At least five operation areas can benefit from switching from manual data entry.

"Innovation is the ability to see change as an opportunity, not a threat." – Steve Jobs

Several years ago, I embarked on an advanced engineering initiative, seeking unknown, innovative ways of processing PCB design packages for manufacturing external to the status quo, with a primary objective to drive efficiency and productivity, eliminating redundant data entry and reducing human interactions with their associated software applications. I had thrown in the towel relying on our software vendors to provide real and robust solutions. In my opinion, it was not in their interest. As their focus was selling more licenses to increase revenue, developing and marketing advanced automated solutions did not support this cause. My mantra was to take internal ownership and venture into unfamiliar territories. This path led me to OCR (optical character recognition) and, although skeptical at first, the results of our analysis were phenomenal.

Product design specifications and requirements are provided in formats such as PDF, Word, Excel, HPGL, or even as handwritten notes on scrap paper. A close associate of mine calls it “e-paper.” The variety of methodologies used to convey the same information across the PCB industry that is often ambiguous is staggering, to say the least. We print, read, interpret (hopefully correctly) and manually enter these data into our respective software application, often multiple times by multiple organizations.

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