News & Updates
When you’re ready to manufacture a new device at production volume, there are many aspects of the product that must come together. The enclosure, cabling and connectors, embedded software/firmware, and of course the PCBA all have to be considered in totality. There is a quick way to get your product into a usable enclosure, complete with input power and cabling, and with a form factor that fits your PCBA. This overused route to a new product is a box build assembly.
Printed circuit board fabricators have become skilled at manufacturing these technologies and also at understanding the reliability and producibility challenges associated with high-density-interconnect technology. Let’s look at where the PCB industry is at today.
What can the industry do to support PCB designers as they continue taking a more active role in product development? Here at Altium, there has been a progressive shift towards looking at the system level and creating tools that get designers more involved throughout the product development process. As the saying goes, over the wall engineering is over… today’s most successful products are built in a collaborative process.
As the 5G rollout progresses and researchers continue to discuss 6G, many new 5G-capable products operating in sub-GHz and mmWave bands are reaching the marketplace. Devices that will include a 5G-compatible front-end, whether small stations/repeaters or handheld devices, use phased arrays as high-gain antenna systems to provide high data throughput without losing range at higher frequencies.
Via protection is an important part of modern PCB design. It provides additional benefits in PCB manufacturing and assembly, increasing the number of acceptable products.
Power integrity problems can abound in modern PCBs, especially high-speed boards that run with fast edge rates. These systems require precise design of the PDN impedance to ensure stable power is always delivered throughout the system.
A design project doesn’t appear out of nowhere. The design process spreads over time, and project documents change. Schematic documents gradually become more complex, new functional blocks appear, and already finished parts can be modified and updated.
Capacitance is your friend whenever you need stable power integrity, which is why there is so much focus on decoupling capacitors. While these components are important and they can be used to provide targeted power integrity solutions to certain components, there is one specialty material used to supercharge capacitance in your PCB stackup or package substrate.
The problems you can experience with components and libraries are endless. These problems are the most significant source of design issues and the biggest reason behind respins, costing companies untold amounts of lost profit annually.
If you want to have a better understanding of how to use Altium 365 to maintain a strong and centralized library that is free of problems and headaches, you may want to consider attending this lecture.
As much as we would like to build every high speed PCB perfectly, with ideal SI/PI/EMI characteristics, it isn’t always possible due to many practical constraints. Sometimes a stackup can be “good enough,” even for a high-speed PCB. This always comes from the need to balance engineering constraints, functional requirements, and the need to ensure signal and power integrity in a high-speed design, and finally to ensure compliance with EMC requirements.
Design review automation helps teams spend less time managing feedback and more time improving the design. This article explores how centralized comments, structured checklists, action tracking, and approval workflows can make reviews faster, more consistent, and easier to close.
This article compares flex and rigid-flex PCBs across key design and manufacturing considerations, including cost, bend radius, impedance, and assembly complexity. It explains how choosing the right construction early can help reduce design risks and ensure better manufacturability.
Security shouldn't be the reason your engineering team slows down. This article explores how cloud-based design platforms can turn secure access, governance, and IP protection into an enabler of faster collaboration rather than another development bottleneck.
The right PCB assembly outputs turn a finished design into a buildable product. This article covers the essential manufacturing files and DFA considerations that help ensure assemblers have the information they need for accurate, reliable production.
This webinar explores how engineering leaders can gain greater visibility and control across complex electronic design workflows. Discover how connected processes and centralized design data help teams reduce risk, improve collaboration, and deliver projects on time.
Product variations often require different component populations, alternate parts, or configuration settings while keeping the underlying PCB design unchanged. This article explains how structured variant management keeps these differences organized and ensures each configuration has the correct BOM and manufacturing outputs.
Preventing DFM problems starts before fabrication not during the fab review. This article covers eight common PCB manufacturing issues and the design rules that help engineers identify and resolve them early.
Different CAD tools shouldn't mean disconnected teams. Learn how Multi-CAD workflows help engineers review designs, collaborate across disciplines, and catch mechanical or sourcing issues before they become costly redesigns.
This article explores how manufacturing-driven design can help teams validate multiboard products before they reach the factory. It highlights how early checks of interconnects, harnesses, mechanical fit, sourcing, and manufacturing data can reduce late-stage changes and accelerate production readiness.
Automated design sign-offs can eliminate much of the administrative friction surrounding hardware approvals. This article explores how in-context reviews, structured workflows, and automated traceability help teams accelerate release cycles while maintaining control.
Flexible circuits introduce unique assembly challenges that aren't always visible during PCB design, from panel instability and component movement to thermal distortion during reflow. This article explains how design decisions around stiffeners, placement, panelization, and materials can improve assembly yield and reduce costly rework.
Fixing one design problem can sometimes create another you didn't see coming. This article uses the S-80 submarine program to show how better requirements traceability can help teams spot hidden impacts before they turn into expensive rework.
A BOM is only valuable if everyone can trust the data it contains. This article shows how connected BOM management helps teams eliminate errors, improve collaboration, and keep fast-moving hardware projects on schedule.
PCB design rules are the foundation of every successful layout. This article explores how defining and managing constraints helps engineers improve design accuracy, simplify verification, and deliver manufacturing-ready PCBs with confidence.
Great products are built by connected teams, not disconnected tools. This article shows how cloud ECAD platforms enable real-time co-design, structured design reviews, and seamless collaboration across engineering, manufacturing, and supply chain teams.
A five-minute conversation with your fabricator could save weeks of redesign. Discover the ten questions that can improve manufacturability, boost yield, and help your rigid-flex project succeed on the first build.