Project Management

Smart Architecture for Successful PCB Component Libraries

Smart Architecture for Successful PCB Component Libraries Organizing is what you do before you do something so that when you do it, it is not all mixed up. - A. A. Milne Architecture is the specific structure that governs our collected data. It determines how we store, arrange, and utilize the data in the system. In a way, the architecture of your PCB library is like the architecture of a building. You need to have it completed before you build your library so you don’t wind up with a virtual Hotel Del Read Article

Continuous Integration: An Implementation Using Altium Designer

Continuous Integration: An Implementation Using Altium Designer In a previous article, Continuous Integration and Deployment in ECAD, we discussed the concept of Continuous Integration while testing within a build system (leveraging Git). In this article, we will take a deeper look at how to set this up and run these “tests” against one’s PCB design project. Continuous Integration Tests: Revisited In Software Engineering, the purpose of implementing Continuous Integration into a workflow is to prevent one’s Read Article

PCB Librarians and SMART PCB Component Management

PCB Librarians and SMART PCB Component Management In the 1972 classic movie “The Candidate”, Bill Mckay, played by Robert Redford, ran for the State Senate. Although he was a long shot and an underdog, McKay ends up surprising everyone with an incredibly close win. After the concession speech of his opponent, a vast mob surrounds McKay. He fights through the crowd, trying to reach his campaign Manager Marvin (played by Peter Boyles). Finally reaching him, he pulls him aside into a hotel room Read Article

How to Establish a PCB Library for Your Design Practice

How to Establish a PCB Creator Library for Your Design Practice When we think of a library, we first think of a building which holds materials of some kind. In April of 1800, when the seat of the government moved from Philadelphia to Washington, one of President Monroe’s first acts was allocating $5,000 to purchase books for Congress to use. Once established, the Library of Congress originally held a total of 740 books and three maps. Now, it contains 32 million cataloged books and other print materials in Read Article

How Can You Make Sure PCB Design Data Is Both Accessible and Secure?

How Can You Make Sure PCB Design Data Is Both Accessible and Secure? As a grandfather, one of the great joys of my life is to play with any of my five grandchildren. On top of their fun list is to play on the teeter-totter at the playground. They usually enjoy it until grandpa gets on one side and they try to lift me. Then the poor little tykes get a harsh lesson in leverage, balance, and just how heavy grandpa is. In PCB Design, it is all about balance. IPC-2221 reminds us that the design process comes with its Read Article

Operational Process Improvements and PCB Data Management

Operational Process Improvements and PCB Data Management Is it practical or indulgent to look at exactly how the principles of good PCB Data Management can and should change our normal PCB Design processes? It is practical and necessary for operational processes to benefit from continual improvement. Let’s explore how to do so with PCB data management. Root Causes You need to allow specific PCB Data to change your operational processes so you can analyze and find the root causes of problems. However Read Article

PCB Layout Tip: Save Time with Reusable Blocks

PCB Layout Tip: Save Time with Reusable Blocks To survive today’s business environment for PCB Designers, design reuse is crucial for quick PCB layout. We must always work faster and smarter. That means whatever available methods might streamline the process to make it more straightforward and faster the better. However, when things go faster, usually more mistakes occur, and they are generally not caught. One strategy that helps tremendously is using reusable designs. A common practice in Read Article

Continuous Integration and Deployment in ECAD

Continuous Integration and Deployment in ECAD Continuous Integration and Continuous Deployment have become widely adopted practices within the software world. The concept of Continuous Integration and Deployment don’t need to be limited to just software - they can be extended into the ECAD world as well. In this article we will address both concepts and how they can be leveraged in ECAD tools. Continuous Deployment Designers will frequently make changes to their code and check it into the Read Article

How to Conquer Data Package Problems

How to Conquer Data Package Problems In this OnTrack Podcast we talk about what slows down a PCB fabrication. What are the updates in IPC 4101 specs, and why do you need to keep up with these changes. Watch the full episode now. Read Article

Navigating the Complexities of Component Libraries and Data Management

Navigating the Complexities of Component Libraries and Data Management Keeping your component libraries and data organized, accurate and optimized for team use is critical for all engineers and PCB designers. Unfortunately, it can be extremely tedious and it takes time and energy away from the actual design of the board and products. It’s akin to an artist spending 75% of their time organizing art supplies and only 25% on painting! Below you’ll find a variety of content sources that we hope will help you streamline Read Article

Key Documents for Fabrication and Assembly

Key Documents for Fabrication and Assembly I come from humble beginnings - a long line of farmers in central Pennsylvania. It is amazing how one can take a simple seed, place it in the ground, and tend to it. Before long, you have a mature plant with a variety of uses: food for people, feed for livestock, and most importantly, more seeds for the next growing season. With so much riding on the seed, it is no wonder why you want to guard and protect it. Your PCB Designs are like that simple Read Article

Successful PCB Design Data Management

Successful PCB Design Data Management Previously, we looked at what a successful Data Management system entails and how we would identify a reliable System that is safe to use. In this blog, we’ll look at what your Data Management system will need to ensure its success. While every Data Management System is unique, there are universal principles which we’ll explore that are vital to a PCB’s utility. These principles are like pillars supporting a bridge; if any single pillar is Read Article

Advanced PCB Library Management

Advanced PCB Library Management A previous article from Altium’s PCB design blog showed everyone how to get started with integrated PCB library management. In the previous article, you can get a look at creating an integrated library project and how to compile schematics and PCBs into their own libraries. You can then take schematic libraries and your PCB libraries and compile them into an integrated library. This allows you to package sets of important design and component Read Article

Effective Integrated PCB Library Management with Altium Designer

Effective Integrated PCB Library Management with Altium Designer PCB library management by hand is over with Altium Designer If you’ve been designing for awhile, you’ve probably accumulated a significant amount of designs, including schematics, arranged boards, and proprietary components. Keeping track of all of this important information in your operating system’s file structure or on a network drive can leave you prone to careless mistakes. If someone moves or renames a single file, it can have a far Read Article

Top Issues in PCB Data Management Systems and Processes

Top Issues in PCB Data Management Systems and Processes PCB Data Management is a journey with no final destination. On this journey, significant issues can and often pop up. If you decide to ignore them, they can worsen and ultimately lead to completely ruining your PCB data management systems and processes. In this blog, we will look at several of these issues. I prefer to call them pitfalls because they can appear suddenly, and you can easily fall into them if you’re not careful. But, if you are Read Article

Warning Signs You Need PCB Data Management

Warning Signs You Need PCB Data Management I get a gut-wrenching feeling when people are doing PCB Design and ignoring all the warning signs around them. It’s like in the movies. I enjoy watching horror movies, but too many times I find them more funny and predictable than scary. Why is it every time the “bad guy” starts to chase the unfortunate helpless victim, their automatic response is to run to the top floor of the building? Everyone is shocked when the person meets their “unseen” Read Article

Requirements Management and Quality Functional Deployment

Requirements Management and Quality Functional Deployment “Ending up in the wrong place is the result of bad directions, not bad driving. Product failure in the marketplace results from errors in requirements, not implementation.” - Thomas L. Musto, Chairman, IBM Corporation (Retired) A definition of QFD: Quality-Functional-Deployment (QFD) [literal translation of the Japanese characters] is an analytical method to help you transform customer needs (the voice of the customer [VOC]) into engineering Read Article