I've been watching this forum for the last few days and noting the (limited) discussion of DFM. Personally I am quite befuddled ( I searched but couldn't come up with a better word). Over 10 years ago PCD started a crusade on DFM. We organized discussions with designers and manufacturers, printed umpteen gazillion articles in the mag, devoted entire tracks to the subject at the conferences, yadda yadda yadda. It just seemed that people really were not concerned. Granted there were and are a core group that grasp(ed) the importance and impact of DFM, but the great masses seemed to take the point of view that they had been sending out data packages and getting back boards so everything must be ok. Meantime the shops were saying that the easiest and fastest course was to fix what was wrong and build the dang thing so they could invoice it.
Has anything changed? Well, as I said there is that core, but times are tough in a lot of places and I certainly understand that keeping ones head down and not make waves may sometimes may seem to be the best means of survival in the short term. But the thing I really have trouble with is that the manufacturing community and the suppliers to that community keep telling us that they want to reach the designers and have a true exchange. They have sponsored and organized seminars on the subject, some of them free. But in most cases designers are not taking advantage of these opportunities. As an example, one person wrote to us to complain about our exhibitions at the conferences, specifically that there were more board fabricators exhibiting than EDA vendors. Think about that a second. Aside from the fact that there just aren't that many PCB EDA vendors anymore, I'd say that it is as important, maybe even more important, that they know and understand their board vendor - their capabilities philosophies etc.
I'm gonna go now, I get frustrated on the DFM subject. Sorry for the length of the post, but it's been so long since I wrote an editorial I forget when to get out.
Good luck and hang in there. Trust that someone is listening.
p.
Pete Waddell
President
UP Media Group
678-589-8813
[log in to unmask]
>>> [log in to unmask] 08/24/04 12:29PM >>>
----- Original Message -----
From: "moonman" <[log in to unmask]>
To: "Jack C. Olson" <[log in to unmask]>
Sent: Tuesday, August 24, 2004 12:09 PM
Subject: Re: [DC] questions please
Jack,
It really is amazing and very gratifying to see how far we've come. You're
sure right about technical people writing for others technical instead of
trying to sell something.
Concerning the issue about designers improving I can say without a doubt the
biggest one is NOT HAVING THE TIME, as you say. It may not be the designer's
fault but that person has to make a strong appeal to management to make more
time to do it right up front - starting at the schematic level.
How many times do we say "I don't have time to do it right but I've the time
to do it over?" Those words just seem to come out of our mouths so easily
but what a shame we have to say them when all the answers are there. One
example is when someone releases a design thought to be complete but some of
the most important things are missing as good drawings and specifications
with which to communicate requirements, qualify suppliers, and accept or
reject product.
I'm sure you, as well as the rest of us, have seen way too much time WASTED
dealing with good suppliers that do a lot of the DFM work we should have
done but for lack of time and the ability to COMMUNICATE clearly our needs.
I can't tell you how many times I've helped folks qualify better suppliers
that can be worked with concurrently when the proper language is used. If
not, a design package is sent out and it may take several weeks to resolve
all the fabricator's or assembler's DFM issues when it should take two or
three days at most. Of course, that is more difficicult now dealing with
Chinese suppliers - as one example - because many of them don't speak any
language but price.
I've been in a lot of companies both crusading and teaching really
interesting technical stuff but I learn far more than I teach and that's
what I want to do here. I want to take this time to do it better next time.
MoonMan
---------------------------------------------------------------------------------
DesignerCouncil Mail List provided as a free service by IPC using LISTSERV 1.8d
To unsubscribe, send a message to [log in to unmask] with following text in
the BODY (NOT the subject field): SIGNOFF DesignerCouncil.
To set a vacation stop for delivery of DesignerCouncil send: SET DesignerCouncil NOMAIL
Search previous postings at: www.ipc.org > On-Line Resources & Databases > E-mail Archives
Please visit IPC web site http://www.ipc.org/contentpage.asp?Pageid=4.3.16 for additional information, or contact Keach Sasamori at [log in to unmask] or 847-509-9700 ext.5315
---------------------------------------------------------------------------------
---------------------------------------------------------------------------------
DesignerCouncil Mail List provided as a free service by IPC using LISTSERV 1.8d
To unsubscribe, send a message to [log in to unmask] with following text in
the BODY (NOT the subject field): SIGNOFF DesignerCouncil.
To set a vacation stop for delivery of DesignerCouncil send: SET DesignerCouncil NOMAIL
Search previous postings at: www.ipc.org > On-Line Resources & Databases > E-mail Archives
Please visit IPC web site http://www.ipc.org/contentpage.asp?Pageid=4.3.16 for additional information, or contact Keach Sasamori at [log in to unmask] or 847-509-9700 ext.5315
---------------------------------------------------------------------------------
|
