Elementary Mr. Watson: Running the Signal Gauntlet
The Shaughnessy Report: Winning the Signal Integrity Battle
Connect the Dots: How to Avoid Five Common Causes of Board Failure
Hidden Cost Drivers in PCB Design
September 5, 2024 | Cherie Litson, CID+, Litson1 ConsultingEstimated reading time: 1 minute
I recently taught a CID+ course, and if you’ve ever taken a CID or CID+ course, you know that we discuss cost adders quite a bit. When I asked the class of 15 design engineers their ideas on the biggest cost adders, the first and strongest response: the project manager.
Are you surprised by their answer? After over 40 years in the industry, I wasn’t. If you step back and look at the process of product development, you’ll see that many decisions that affect costs down the line really do take root with the project manager.
After reviewing my own experience and that of many other designers, I referenced my favorite source for defining cost adders: the IPC PCBA Checklist 17. Here you’ll find most of the cost adders that we all encounter to one degree or another. As you review the checklist and see who is responsible for many of the decisions, you’ll find it all starts with the project leader.
Everything you’ve read about the cost-saving process is controlled by the project leader’s actions; the project leader is like the chef in the kitchen.
The engineers and designers will then limit their decisions based on the requirements set by the project leader. They become the “sous chef” in the process. The engineers and designers then set the limits and specifications in their documentation affecting purchasing, fabrication, assembly, and test. They become the “station chef” or “line chef.” That’s why the CID and CID+ classes focus so much on the design engineer’s decisions. But no one really addresses or guides the project leaders for their role in the cost saving process.
To read this entire article, which appeared in the August 2024 issue of Design007 Magazine, click here.
Share on:
Testimonial
"Advertising in PCB007 Magazine has been a great way to showcase our bare board testers to the right audience. The I-Connect007 team makes the process smooth and professional. We’re proud to be featured in such a trusted publication."
Klaus Koziol - atgSuggested Items
Automation Meets Sustainability
09/08/2025 | Rick Nichols, GreenSource EngineeringGreenSource Engineering (GSE) is proud to have contributed to the first successful reshoring of a PCB facility on a greenfield site in the United States. While we are honored to have played a key role, full credit for this achievement goes to SEL for its vision, commitment, and professionalism.
Japan’s OHISAMA Project Aims to Beam Solar Power from Space This Year
07/14/2025 | I-Connect007 Editorial TeamJapan could be on the cusp of making history with its OHISAMA project in its quest to become the first country to transmit solar power from space to Earth, The Volt reported.
Connect the Dots: The Future of PCB Design and Manufacturing
07/02/2025 | Matt Stevenson -- Column: Connect the DotsFor some time, I have been discussing the increasing complexity of PCBs and how designers can address the constantly evolving design requirements associated with them. My book, "The Printed Circuit Designer’s Guide to… Designing for Reality," details best practices for creating manufacturable boards in a modern production environment.
Project GENESIS Minimizes Ecological Footprint in Europe’s Semiconductor Industry
06/06/2025 | Fraunhofer IPMSA pan-European consortium dedicated to developing sustainable processes and technologies for the semiconductor-manufacturing supply chain announces the launch of the GENESIS project.
INEMI Interim Report: Interconnection Modeling and Simulation Results for Low-Temp Materials in First-Level Interconnect
05/30/2025 | iNEMIOne of the greatest challenges of integrating different types of silicon, memory, and other extended processing units (XPUs) in a single package is in attaching these various types of chips in a reliable way.