DFM (Design For Manufacturing)

[JohnsonMiller]

Is there any DFM check or DFM related tools inside Altium?

[mairomaster]

In the design rules you have a category Manufacturing, where you can specify minimum annular ring, minimum solder mask sliver and that sort of manufacturing related constrains. Is that what you mean?

[JohnsonMiller]

mairomaster, yes, it is what I mean. But it is not enough and usually manufacturer asks some other question and it takes project schedule, sometime more than a week! and I noticed they are using some other tools to check Gerber and manufacturing issues,

[mairomaster]

Can you give specific examples, please?

There always be questions, which I know slow down the process and can be annoying sometimes. To help with that you can do several things.

- Be sure you are using a layer stack agreed with the particular manufacturer, before you send the manufacturing files.
- Be sure you know all the technical requirements of the particular manufacturer - track width and gap, etc.
- Same for the materials the manufacturer uses, apart from the stack - colour of the silk screen, colour of the solder mask, etc.
- Always include manufacturing note with as much useful information as possible in one of the mechanical layers.
- Make sure you speak to your manufacturer if you need to use anything not standard - strange board cutouts and that sort of stuff.

I am sure Robert can give you more tips.

[robertferanec]

mairomaster you covered it all

JohnsonMiller have a look at our open source Rex projects at http://www.imx6rex.com/ expecialy what we include inside PCB manufacturing folder (notice the stackup information and have a look at the Manufacturing notes layer). We never get any questions from PCB manufacturer, we just send it and they just manufacture it.

In case you get a question from your PCB manufacturer, always include the answer in your "PCB manufacturing" folder or "Manufacturing Note" layer, so your next PCB manufacturing is smooth, without any delays or questions.