On the Line with…

Scott Miller and Brian White join host Nolan Johnson to discuss Miller's book, The Printed Circuit Designer's Guide to Executing Complex PCBs. Miller and White add insight to the seven key disciplines required by designers to successfully design complex PCBs. Of course, in this fast-moving industry, they also provide updated perspectives.

In this episode, my guests are Julie Cliche-Dubois, product manager at Cogiscan, and Andres Luna, general manager at Univertools. Univertools represents Cogiscan in Mexico. Julie is the author of the recently published book, "The Printed Circuit Assembler's Guide to Factory Analytics.” In this episode, we're discussing the evolving role of data analytics, with an eye toward how analytics is driving meaningful action throughout the electronics manufacturing industry in Mexico and the rest of the Americas.

The panel full of circuit boards has completed the manufacturing process. We end this journey by routing the panel into individual boards, performing a final inspection, and packaging for shipment.

Nearly finished, phase two of the wrap-up is to apply surface finish to protect that copper from oxidation and to facilitate soldering the components to the board.

By this point, we have a functioning PCB, but there is still more to do in order to keep the board safe from environmental effects, and also document the circuit components. In this episode, we cover the topics solder mask and silkscreen.

At this stage in the process, we have a panel comprised of all the internal layers laminated together, through-holes are drilled, and the outer layer copper features have been covered with a protective layer of tin. Join us as Matt Stevenson walks us through the process sequence for outer layer strip, etch, and strip.

Our series on Intelligent System Design continues with a discussion on integrating board data with mechanical data. Cadence's Vince DiLello joins us to remove the mystery of connecting PCB and mechanical design flows. DiLello explains the current state and describes what he sees in the future.

This is where fabrication gets wild—pattern plate. All the prep work has set up the board to receive the copper traces, pads, and other elements as specified by the designers in the original CAD design. Here, Matt Stevenson describes not only the process but many of the constraints in the chemistries that must be managed to deliver the customer's exacting manufacturing tolerances.

Product engineering expert Mark Hepburn joins the podcast to discuss the value of collaboration in the printed circuit board design and manufacturing cycle. Hepburn shares his views on how the latest data infrastructures are changing and enabling greater—and safer—data sharing.

Each circuit board is composed of a one-of-a-kind pattern of metal connections representing the specific design for that circuit. So, how do those unique features get mapped onto the board? Find out in this episode as Matt Stevenson paints a picture of the outer layer imaging process.