It's far past time to use the complete power of the tool to your advantage.

Design automation is one of my favorite topics. When I think of design automation, what first comes to mind are three words: optimization, efficiency and speed. Some design engineers and layout professionals are reluctant to learn new technology to design better, faster and more efficiently in the quest for delivering a quality product to market at the lowest engineering and manufacturing cost. Earlier in my career, I too was reluctant to give in to automation when it came to designing PCBs. I recall, about 20 years ago, I was under a typical project deadline in the project design cycle. You know what I'm talking about: "We need it done today! Oh, and by the way, we have more design changes for you to implement, but we still need it completed and released today!"

It was during that type of project for a specific aerospace customer where I made the decision to use automation to route signal traces. For the first time in my career, I used the autorouting feature in my tool. Talk about an uneasy feeling, like a stomach cramp. It was gut-wrenching to let go of my manual approach for designing PCBs, especially knowing I was under a very stressful and tight project time constraint. In the end, and to my surprise and amazement, I managed to successfully implement autorouting. By doing so, I managed to finish earlier than expected, which shocked the EE I was working with, along with everyone else on the project ... and I came in with several alternate versions of the same design for the EE to choose from. Success! What a feeling! One of the highlights of my career, for sure. I have never looked back. To this day, more than ever, I stress harnessing the horsepower of the CAD tools and using their capabilities to your advantage.

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Clear communication with manufacturers can ease that queasy feeling.

You are finally finished with that very complex monster of a printed circuit board (PCB) design while enduring a very tight project schedule. Now it's time to get the design data to manufacturing for fabrication and assembly, but there is a lingering doubt in the back of your mind, an uneasy feeling in the pit of your stomach as you hand off data to manufacturing. Why? I'll explain, based on my perspective gleaned from decades of designing PCBs.

Let me start with a question: Did you collaborate with your manufacturing suppliers up front? The answer for many is typically "No!" You may have simply designed a PCB without any manufacturer involvement whatsoever, generated output files and threw the data over the proverbial wall to the manufacturer in hopes that what you designed is buildable and will work as intended. Then, when a technical query (TQ) hits your inbox, you might get upset and wonder why you're being notified that the job is on hold because the design data contain issues or are missing information that needs to be addressed before fabrication can begin. In some cases, it's not just answering with a reply of "approved to modify as suggested," but rather it requires going back and redesigning! Sadly, this happens in our industry far too often, and in more instances than you would expect.

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Our newest column shares tips and tricks and lessons learned over 30 years in PCB design.

With today's complex printed circuit board (PCB) designs challenging us at almost every stage of the design process, along with shortened project schedules and shrinking budgets, achieving success is no easy feat. Smaller component packages, faster signal edge rates or rise times, and increased design for manufacturing (DfM) challenges all make it difficult to achieve success and get product to market on time and under budget. The foundation for achieving success is understanding PCB design (the full design process) and mastering the power of today's EDA tools.

Even so, design teams can lose valuable time on unproductive tasks. Designers need a collaborative approach to electronic systems design that keeps them connected through all engineering disciplines and gives them best-in-class solutions to handle complexity across the entire PCB design process.

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