Have you ever had problems with your PCB designs and had to remake any of them after having the “final” prototype in your hand? If you are one of these non-human geniuses that made only masterpiece-like, immaculate PCBs, please, throw the first stone. As we are not, and had to perform many revisions of our PCBs, we are always looking for ways to minimize our (expected) human errors, which can save us some money at the end of the day. This is why we bring today to the table, to meet a possible new PCB design partner, Next DFM. Now, is it useful for you? Let us check on that.
What is Next DFM? It is a PCB design analysis software, developed by the PCB boards manufacturer Next PCB. Being frustrated with many failed designs that end in the garbage pile, we decided to give this app a try. By placing the Gerber files on the Next DFM and running the DFM (Design For Manufacturability) analysis, the software gives you a considerable amount of information. Some of it is obvious to the designer (like the layer count and the dimensions), others may be interesting, such as minimum pad size, hole diameter, SMD’s spacing, minimum track width and spacing, hole to hole, and hole to track spacing, to name a few. But if you are a good designer, and using good software, as Altium example, most of the information given you already have configured on the rules before starting to route everything up, and checked it all after performing DRC (Design Rules Check).
Along with the one-click analysis, which we have just seen, there are other two major functionalities in this app. Starting with the PCB physical simulation preview, it sort of works as the preliminary step in order to order a board, where you can easily switch the PCB color and its finish, check also the layers, and easily switch between the design and the simulation views.
Read more: NEXT DFM: A PCBS LIFE-SAVER?
About The Author
Muhammad Bilal
I am a highly skilled and motivated individual with a Master's degree in Computer Science. I have extensive experience in technical writing and a deep understanding of SEO practices.