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Final Design Checks Before Manufacturing

4 min read

Before manufacturing takes place there are some essential checks to make to ensure that your design is manufactured as you require. The check list below is in addition to your own internal check list and is provided as a guide:

Essential option to run before plotting

Before plotting your design, there are some essential checks using the options provided that you should run.

  • Use the Design Rules Check option to ensure that the design meets the Spacing Rules and DFM/DFT Rules defined in your technology file. Running a full DRC will also ensure other checks are carried out, such as Stub Via rules, Grid rules and the like. All rules that are applied to the design but not ‘defined’ as a ‘rule’.
  • Use the Net Completion report to report all nets which are incomplete or split, i.e. they may appear to be complete but actually do not complete electrically. For example, a via may have it’s plated flag unchecked meaning it is unplated, or a net ‘crosses’ an unpoured copper template and fails to make electrical connectivity. This is one of the most essential checks to run before plotting.
  • Run the Unfinished Items report to check if your design contains items that appear to be, or should be completed but are not. For example, tracks that end in free space unfinished, or end over a pad but have a small connection to complete to the pad.
  • Run the Back Annotation report to check any PCB annotation changes that are awaiting Back Annotation to the associated schematics design. This will report changes to be made but will not perform the actual Back Annotation.
  • Run the a Synchronise Design report to run the Synchronise Designs option to compare associated Schematics and PCB designs. Running the report will just reports the design differences instead of actually altering any design data. The report will give you a list of changes which would have to be made to the PCB in order to make it match the schematic.

Many of these reports and DRC check can be added to your CAM Plot list in the CAM Plot dialog as a Format File (created previously using the Report Maker or by editing the example one supplied) and run automatically as a PCB Acceptance report along with your manufacturing files (Gerber, Excellon etc.).

Check list items to review before sending out your manufacturing files

The check list below is a list you should review. It may raise some questions that you should have your own answers to:

  • During generation of Gerber plots, the plot can also exported to to write a verification plot. Use the Produce Verification Plot option in the Gerber Setup dialog which writes a PDF plot to file for checking. Use this file to carefully check your plots.
  • Once plots have been generated, carefully check and preview them in a third party Gerber Viewer tool, such as CAM350 or ViewMate, to verify that they are indeed what you plotted and what you expected. We DO NOT recommend loading them back into Pulsonix using either of the Gerber import tools we provide, this is not the their intended use.
  • Review the results and reports produced after running the reports marked as essential above. Understand the warnings and errors reported, fix problems if required, do not ignore them!
  • When using the CAM Plot option and generating Gerber files for manufacture, after exporting the Gerber files, check the apertures reported in the CAM Plot report are acceptable by the manufacturer.
  • Run Windows prints or PDF check prints (and/or pen plots) for each layer after the design is completed to ensure that the layers really do match your requirements and are as expected. Physically place newly created parts over the plot to see if they match the land patterns generated.
  • Check that the final manufacturing drawing and assembly information is correct on the design and in the check plots. Is everything you expect to tell your assembly people actually there?
  • Create yourself a check list of items to supply for each stage of manufacturing, For example, check prints, NC Drill output, Gerber outputs, Pick and Place machine reports, BOM reports etc.

Design Rules Check | Running Plots | Produce Verification Plots | Windows prints | Outputting Reports | Report Maker

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