Design for manufacturability (PCB)
Encyclopedia
Design for manufacturability (DFM for short. Often referred to as "design for manufacturing") is a design methodology intended to ease the manufacturing process of a given product. In the PCB
design process DFM leads to a set design guidelines that attempt to ensure manufacturability. By doing so, probable production problems may be addressed during the design stage.
Ideally, DFM guidelines take into account the processes and capabilities of the manufacturing industry. Therefore, DFM is constantly evolving.
As manufacturing companies evolve and automate more and more stages of the processes, these processes tend to become cheaper. DFM is usually used to reduce these costs. For example, if a process may be done automatically by machines (ie: SMT
component placement and soldering), such process is likely to be cheaper than doing so by hand.
Printed circuit board
A printed circuit board, or PCB, is used to mechanically support and electrically connect electronic components using conductive pathways, tracks or signal traces etched from copper sheets laminated onto a non-conductive substrate. It is also referred to as printed wiring board or etched wiring...
design process DFM leads to a set design guidelines that attempt to ensure manufacturability. By doing so, probable production problems may be addressed during the design stage.
Ideally, DFM guidelines take into account the processes and capabilities of the manufacturing industry. Therefore, DFM is constantly evolving.
As manufacturing companies evolve and automate more and more stages of the processes, these processes tend to become cheaper. DFM is usually used to reduce these costs. For example, if a process may be done automatically by machines (ie: SMT
Surface-mount technology
Surface mount technology is a method for constructing electronic circuits in which the components are mounted directly onto the surface of printed circuit boards . An electronic device so made is called a surface mount device...
component placement and soldering), such process is likely to be cheaper than doing so by hand.
See also
- DFM in other areasDesign for manufacturabilityDesign for manufacturability - is the general engineering art of designing products in such a way that they are easy to manufacture. The basic idea exists in almost all engineering disciplines, but of course the details differ widely depending on the manufacturing technology...
- Design for assemblyDesign for AssemblyDesign for assembly is a process by which products are designed with ease of assembly in mind. If a product contains fewer parts it will take less time to assemble, thereby reducing assembly costs. In addition, if the parts are provided with features which make it easier to grasp, move, orient...
- Design for XDesign for XUnder the label Design for X, a wide collection of specific design guidelines are summarized. Each design guideline addresses a particular issue that is caused by, or affects the characteristics of a product...
Sources
- Mentor Graphics - DFM: What is it and what will it do? (must fill request form). Also available here.
- Mentor Graphics - DFM: Magic Bullet or Marketing Hype (must fill request form).