It's far past time to use the complete power of the tool to your advantage.

Design automation is one of my favorite topics. When I think of design automation, what first comes to mind are three words: optimization, efficiency and speed. Some design engineers and layout professionals are reluctant to learn new technology to design better, faster and more efficiently in the quest for delivering a quality product to market at the lowest engineering and manufacturing cost. Earlier in my career, I too was reluctant to give in to automation when it came to designing PCBs. I recall, about 20 years ago, I was under a typical project deadline in the project design cycle. You know what I'm talking about: "We need it done today! Oh, and by the way, we have more design changes for you to implement, but we still need it completed and released today!"

It was during that type of project for a specific aerospace customer where I made the decision to use automation to route signal traces. For the first time in my career, I used the autorouting feature in my tool. Talk about an uneasy feeling, like a stomach cramp. It was gut-wrenching to let go of my manual approach for designing PCBs, especially knowing I was under a very stressful and tight project time constraint. In the end, and to my surprise and amazement, I managed to successfully implement autorouting. By doing so, I managed to finish earlier than expected, which shocked the EE I was working with, along with everyone else on the project ... and I came in with several alternate versions of the same design for the EE to choose from. Success! What a feeling! One of the highlights of my career, for sure. I have never looked back. To this day, more than ever, I stress harnessing the horsepower of the CAD tools and using their capabilities to your advantage.

Automating data maintenance and revision control.

In continuation of the PCB Design Best Practices series, this month we’ll dive a bit deeper into library and design data management. To be more specific, we’ll address controlling and managing company data and intellectual property.

In general, most companies function in the same manner when it comes to electronic systems design, at least from an outsider’s perspective, and PCB design is the same no matter what company you work for, what culture you belong to, what tool(s) you use, and what, if any, product lifecycle management (PLM) system you use. The difference from company to company is how people internally operate when it comes to library and design data management.

Today, we have engineering teams that work at the same location, interacting in person, and those that work remotely, sometimes spread across the globe. And of course there are combinations of these collaboration scenarios. Throughout my career I have worked in all of these environments. So, I’ve a good deal of experience when it comes to the different ways companies address library and design data management.