Printed Circuit Design & Fab - October 2008 - (Page 26)

DESIGN toolS THe PCB design library Building and managing a library can translate into long-term timesavings and improved margins. by ABBy MOnACO From schematic capture to layout to manufacturing, no company can hope to create any kind of monetary efficiency without first planning, building and maintaining a parts and symbols library. Among the large corporations, it is well understood that cutting a few minutes from a design flow means massive increases in profit margins. But smaller companies sometimes do not see the same picture. The result of not having this one tool at the users’ disposal is virtual mayhem when it comes to meeting deadlines and ultimately to making profits on the designs sent to manufacturing. A good way to look at this is through a simple time chart that breaks up the amount of time spent designing, versus the amount of time performing repetitive drafting tasks such as building symbols and geometries for a schematic and layout. To better study this, I utilized a small schematic and layout design that already existed and set to the task of recreating the symbols. In the first design, I created a handful of symbols and parts from scratch while copying in the rest to mimic a realistic scenario within a company that has no library. Most often, designers in these environments copy symbols, parts and geometries from old designs and then build the missing symbols and parts. In the second design, I pulled in the missing handful of parts and symbols from a library. The results of my time usage are shown in FiGurE 1. While the results aren’t exactly surprising, it does help give us realistic numbers to show just how much time can be saved. This was a very small project for the purpose of gathering metrics data, but the process of pulling symbols and geometries from a library shaved a full hour from the design time. This time savings could be exponentially greater for a larger design with a more complex set of symbols and geometries, which would free up design teams to take Figure 1. Percentage of time spent on symbol and geometry creation for a on more projects gathered with the time on research and are based on metricsor to spend moreSchematic & Layout Design measured development. remaining constant between the two designs Along with timesavings, this more streamlined environment can directly affect the revenue stream for a small- to medium-sized company or within the design division of a Figure 1. Percentage of time spent on symbol and geometry creation FiGurE 1. Percentage of time spent on symbol and geometry for a design. Percentages FiGurE 2. Projected annual revenue increases after impleare based on a design. Percentages Schematic & Layout Design measured in minutes, and a central library. Projection shows increases on creation for metrics gathered with the are based on metrics, gathmentation of Figure 2: Projected annual revenue increases after implementation of a ce remaining ered with constant between& Layout Design measured in minthe Schematic the two designs profits earned from 26 projects per earned from 26 projects per Projection shows increases on profitsyear, over a constant of 20 year, over utes, and remaining constant between the two designs. projects per year. projects per year. 26 printEd CirCuit dESign & fAB OCTOBER 2008

Table of Contents Feed for the Digital Edition of Printed Circuit Design & Fab - October 2008

Printed Circuit Design & Fab - October 2008 Contents Our Line Market Watch Around the World Happenings Test and Inspection ROI Tip Jar Interconnect Strategies Final Finish Forum The New Wave in High-Speed Modeling The PCB Design Library Mixed Signal Design Considerations Modeling Conductor Surface Roughness Copper Erosion: The Influence of Metallurgy on Copper Dissolution The Wave of the Future Ad Index Building a Profitable Niche Marketplace Off the Shelf BGA Bulletin

Printed Circuit Design & Fab - October 2008

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