Thursday 13 December 2018

5 Things To Do Before Sending Your PCB Design Off For Manufacture

When you finally finish designing your printed circuit board for your product, it can be tempting to just send it off for manufacture right away. Of course, with manufacture comes many risks so you need to make sure that you have created something which has been tested thoroughly before having it mass produced. This is why we have created a list of some things that you should do before sending off your PCB design for manufacture. Keep reading to find out more.

Consider Design Scale

One of the first things that you should do before sending your PCB design off for manufacture is to consider the design scale. You will need to think carefully about whether the cost, the time to layout or the board size is more important to you. Think about the advantages of all of these and choose what is best for you. Never forget about design scale or this could cause problems.

Gather Your Documentation 

Throughout your PCB design process, you should have been gathering documentation that you will send to the manufacturer. Some of the PCB design software packages from providers like Altium come with features to aid this meaning you’ll be able to take advantage of the Manufacturing Outputs Datasheet which will come in handy in the design process. Make sure to check over all of your documentation carefully before sending off your PCB as errors on the documents could slow down the whole project.

Consider Cost Of Component Size

If you are working on a budget in your PCB design process, then you are going to need to think carefully about the cost of the components and what size is best for your budget. Some manufacturers might not be willing to work with your parts if they are too small and this could bring your costs up quite high. Make sure to consider this carefully before you send it off to the manufacturer.

Research Your Parts

Although you should be able to get your hands on most of the parts that you have in your BOM, you should make sure to do some research. Some of the rarer parts will be harder to get your hands on and you might need to make some changes to your design. If the parts don’t come in packages that you are comfortable working with then you might have a problem on your hands.

Consider Thermal Concerns

Our final tip for those who are about to send their PCB design off for manufacture is to consider the thermal concerns. If you have very large parts right next to your smaller parts you might find that you come across some serious problems. When the heat comes into the process, your parts might start to be an issue, and this is not ideal.

If you are finished with your PCB design and you are ready to send it off to be manufactured, you should make sure to take everything that we have discussed into consideration.

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