Let’s be honest—when most of us start a new board, manufacturability isn’t the first thing on our minds. We’re more focused on getting the circuit to work, meeting specs, and getting it all to fit in the space we’ve got.
But here’s the thing: if you don’t think about how your board will be built while you’re still in the ECAD tool, you’re going to pay for it later. Not just in dollars, but in delays, frustration, and sometimes in scrap.
Designing for manufacturability—DFM for short—isn’t some fancy process. It’s just about making practical design decisions that keep production smooth, predictable, and affordable. That’s where solid ECAD services make a difference—setting you up for fewer headaches and tighter control over cost.
Let’s walk through the stuff that really matters.
Stick to What the Fab House Likes
Before you get too far with your layout, get your fab shop’s standard capabilities. Most of them have a chart or PDF with details on:
- How thin you can go on trace width and spacing
- Minimum drill sizes
- Preferred via types
- Stackups they can build without charging extra
If you design outside those numbers, you might get hit with extra charges, or worse, a “we can’t build this” email. Nobody wants to redo a layout for something that could’ve been avoided with a five-minute check.
Most ECAD tools—and especially those from providers offering ECAD solutions—let you plug in rules for trace width, spacing, via sizes, and so on. Set that stuff up early. It’s way easier to catch issues while you’re still routing than to find out after the files are sent out.
Placement Makes or Breaks Your Assembly Costs
Where and how you place your parts affects how fast (and how well) your board gets built.
Same Direction, Less Confusion
Try to place similar parts in the same direction. Resistors, caps, and other little passives are faster to place that way, and the pick-and-place machine likes it.
Keep Some Breathing Room
Don’t cram parts together too tight. Give enough space for the soldering process to happen cleanly. If two parts are too close, you risk bridges or bad joints.
Watch the Tall Ones
Putting tall components next to small ones can cause “shadowing” during soldering, especially with reflow. It’s a small thing that can mess up joints in real production.
Don’t Go Wild with Vias
Vias are useful. But loading your board with them—especially the fancy ones—adds cost and risk.
Stick to Through-Hole
Through-hole vias are the simplest and cheapest. Blind and buried vias sound cool but cost more and need extra steps to make.
Avoid Vias in Pads
Putting vias in the middle of pads is risky unless you know exactly what you’re doing and have the right finish. The solder can wick into the via and leave the joint dry
Don’t Shrink Things Unless You Have To
It’s tempting to use microvias, tiny traces, and other advanced features because your tool lets you. But unless you’re building for a high-end RF system or space-constrained device, don’t go there.
Staying within standard trace widths, spacing, and hole sizes keeps your fab costs low. Most shops have a sweet spot—find it and stick to it.
Plan Panelization Sooner, Not Later
A lot of folks leave panelization to the fab shop. But thinking about it early can save you money and avoid surprises.
Aim for Standard Panel Sizes
Most fab houses work with 18×24 inch panels. Try to design your board to fit nicely into that, with room for rails, fiducials, and tooling holes.
Avoid Weird Shapes
If your board has odd outlines, it might waste space on the panel. That means fewer boards per panel, which bumps up your cost.
Silkscreen Isn’t Just for Show
Don’t ignore silkscreen. It helps during assembly and troubleshooting.
Label Clearly
Mark your components so people can actually read and understand them. It’s a time-saver during manual inspection and repair.
Keep It Off Pads
Make sure your silkscreen doesn’t run over any solder pads. That can cause issues during reflow, and many fabs will just remove it anyway.
Add Test Points—You’ll Thank Yourself Later
They’re cheap to add but expensive to skip.
Mark the important nets—power, ground, key signals—and give them probe-friendly pads. Most assembly houses can hook into your test points for automated testing, which helps catch bad solder joints early.
Simplify Your BOM When You Can
Using ten different resistor values when five would do? That adds complexity.
If you can get away with just 0402s or 0603s throughout, do it. Fewer part types mean:
- Fewer reels on the machine
- Faster setup
- Lower chance of mistakes
It also makes sourcing easier if something goes out of stock.
Don’t Overbuild Your Stackup
More layers mean more cost. If your design works on four layers, don’t go to six just because you can.
Also, materials matter. If you don’t need low-loss or exotic stackups, stick with standard FR-4.
If your design really needs a more advanced stackup—say, for signal integrity or EMI—just make sure you involve your fabricator early. They’ll help you pick the right materials that won’t bust your budget.
Get a Second Opinion from the Fab House
Before you call the layout final, shoot it over to your manufacturer for a quick DFM check. A lot of board shops will do this for free. They might catch things like:
- Hole sizes that don’t match plated specs
- Trace-to-copper clearance issues
- Stackup mismatches
Catching this stuff early saves money and time. Waiting until the board’s on the line? That’s when mistakes cost real cash.
Conclusion:
Designing for manufacturability isn’t about playing it safe. It’s about being smart. Every decision you make in ECAD—from part placement to via types—affects how easy (and cheap) it is to get your board built.
Using proper ECAD solutions gives you a better shot at doing things right the first time. And when you’ve got access to solid ECAD services, you’re not just designing boards—you’re designing products that are ready to hit the production line without hiccups.
Use the tools in your layout software. Talk to your fab and assembly house early. Keep things clean and standard where you can. That doesn’t mean you can’t do cool designs—it just means you won’t be stuck fixing them when you should be shipping them.
In short: good design is only half the job. Making it buildable is the rest.
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