How to limit shared design data, protecting IP and securing the manufacturing handoff.

Last month’s column on intelligent data transfer discussed how PCB design data have evolved from unintelligent, fragmented formats like Gerber to an intelligent, integrated, single-file exchange through IPC-2581. We talked about what intelligent data means – design data that retains their full context, hierarchy and relationships throughout the product lifecycle – and why the industry needs to move away from legacy Gerber-based packages.

Stop guessing: Why it’s time to move from Gerber to IPC-2581.

Innovation in electronics continues at lightning speed, yet manufacturers still rely on PCB design data transfer methods from the 1980s. The industry default, the Gerber format, was designed for photoplotters. But while today’s design tools contain highly intelligent models rich with connectivity, stackup, component and netlist data, the handoff to manufacturing strips away that intelligence. The result? Designers and manufacturers are forced to play a time-consuming game of Guess My Design Intent. The consequences are unnecessary iterations, wasted effort and delayed new product introduction (NPI). There is a better way: IPC-2581, the open, intelligent and tool-neutral standard for PCB design data exchange. Inside a PCB design tool, the board definition is rich and complete, with: