Podcasts
Podcasts
In this podcast series, we’ll be speaking with Matt Stevenson, vice president and general manager at ASC Sunstone, and author of
The Printed Circuit Designer’s Guide to: Designing for Reality.
Why is a working knowledge of manufacturing helpful? How does it improve manufacturability? We start at the beginning with the role CAD tools play in preparing the design for transfer to manufacturing.
In this podcast series, we’ll be speaking with Matt Stevenson, vice president and general manager at ASC Sunstone, and author of
The Printed Circuit Designer’s Guide to: Designing for Reality.
In this episode, we begin at the beginning: the design process. Matt Stevenson provides a thoughtful analysis of CAD tool features and data formats intended to give designers feedback on design decisions and transfer designs to manufacturing, respectively. Stevenson then describes what happens when a design file arrives at a PCB fabricator. Knowing what the fab is looking for is critical to sending all of the needed information the first time.
Now it’s time to roll up our sleeves and get “messy.” Once the CAM preparations are complete, Matt Stevenson explains what happens next. In this episode, Matt Stevenson details the role of materials, stackup considerations, and walks us through what happens in the Imaging process.
Multilayer boards bring along a completely different set of processes. In this installment of “On The Line With…” Matt Stevenson discusses manufacturing techniques for multilayer. Of course, this necessitates a review of drill and registration techniques, followed by the ins and outs of lamination.
Nolan Johnson and Matt Stevenson continue down the manufacturing process, this time focusing on the post-lamination drilling process for PCBs. Matt and Nolan delve into the intricacies of the PCB drilling process, highlighting the importance of hole quality, drill parameters, and design optimization to ensure smooth manufacturing. The conversation covers topics such as drill bit sizes, aspect ratios, vias, challenges in drilling, and ways to enhance efficiency in the drilling department. The discussion also covers the critical relationship between design choices and manufacturing capabilities. Finally, they touch upon the subsequent steps of metalizing the drilled holes through an electrolysis process.