This is the $1 million question of every project: How can I cut the cost of the PCB?
There are about a thousand answers to this question. I may be exaggerating a little bit, but not much, especially when you consider that there are about 4218 different ways a PCB could fail. That’s a lot, but fortunately you really need to have a significant combination of these failures before it makes the boards unusable.
That said, there are a few simple guidelines that everyone can follow to reduce costs. I talk about them in my IPC CID and CID+ courses. Designers, fabricators, and assemblers talk about them in a variety of articles. Some professionals who have published some great articles on cost-saving strategies include Tara Dunn, Happy Holden, Chris Church, Kella Knack, Judy Warner, Julie Ellis, Lars Wallin, and many, many others.
It’s not as simple as saying, “Just cut down the layer count” or “Just use smaller parts and traces.” Here’s another: “Just use standard FR-4 material.” Then there’s, “Just don’t use blind and buried vias.”
These will certainly work if you make them happen, but they are not always the go-to answers on how to reduce costs. I’ve actually reduced the cost of some boards by doing the opposite of what you would normally think you should do. Here are some examples:
So, here’s my take on how to reduce your costs:
This is one of the most important jobs of the program manager (PM). You’d be surprised how many DFM issues start with the PM. So, how does the PM influence the costs?
To read this entire article, which appeared in the August 2022 issue of Design007 Magazine, click here.
This is the $1 million question of every project: How can I cut the cost of the PCB?
There are about a thousand answers to this question. I may be exaggerating a little bit, but not much, especially when you consider that there are about 4218 different ways a PCB could fail. That’s a lot, but fortunately you really need to have a significant combination of these failures before it makes the boards unusable.
That said, there are a few simple guidelines that everyone can follow to reduce costs. I talk about them in my IPC CID and CID+ courses. Designers, fabricators, and assemblers talk about them in a variety of articles. Some professionals who have published some great articles on cost-saving strategies include Tara Dunn, Happy Holden, Chris Church, Kella Knack, Judy Warner, Julie Ellis, Lars Wallin, and many, many others.
It’s not as simple as saying, “Just cut down the layer count” or “Just use smaller parts and traces.” Here’s another: “Just use standard FR-4 material.” Then there’s, “Just don’t use blind and buried vias.”
These will certainly work if you make them happen, but they are not always the go-to answers on how to reduce costs. I’ve actually reduced the cost of some boards by doing the opposite of what you would normally think you should do. Here are some examples:
So, here’s my take on how to reduce your costs:
This is one of the most important jobs of the program manager (PM). You’d be surprised how many DFM issues start with the PM. So, how does the PM influence the costs?
To read this entire article, which appeared in the August 2022 issue of Design007 Magazine, click here.
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