-
- News
- Books
Featured Books
- smt007 Magazine
Latest Issues
Current IssueComing to Terms With AI
In this issue, we examine the profound effect artificial intelligence and machine learning are having on manufacturing and business processes. We follow technology, innovation, and money as automation becomes the new key indicator of growth in our industry.
Box Build
One trend is to add box build and final assembly to your product offering. In this issue, we explore the opportunities and risks of adding system assembly to your service portfolio.
IPC APEX EXPO 2024 Pre-show
This month’s issue devotes its pages to a comprehensive preview of the IPC APEX EXPO 2024 event. Whether your role is technical or business, if you're new-to-the-industry or seasoned veteran, you'll find value throughout this program.
- Articles
- Columns
Search Console
- Links
- Events
||| MENU - smt007 Magazine
Best Practices: Footprint Design and CAD Library Management
February 9, 2021 | I-Connect007 Editorial TeamEstimated reading time: 2 minutes
The I-Connect team spoke with Altium’s John Watson about the hurdles surrounding footprints and footprint design. John talks about how being proactive and improving the CAD library can better QC processes and help protect against footprint difficulties.
Andy Shaughnessy: I’m here today with John Watson from Altium to discuss footprints, footprint design, and what can be done to achieve best practices. This came about because we recently conducted surveys asking for design problems. The results came mainly from designers, and around a quarter of them said footprint issues were a big problem.
John Watson: There’s a real conflict in a lot of companies. They want to get their product to market. So, I think that the first issue that comes in with anything in a design is this conflict between the management schedule and the design schedule. If you’re creating a new component, for example, number one is that component needs to be put into quarantine. It’s not used in new designs. It needs to be put into quarantine and checked. There’s such a rush to say, “We’ve got to get this done and get it out.” And there’s just too much going on in a design to catch things that are wrong like that.
Barry Matties: How long should it be in quarantine?
Watson: It stays in quarantine until a couple of processes are completed. Number one, there is a QC process that’s done on that component, and that QC process is actually multi-level. There will be different steps involved. For example, if you have a new component, you bring that component in or that footprint in, and you verify that footprint to the datasheet. On this first level of QC, you want to set up your verification documents to that footprint. What are we going to be looking at? We’re going to be comparing this footprint to the datasheet, we’re going to be looking at IPC standards, whatever the standards are that you’re going to be lining this footprint up with. That’s going to be your first level of QC, but I’ve actually seen where there’s a second level of QC that’s done. Once that part has been verified to the datasheet, that part then goes into what’s called the prototype status; what it does is that component is then put onto a PCB, kind of a live test.
When that board comes back with the component on it, you look at it under the scope to see if there are any issues with the soldering. It’s like a real-world environment. Those are the two levels of QC. Number one, you compare it to the documentation, and then you have a real-world environment that you take it through. That step and those processes are what you go through. That way, you’ve actually had both sides of it: You have your side of it, and then also the assembler’s side of it. I’ve found that a lot of times, believe it or not—I know it’s a shocking comment I’m about to make—but datasheets have been known to be wrong. VPs have no understanding of what it takes to put a PCB design out—the steps, the checks that you have to do, all these different things. Often, that’s lost in this whole process.
To read this entire conversation, which appeared in the February 2021 issue of Design007 Magazine, click here.
Suggested Items
Würth Elektronik in United States Embarks on New Milestone with State-of-the-Art Headquarters
05/17/2024 | Wurth ElektronikWürth Elektronik in the United States, a leading manufacturer of electronic and electromechanical components as well as custom magnetics, has announced the commencement of construction on a new 70,000-square-foot headquarters. This new facility underscores the company’s commitment to innovation and grow in the electronics industry.
IPC APEX EXPO: Some Thoughts About Growth
05/16/2024 | Dan Feinberg, I-Connect007After two and a half days of wandering the aisles at IPC APEX EXPO 2024, for the first time, I almost felt like I was exploring CES. There were so many booths and exhibits that I could describe, but I’d like to focus on the growth and huge value of this event, which has expanded well beyond just the growing and impressive exhibit show floor.
Airbus Achieves Eurodrone’s Preliminary Design Review
05/16/2024 | AirbusThe Eurodrone programme has successfully performed the Preliminary Design Review (PDR). Led by Airbus Defence and Space as prime contractor, this major programme milestone has been completed with OCCAR and representatives of the four customer nations (France, Germany, Italy and Spain) in the presence of the three Major Sub-Contractors (MSC), Airbus Defence and Space Spain, Dassault Aviation and Leonardo.
A Review of the 2024 Del Mar Electronics and Manufacturing Show
05/16/2024 | Barry Matties, I-Connect007The Del Mar Electronics and Manufacturing Show (DMEMS) in Del Mar, California, recently took place at an unlikely venue: the Del Mar Fairgrounds. Doug Bodenstab, founder and show organizer, says the show covers everything in electronics manufacturing: design tools, components, base materials, training, testing, board fabrication, AI, data analytics, and more. While you can find about anything online these days, Bodenstab adds that there is no substitute for meeting people in person.
TactoTek Licenses IMSE Technology to Polestar for Sustainable Electronics Design Innovation
05/15/2024 | TactoTekPolestar, the Swedish electric performance car brand, and Finnish smart surface pioneer TactoTek, have entered a collaboration to explore integration of Injection Molded Structural Electronics (IMSE) technology into Polestar’s vehicle programs.