Valor NPI Capabilities - A Better Way to Design

Why Valor ExistsFor decades the electronics industry has been working to cut down the time between PCB design and manufacturing as much as possible without compromising quality. After all, revenue generation doesn’t typically exist until any given product is in the hands of the end user. Thus, the faster a product can get into manufacturing, the faster it can start producing revenue instead of being a cost center. One doesn’t have to search long to find hundreds of examples of products that were only discovered to have failure issues after hundreds of thousands, if not millions of dollars were spent on manufacturing.

We can only speculate on how many companies who are dealing with recall issues, field failures and endless prototype production, are learning a very hard lesson in how to prepare and prove that a PCB design is indeed ready for manufacturing.

Solutions in Science FictionThe ideal solution is likely to make an appearance in the future, and could look very much like Jarvis, the advanced, visual computer program used by Iron Man. Jarvis was an application that produces holographic 3D models and accurately tests designs without the need for fabrication and field testing. This type of technology would revolutionize every corner of the electronics industry.

“Any sufficiently advanced technology, is as indistinguishable as magic.” – Sir Arthur C. Clark

Since the Jarvis model remains a part of science fiction for now, there are other technologies which are taking the industry by storm in the quest to reduce the time and cost between design and manufacturing.

The Innovation of ValorElectronic manufacturers who have integrated Valor into their scope of services for design are making a clear statement about their commitment to quality and efficiency of their facility and for their customers.

Valor is fully capable of saving copious amounts of time and money by analyzing data early for fabrication, assembly, testability and electrical integrity. Its primary goals are to increase product quality, manufacturing flexibility and responsiveness while reducing costs, time to market, NPI cycles and manufacturing time cycles.

Valor NPI (New Product Introduction) may sound too good to be true, or like a grandiose sales pitch, but the facts are available for anyone willing to take a look at what Valor has to offer. At its core, the process by which Valor achieves its goals is a simple concept, with a very complex and in-depth set of systems behind it.

Assembly analyses are followed by in-depth bare board analyses that provide over 220 checks, which includes:

Valor starts with in-depth analyses that begins early in development in order to cut back on revision spins as well as hardware and labor costs. The assembly analysis, which covers more than 235 separate checks are as follows:

• Drill Analysis - hole size, aspect ratio, shorts, touching / close holes (49+ checks)

• Signal Layers Analysis - spacing, slivers, widths, stubs, bottlenecks (78+ checks)

• Power and Ground Plane Analysis - plane spacing, slivers, widths, bottlenecks (39+ checks)

• Fiducial Analysis - clearance, size, location, side, background (18+ checks)

• Component Analysis – reference designators, clearances to other components, silk screen, conveyed edge, holes (53+ checks)

• Padstack Analysis – clearance, toeprints, thermal connections, via-in-pad, solder mask/non solder mask defined pads, annular ring, pitch (64+ checks)

• Solder paste Analysis – missing paste, on solder mask, not on SMD, bridging (12+ checks)

• Testpoint Analysis – clearance, access, size (90+ checks)

• Solder Mask Analysis - pads, coverage, missing clearances, slivers (40+ checks)

• Silk Screen Analysis - hole-clearance, SMD-clearance, overlaps, reference designators (16+ checks)

• Profile Checks - board outline, board thickness, aspect ratios

FIDUCIAL TO COPPER TESTPOINT TO TESTPOINT

COMPONENT SPACING VIA TO TOEPRINT

Of course, as in-depth and intuitive as they may be, Valor’s analytical approach to design is certainly nothing new in the industry. Many other service providers offer similar data comparison analyses and checks as well. However, one major difference is that Valor’s assembly analysis utilizes the actual body outline and pin contact area instead of an approximation.

Precise data utilized alongside Valor’s battery of analyses means less time spent designing and more time spent manufacturing and marketing. It means getting to market quicker than ever before without having to sacrifice product quality or worse, field failures discovered by end users.

This is all made possible through Valor’s suite of technologies – chief of which is the Valor NPI coupled with the VPL (Valor Parts Library) Manager. This online electronics component library uses standardized physical modeling of components containing accurate graphical contour, pin contact areas and positions, dimensional tolerances, attributes such as overall dimensions including height, pin 1 identification and much more. It supports over 40 million components and is updated on a daily basis. VPL Manager’s “As Built” precision enables realistic documentation and accurate design-for-assembly analysis.

Valor NPI covers PCB fabrication, assembly and test in all the ways previously discussed in order to help you easily design for manufacture. Valor technologies also features an ERF Manager (Engineering Rules File), which is applied to multiple CAD/CAM processes and supports design-anywhere build-anywhere mentality, and BOM (Bill of Materials) Manager, which checks for BOM discrepancies and performs BOM comparisons.

Component Data Comparison

Valor DataExact component outline and pin contact area.

Gerber DataNo Component Information.

CAD DataComponent keep-out area.

Accurate Components Ensure Accurate Analysis

Before VPL substitutionInaccurate outlines and pin definitions.

After VPL substitutionActual body outline and pin contact area.

With true component representations, accurate analyses can be performed. “Component Spacing” and “Pin-to-Pad Analysis” can now provide precise results rather than just approximations.

While Valor offers a suite of modules, the key drivers in the design process are:

VPL Manager (Valor Parts Library)

Online electronics component library

Standardized physical modeling of components containing accurate graphical contour, pin contact areas and positions, dimensional tolerances, attributes such as overall dimensions including height, pin 1 identification and much more

ISO 9001 certified data service to the industry

Supports 40 Million components, increasing daily

Package names based upon JEDEC JES-D 30B standard

“As Built” precision enables realistic documentation and accurate design-for-assembly analysis

Valor NPI (New Product Integration)

DFM – Covers PCB Fabrication, Assembly, and Test

No. 1 physical analysis capability

Constraint based DFM analysis

ERF (Engineering Rules File)

DFM process constraints

Applied to multiple CAD/CAM processes

Supports design-anywhere build-anywhere

BOM Manager

Checks BOM for discrepancies; quantity, typos, AVL, missing/incomplete information, duplicates

Matches Valor package models to part numbers in BOM

Merges BOM with Design

Alternative Parts Analysis

Compares BOM-to-Design and Design-to-BOM

Performs BOM comparisons

Ultimately, Valor is a better way to design. It streamlines DFM validation and NPI by pushing for precision over approximation in everything from fabrication to BOM comparison. It’s the next step towards Iron Man’s Jarvis, and who wouldn’t want an infallible AI assistant during PCB design?

DFM Data Requirements (Assembly Analysis and Fabrication Analysis)

Intelligent Data Exchange with ODB++ and IPC-2581

Captures all PCB design, fabrication and assembly knowledge into a single unified database

Improves communication and reduces Time-to-Market

Eliminates time consuming re-engineering

Fully expandable and adaptable to industry needs

Explicit, hierarchical structure

Accurate physical descriptions

DFA Data Requirements (Asembly Analysis)

BOM - Reference Designator, Quantity, Manufacturer, Part Number (prefer to also include Customer Part Number and Description)

ODB++ - All Etch Layers, Solder Mask, Silk Screen, Solder Paste, Drills, Board Outline

Schematic - to check polarities/pinouts of non-standardized pinouts like diodes and transistors

DFF Data Requirements (Fabrication Analysis)

ODB++ - All Etch Layers, Solder Mask, Silk Screen, Solder Paste, Drills, Board Outline

Fabrication Drawing – Notes, Drill Table, Dimensions, Detailed Stack-up

Schematic – to check polarities/pinouts of non-standardized components like diodes and transistors

Board Supplier or Customer Capabilities

BOM - Reference Designator, Quantity, Manufacturer, Part Number (prefer to also include Customer Part Number and Description)

ODB++ - All Etch Layers, Solder Mask, Silk Screen, Solder Paste, Drills, Board Outline

Fabrication Drawing – Notes, Drill Table, Dimensions, Detailed Stack-up

Schematic – to check polarities/pinouts of non-standardized components like diodes and transistors

Board Supplier or Customer Capabilities

4130 E. Wood Street, Suite 100 • Phoenix, AZ 85040

Phone: 602.437.5068 • Fax: 602.437.5299 • 1.800.445.9442

www.mjsdesigns.com

Company Certifications

ISO 9001: 2008

AS9100: 2009 Rev C (Aerospace)

ISO 13485:2003 (Medical)

ITAR Registered

ANSI / ESD S.20.20-2014 Standard

Staff Certifications IPC-A-610E

J-STD-001E

IPC / WHMA-A-620

CID +

Counterfeit Component Detection & Prevention PRO-STD-001 Certified

Your electronics manufacturing services partner...from design to production since 1976.

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Your electronics manufacturing services partner...from design to production since 1976.

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To find out more about how your company can benefit from the Valor NPI services offered by MJS Designs, contact our business development team at sales@mjsdesigns.com or

submit for a free quote at www.mjsdesigns.com.