Why Design for Manufacturability is Important for PCB Design

If you own a company that provides PCB layout and PCB design services, then you probably use the term ‘Design for Manufacturability’ (DFM) quite a bit. Everyone in the PCB designing industry knows that DFM is a method used to create PCB products that can be easily manufactured. It includes a list of practices that are designed to benefit both the manufacturer and the end customer.

DFM has now become more important than ever. It is been a crucial aspect for creating good turnaround time on PCB designs. However, there is still a disparity between the PCB layout created by the designers, and what the fabricator needs to make a functional and durable product.

IPC has tried to solve this problem by creating DFX – Design for ‘X’. In DFX, the designers are trained to understand all the manufacturing aspects such as materials, processes, steps, etc. so that they create a PCB design that can be easily manufactured.

Why DFX is Vital for PCB Designers ?

While this can be quite a time consuming process, it is extremely important for designers to be aware of the fabrication process and the limitations within the same. This is particularly true when the board may be a flex or a rigid-flex type that is small in size. An example can provide more clarity on this subject.

If a PCB has narrow flex sections, the polyimide coverlay film would have to extend over the entire lamination of the board. This would lead to adhesive layers being used to adhere to the polyimide coverlay. If the PCB has three or more rigid layers, this would amount to an immensely populated PCB. Also, the adhesive layers would expand during the soldering process, thus, effectively covering the vias.

If a fabricator finds this, he would realize that the PCB would work ineffectively due to these problems. This would also lead to overtime as the designer would have to make changes first in his layout and then the PCB would be fabricated.

All of these problems can be reduced when the best practices of Design for Manufacturability are used throughout the PCB layout and PCB design processes.