RICHARDSON, TX -- Fujitsu today announced its participation in the IPC-2581 Consortium, the new group of companies dedicated to accelerating adoption of a vendor-neutral global PCB data standard.

The Consortium, which is comprised of printed circuit board designers, CAD/CAM/MRP software developers and manufacturers, seeks to reduce errors in PCB development by automating the exchange of data among supply-chain participants.

"From the earliest stages of product design through customer implementation we remain focused on achieving the highest possible quality," said Hans Roehrig, senior vice president of operations and manufacturing, Fujitsu Network Communications. "We are pleased to participate in the IPC-2581 Consortium and we call on others in the PCB supply chain to do the same. At the end of the day, industry providers will profit from fewer mistakes and a faster time to market. Most importantly, customers will receive the products they need with the quality they expect."

Traditional approaches to PCB design and manufacturing have relied on a manual exchange of data between collaborating companies. Instructions and component specifications are often transferred between companies using spreadsheets, hand drawn diagrams or notes made during the course of discussions. This unsophisticated approach results in errors due to misunderstandings or the extra step of transferring data and instructions from an unstructured format; i.e., handwritten notes or spreadsheets, to the applications used to layout the elements of and manufacture each PCB.

The purpose of the IPC-2581 standard is to remove those opportunities for human error by creating a universal schema for the automatic sharing of data between PCB design applications; electronic manufacturing services; and fabrication, assembly and test companies.

For more information on the Consortium and electronics data transfer, click here.