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CIRCUIT DESIGN

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FEATURE >

Tricks Of CostEffective Panelization


You pay for the whole panel, so why not use it
By Keith Schenk

he panelization of PCBs should be of concern to anyone involved in the design and engineering of boards. Good panelization techniques will reduce manufacturing cycle time and cost, while bad panelization will cost time and money. Determining the number of boards that can fit onto a panel and whether the construction uses common core material are the main panelization issues that fabrication houses face. The number of boards up per panel directly correlates to the price of the individual PCB. The availability of material directly correlates to the ability to build the PCBs in the shortest cycle time.The best way to design for manufacture is to know your fab houses panel sizes, cores and pre-preg inventories.

Size is everything
Panel sizes vary between fabrication houses and they will depend on an order size. Keep in mind that in a manufacturing environment, material waste and inventory are the most important areas to control to attain profitability. The most common raw laminates produced are manufactured in 36 x 48 and 36 x 72 sheets. Most fabrication houses will decide on panel sizes that produce the best yields from these sizes. The sizes that are most common are 12 x 12, 12 x 18, 16 x 18, 18 x 24 and at some of the larger shops, 24 x 36. Most fabrication shops will limit themselves to two or three of these panel sizes. This will reduce the inventory of materials and equipment that is needed in manufacturing, e.g., film sizes and tooling plates. Limiting panel sizes also aids in the automation of the individual departments. Smaller board houses generally use the 12 x 12
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through 18 x 24 panel sizes, while the larger production houses generally use the larger sizes of 18 x 24 and 24 x 36. As mentioned earlier, the board house uses the criteria of board size, quantity and sometimes manufacturing difficulty to decide on the panel size. A small board, lets say 1.8 x 1.8, in a prototype run of 10 pieces would not be panelized onto an 18 x 24 panel because this would produce too many boards; a 12 x 18 panel would probably be the best choice. And a design that is pushing the boundaries of manufacturing ability would probably be panelized onto a smaller panel size even if its size and quantity define a larger panel size. This way the manufacturing tolerances will be minimized on a smaller panel size, thus improving yields. These panel sizes are merely the rough sizes used by the board houses for fabrication. The actual image areathe part of the panel that can be used for the individual PCBis smaller. Generally the board houses need a one-inch border around the panel. This area will incorporate all the tooling holes required for lamination, the registration alignment holes, commercial coupons and area needed by the manufacturing equipment to produce the panel. The image area can be further reduced if impedance or customer coupons are required. The following is a list of panel sizes and image sizes: Panel size 12 x 12 12 x 18 16 x 18 18 x 24 24 x 36 Image area 10 x 10 10 x 16 14 x 16 16 x 22 22 x 34

The spacing between boards required by the board house also has an impact on the
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image area.This spacing is generally .100 to .200 inches between parts.This spacing helps accommodate the routing out of the individual boards. If the boards are to be palletized that is, set into an arraythen the spacing applies between pallets as well as between the boards inside the pallet. The palletization of Figure 1 - A panelized PCB on a 12 x18 panel. the PCB has its own unique criteria because Another key area in which money and the assembly must be taken into account. There are two schools of thought on this sub- time can be saved is the dielectric spacing ject. I have seen customers/ designers send between layers in the construction of the data in as a one up PCB and ask us to pan- PCB. As with minimizing the number of elize it into an array for them, while others panel sizes, a board house also will try to prefer to send the data in as an array format. reduce the number of different core thickThe decision on which method to use to nesses and pre-preg types it keeps in invensend the design to the fabrication house tory. The core material is the raw laminate depends on whether you have direct knowl- that has been laminated with copper on each edge of how the PCBs will be assembled and side by a supplier and shipped to the board house; this is commonly referred to as Cwho will be doing the assembling. If you know who is going to assemble the stage material. The pre-preg is the pre-woven boards, it is best to get the physical dimen- glass that has been impregnated with the sions of the array, number of boards per array epoxy resin and is used between the core and any fiducial locations that will be material to laminate a multilayer board; this needed, and relay this information to the fab- is commonly referred to as B-stage material. A board house can also save money by utirication house. The fab house can then determine for you any effect the physical lizing foil and single-ply construction. Foil dimensions of the array will have on the pan- construction allows the board house to use elization of the PCBs. At this time you may be one less piece of core material in the conable to alter the dimensions of the PCB to struction of a PCB. Single-ply construction better fit into the array and subsequently allows the board house to use only one sheet onto the panel. If the number up per array of of pre-preg between layers. A board house the physical dimensions are not of great will first look at any design and try to apply importance, it is best to allow the fabrication these principles for simpler manufacturing house to place the PCBs into an array that and cost benefits. Below is a comparison of an older conventional construction to a foil best fits the panel. In general, cost will be lower if the physi- single-ply construction: A board house can order an abundance of cal dimensions of a board can be manipulated to divide evenly into the image area of different core thicknesses from their supplier a specific panel. A basic formula is used by but most choose to limit their inventory and board houses to determine how many PCBs only keep the most common thicknesses on will fit onto a given panel size (see Equation hand at any given time. A board design will dictate how many pieces of core material will 1). This formula can be used for different be needed for a job. And the dielectric spacing panel sizes to reveal the optimum panel size specified by a customer will detail the core to be used for maximum panelization. and pre-preg thicknesses that must be used. Figure 1 shows a typical panelized PCB on a 12 x 18 panel.

Equation 1
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Image courtesy of the Cirexx Corp.

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To specify or not?
It is best for a designer not to specify the dielectric thicknesses of a board unless it is needed for the functionality of the boards. Not specifying dielectric thicknesses will allow the board house to utilize the common cores and pre-pregs that it has in house. There is a large potential for lost time at the fab house when there are both dielectric and impedance call-outs for the PCB. When an order is booked and dielectrics and impedance are specified, the fabrication house is now held responsible for the impedance outcome of the PCB.There are hundreds of impedance modeling software tools and the chances are that the fabricator is not using the same one you are. Since the responsibility rests upon the fabricator to achieve the targeted impedance, he will use his modeling software based on the dielectric call-outs that have been supplied.

Figure 2 - Conventional construction construction It is very common that the impedance numbers will not match, and at this point the fabrication house has no choice but to put the job on hold and contact the designer for approval to change the dielectrics. If the history of given dielectrics for a designfrom an earlier revision or similar boardhave generated good performance, then dielectric call-outs are probably better than impedance call-outs because there will be no variation in the measurements between layers. A crosssection can be supplied by the fabrication house to verify dielectric call-outs for a given design. If dielectrics must be controlled for purposes of impedance or buried capacitance, then it is best to contact the board manufacturer for a construction that will work best for the design and its manufacture. Keep the following in mind when communicating with your fabrication house: Ask for a list of the panel sizes, image areas and spacing between parts that the fabrication house uses. Ask what panel size the fabricator would use to panelize a PCB at a given size, quanwww.pcdmag.com

tity and level of difficulty. The smaller the panel size the greater the cost savings. If the PCB is to be palletized, get the physical dimensions and number up (if applicable) to the fabrication house, and ask how the shop would panelize it. Ask for a list of common core materials and pre-pregs that they use. If impedance or controlled dielectrics are to specified, get a construction model from the fabrication house. Do not specify both controlled dielectrics and impedance unless it is also specified that the dielectrics are for reference only. Decide which of the two is more important. In conclusion, cost reductions can be achieved through minimal effort by paying attention to panelization and construction concerns. Contact the fabrication house and ask what panel sizes are used and what the given image area is for each size.The formula that was given earlier can be used to determine the best panel size to be used. Generally, the smaller the panel size that can be used with minimal panels, the lower the cost of the order. vs. foil singly-ply Contact the fabrication house and work with their in-house engineers for a dielectric stack-up that works best for the inventory of raw materials on hand that will also work best for the functionality of the board. Fabrication houses are generally eager to assist designers in these areas because it increases the chances that the shop will receive the order. Work out these issues before the design is done and before the order is placed with the board house to help speed up the quoting and engineering process. Keith Schenk is an engineering manager at Cirexx Corp. in Santa Clara, CA. He has 23 years of experience in PCB manufacturing. Schenk holds an undergraduate degree in business management and a masters degree in business administration and technical management.

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