslikecomputers,avionics,and
mobiledevicesaretooflexibletopossiblytestallpossibleconditionsandinputs
atahardwarelevelandrequiremorethoroughvalidation.Theseproductsmust
bedesignedtowithstandvaryinginputsandhavebuiltinsafetyfactorstomisuse
andstillmustbetestedthoroughlyintheirapplications.

Oncethedesignhasbeensetandthetimecomestostartmakingtrialrunsof
yourproduct,theroleofthedesignerbacksoff,andtheroleofthemanufacturer
takesover.Theengineer,whilecontinuingontothenextproject,muststill
supporttheprojectasittransitionsfromdesigntoproduct.Askyourself,or
others,howyoucanhelp.Therewillbeissuesateverystageoftheprocess.
Maybethecompanywhomakestheboardsdoesn'thavethecapabilitytodrill
holesofthesizeyouwantforasetofpins.Thecomponentsupplierranoutof
yourpowersupplydevicerightbeforegettingtoyourorder.Thecompanywho
placescomponentsontoyourboardcan'tseemtogetR1,R3,andD2tosolder
welltothepads.Unforeseeablecircumstancesarehardtoavoidbutproper
oversighteasesthisprocess.

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12/21/2015 DesigningforManufacturability

Testingwithamultimeterhelpsproblemsdowntheroad.

Remembertoalwaysvalidateyourtestingperiodicallysimplechecksfroma
humanbeingcangoalongway.Hiringapersonwithamultimetertocheck
continuitybetweentwopointsinacircuit,evenifheonlytouches1%ofyour
productisasimplewaytomakesureyoudon'tgetanangrycallfroma
customer.Visitingthemanufacturingcenterandtestingthatyourtestfixtures
themselvesstillworkafterafewmonthscanpreventthousandsofdollarsofloss.
Manufacturinggroupsmayormaynothavethecapabilitytodiscoverorsolve
theseproblemsbeforetheybecomeamassivepainforyou,anditisuptoyouto
beapairofwatchfuleyesasworkontheproductistakenfromyourhandsand
giventothemanufacturer.

WHOWEARE

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