-
- News
- Books
Featured Books
- pcb007 Magazine
Latest Issues
Current IssueThe Growing Industry
In this issue of PCB007 Magazine, we talk with leading economic experts, advocacy specialists in Washington, D.C., and PCB company leadership to get a well-rounded picture of what’s happening in the industry today. Don’t miss it.
The Sustainability Issue
Sustainability is one of the most widely used terms in business today, especially for electronics and manufacturing but what does it mean to you? We explore the environmental, business, and economic impacts.
The Fabricator’s Guide to IPC APEX EXPO
This issue previews many of the important events taking place at this year's show and highlights some changes and opportunities. So, buckle up. We are counting down to IPC APEX EXPO 2024.
- Articles
- Columns
Search Console
- Links
- Events
||| MENU - pcb007 Magazine
The Partnership: Design Engineers and PCB Designers
May 23, 2016 | Andy Shaughnessy, PCBDesign007Estimated reading time: 3 minutes
Randy Faucette is founder, president and director of engineering at Better Boards Inc. in Cary, North Carolina. Founded in 2003, Better Boards provides electrical engineering, PCB design, signal and power integrity analysis, and a variety of other services. I asked Randy to talk about some of the occasional tension between PCB designers and design engineers, and what he thinks can be done to help open the lines of communication.
Andy Shaughnessy: Randy, tell us a little bit about your company and how you operate.
Randy Faucette: Better Boards is a PCB design and engineering services company. We specialize in all aspects of PCB design, but also provide electrical and mechanical engineering, software/firmware development, prototype and small-volume production manufacturing, and many types of analysis including failure mode, root cause, thermal, crosstalk and power integrity. We use a breadth of design tools including Cadence Allegro, Altium, Mentor Expedition and PADS. Our customers range from large companies like Lenovo and Cree to small entrepreneurs. We perform finite services our customers define to full development of products from concept to production. We cover many industries, such as medical, commercial, consumer, telco, and space/military.
Shaughnessy: A recent survey of our PCB designer readers found that there’s often friction between PCB designers and engineers. Some designers say, only half-jokingly, that their EEs are their biggest challenge. Why do you think there’s such disconnect at some companies?
Faucette: We have not found that to be true here at Better Boards. We approach PCB design from an engineering standpoint. The PCB designer should not just be a tools jockey hoping that engineering will tell them where to put parts and how to hook them up. The PCB designer should understand how the circuits flow, understand the different types of interfaces and how those need to be treated on the board, and understand the manufacturing aspects as well (including test). The only challenge we experience with engineering honestly is playing the role of middleman between engineering and manufacturing. Engineering may want parts located too close to another component or too close to a through-hole pin, not allowing a proper wave soldering operation to be performed. Those drive costs and can affect reliability. If the layout designer is effective, engineering is happy and manufacturing is also happy. That makes the boss happy!
Shaughnessy: What do you think is the proper role for a PCB design engineer?
Faucette: Outside of creating a correct schematic, the PCB design engineer needs to effectively communicate ALL of the requirements of the board and then review the board once designed to ensure all the requirements have been achieved. Some examples of requirements would be interface impedances, timing rules, and power requirements. It’s also important to identify high-speed nets, clock lines, sensitive nets/circuits, high-current buses, thermally hot nodes, high switching loops. The stackup is critical in most designs today and this must be considered early. One thing that should be communicated early on is the environment of the product and the expected reliability. The temperature and humidity can drive what component packages to use (or more importantly what not to use). The reliability can drive board technology and spacings. The best way to communicate all the rules is in a PCB requirements document. This is the scope of the layout. If it’s in the document, it’s important. It also removes the flurry of comments, instructions, and “Oh, BTWs” that tend to arrive in various emails and in cubicle conversations. It’s a captive, living document to keep everyone straight. It’s also it a perfect checklist at review time.
To read this entire article, which appeared in the April 2016 issue of The PCB Design Magazine, click here.
Suggested Items
I-Connect007 Editor’s Choice: Five Must-Reads for the Week
04/19/2024 | Marcy LaRont, PCB007 MagazineFor my must-read picks of the week, I’m highlighting Parker Capers, a young professional seeking employment, solid counsel from Dan Beaulieu on what your post-show plan should look like, more information and insight on “chiplets” and the need for secure data transfer standards from columnist Preeya Kuray, as well as Matt Stevenson’s design for reality wisdom. It’s a reminder to download one of our newest books (there are several) you don't want to miss if you are an assembler.
Absolute EMS Champions Collaboration Between Humans and Robots in Modern Manufacturing
04/19/2024 | Absolute EMS, Inc.Absolute EMS, Inc., an award-winning EMS provider of turnkey contract manufacturing services, offers a perfect factory environment that seamlessly blends robotic automation with human expertise.
ZESTRON Welcomes Whitlock Associates as New Addition to their Existing Rep Team in Florida
04/19/2024 | ZESTRONZESTRON, the leading global provider of high-precision cleaning products, services, and training solutions in the electronics manufacturing and semiconductor industries, is thrilled to announce the addition of Whitlock Associates to its esteemed network of sales representatives.
SEMI Applauds U.S. Chips Act Award for Samsung Electronics Facilities to Strengthen Domestic Semiconductor Supply Chain
04/17/2024 | SEMISEMI, the industry association serving the global electronics design and manufacturing supply chain, applauded the United States Department of Commerce’s announcement of a Preliminary Memorandum of Terms for an award under the CHIPS and Science Act to support the expansion of Samsung Electronics’ presence in Texas and the company’s development and production of leading-edge chips.
Ark Electronics Expands Global Manufacturing Factory Network in North America and Europe
04/17/2024 | PRNewswireElectronic Manufacturing Company Ark Electronics recently announced the expansion of its Global Factory Network with the addition of Electronics Manufacturing Service (EMS) capabilities in Mexico and Europe.