“What do PCB fabricators do with my data before they make my PCB?”

 

“Why can’t they use my data just as I sent it in?” “Why do I need to know? I’m an electronics engineer and they are the board fabricators?”. Our new white paper, “Front-end data preparation”, answers these questions.

An understanding of the front-end data preparation process is important for two reasons, speed and cost. PCBs for time-critical applications need to be delivered fast and on time. If information is missing from the data set supplied or if it is ambiguous or unclear we lose time while the issues are sorted out. The new white paper explains how we verify that the data is complete and clear, to make sure that we deliver the board that you want. Above all, it contains tips on how to present clear and unambiguous data and avoid some of the common traps which can delay deliveries.

Our pooling services have been developed to deliver prototype and small batch PCBs cost-effectively as well as fast and on time. The specifications of each service are based on a choice of base material and on a robust level of manufacturability to ensure the quality of the finished product. The white paper outlines how we check that each design fits the specification of the chosen service. If it doesn’t, we report back the data issues (raise an exception). Are there simple steps which you as a designer or we as fabricators can take to avoid having to use a more expensive option? If so we will propose them. Are there repairs we can make to bring the board back within specification and improve its manufacturability? In many cases we can make these repairs as part of the data preparation process and the white paper has links to more detailed information. Design for manufacturability tips highlight some critical areas. The white paper also links to the free design rule sets which can be uploaded form our website into EAGLE and Altium CAD systems to help ensure that your design meets the specifications of the most cost-effective pooling service.

Although the white paper follows our internal procedures and includes the names of our front-end data preparation stages, our data preparation process follows industry best-practice. So throughout we relate what we do and our design tips to the wider PCB fabrication world. Our goal is to provide a broad set of technical information which will benefit not just our users but also the wider electronics engineering community across Europe.

Download the Eurocircuits-frontend data preparation white paper in PDF format.

To preserve the environment and to make use of the many embedded links to articles on our web site, we recommended that you read this white paper in its digital form.