Design Frequently Asked Questions
Technically, are there any "withholds" in your design capabilities?
No, although being a manufacturer ourselves, we are rigidly geared towards staying within the confines of our own manufacturability and that of your production sources, we are capable of all techniques oriented towards higher density board design.
BGA routing Max pin count 1600 Min pin pitch .75mm
Ultra fine pitch SMT Max pin count 240 Min pin pitch .4mm
Blind/buried vias Min diameter .006 drill diameter, (aspect ratio dependant)
Micro vias Min diameter .002 drill diameter (aspect ratio dependant)
Buried Capacitance / Buried Resistance / Controlled Impedance/ Differential Impedance
Which format(s) of netlists do you currently import automatically (without modifications to netlist)?
Mentor Graphics, Pcad, Cadence, Visula, Veribest, OrCad, PADS, WinBoard
Our designers and design partners utilize OMNI-NET netlist translator utility. It is capable of import and translation of virtually any netlist with no modifications. Additionally, we have Orcad Schematic Capture and can perform rolling schematic / netlist updates if required.
Which CAD system(s) does your company use?
PADS Power PCB, Mentor Graphics, Cadence Allegro, and others, see our full list under design software.
How are your parts libraries set up? How do you deal with different part numbers from different customers for the same part? How do you distinguish between alternate footprints for a single part?
Footprints / geometries are created and saved under generic names.
Part types are created as extrapolations of manufacturers part number.
Each part number is linked to respective footprint / geometry.
A separate library is created for each individual customer.
Customized parts and part numbers are stored in this library.
Alternate footprints for single part are saved so both footprints are linked to appropriate reference designators
What documentation do you typically generate for a customer? What formats of documentation are you able to provide?
We can support all documentation formats mentioned above. Deliverables consist of the following:
Placement and routed check plots, Drill and Gerber files, Fab & Assembly drawings, CAD database, Centroid data, Net Length (upon request), Manhattan report (upon request), Parallelism (upon request), In-circuit test points (additional charge), Back annotation report (additional charge).
What is your method for estimating/quoting design time? How do you estimate needed resources for a job?
We describe standard delivery time as 2 weeks. A fixed price quote is given at the beginning of a project, with any additional hours billed at time and material. For a standard delivery, we have the flexibility to schedule staff as needed to complete a job. In this fashion, large complex boards are delivered on time (2 weeks); smaller, less complex boards are consistently delivered early at no extra charge, and any job can be accelerated according to a customer's needs.
What is your typical method of accelerating a design to completion? Provide a cost vs. speed example.
Our standard lead time is ten days, quicker lead times may be purchased through an addtional charge, however this does not include any "on hold" times when the designer is waiting for an engineer to respond to questions, make a decision or review for approval.
What Mechanical CAD systems do you interface with? How do you receive and verify critical mechanical requirements?
AutoCad, Pro-E, Unicam
What goes in to the estimating/quoting of a design?
Each quote is client-oriented. Delivery and technology factor in to the price. We evaluate the number of pins and density, and comparing this data to the number of hours it will take to complete the project helps us determine a final cost. If there are changes made to the design along the way additional cost may be incurred.
