Addressing the Global Printed Circuit Board Shortage

Siemens introduces PCBflow, a secure, cloud-based solution for accelerating design-to-manufacturing handoff for printed circuit boards

Published: Wednesday, May 12, 2021 - 12:00

(Siemens: Plano, TX) -- Siemens introduces PCBflow, an innovative cloud-based software solution that bridges the gap between the electronics design and manufacturing ecosystems. PCBflow extends Siemens’ Xcelerator portfolio with a secure environment for printed circuit board (PCB) design teams to interact with a variety of manufacturers, and by rapidly performing a range of design-for-manufacturing (DFM) analyses in the context of each manufacturers’ process capabilities, which helps customers accelerate design-to-production handoff.

Powered by the industry-leading Valor NPI software engine, which performs more than 1,000 DFM checks, PCBflow enables PCB design teams to rapidly identify manufacturability violations. These violations are then sorted and prioritized according to level of severity, guiding users through images and locations on the design for easy identification and immediate correction.

PCBflow is Siemens’ first step toward PCB assembly online solutions which automate the design-to-manufacturing hand off process. With a leading position across the design-to-manufacturing flow, Siemens is the first company to offer a marketplace featuring online, fully automated DFM analysis technology, which can help optimize designs, reduce front-end engineering cycles, and streamline designer/manufacturer communication.

“PCBflow is the ultimate product-design tool, because it supports comprehensive designer/manufacturer collaboration with a closed-loop feedback mechanism that drives continuous improvement,” says Dan Hoz, general manager, Valor Division, Siemens Digital Industries Software. “Because customer designs are in sync with the fab’s capabilities, respins can be reduced, time to market can be shortened, board quality can be optimized, and yield can be enhanced.”

For manufacturers, PCBflow helps simplify customer onboarding processes and provides designers with a comprehensive source of knowledge, which can streamline customer/manufacturer collaboration. And thanks to manufacturers’ capabilities being shared electronically, lengthy phone calls and email exchanges can be reduced, helping enable real-time customer communication to focus more on strategic, high-value discussion.

“PCBflow saves time and costs in the design-to-manufacturing handoff process by addressing manufacturability violations during the design phase,” says Evgeny Makhline, chief technology officer for Nistec, a PCBflow customer. “With PCBflow, producing and reviewing a DFM analysis report takes just minutes instead of hours.”

As a software as a service (SaaS) technology, PCBflow incorporates the strict security standards of Siemens’ software, reducing risk and protecting intellectual property with no additional IT investment.

PCBflow works with the Mendix low-code application development platform. The platform provides the ability to build multi-experience apps and share data from any location, on any device, on any cloud or platform, to more quickly realize the benefits of digital transformation.

Engineered for ease of use, PCBflow requires neither training nor prerequisites, and it is accessible from virtually any location, including mobile phones and tablets. Additionally, PCBflow provides designers with images, tool tips, measurements and precise locations of solderability issues, and other PCB design violations. Reports are available online and in a downloadable PDF for easy sharing. PCBflow supports the ODB++ language design file format, and support for additional formats is planned in 2021.

Additional information is available here and at www.PCBflow.com.

Siemens Digital Industries Software is driving transformation to enable a digital enterprise where engineering, manufacturing, and electronics design meet tomorrow. The Xcelerator portfolio helps companies of all sizes create and leverage digital twins that provide organizations with new insights, opportunities, and levels of automation to drive innovation.

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