Requirements checklist
What to ask for when choosing software for pCB manufacturers.
A checklist built from how pCB manufacturers work, to print or save as a PDF and bring to any supplier meeting.
What the software should cover
Tick each one that matters to your business.
- Order and file revision register
- Engineering query tracker
- Stack-up and panel planning
- Lot travellers by process step
- Yield and scrap by step
- Electrical test results
- Certificates and shipment
Roles that need their own access
Who logs in, and what each person may see or change.
- For CAM engineers
- For the planner
- For process leads
- For quality
- For the owner
Reports to ask for
Ask to see each one with your own sample data.
- Yield by process step, by week and by board type
- Orders waiting on engineering queries
- Scrap reasons for drilling, plating and etching
- Lots affected by a given bath change or press load
- Electrical test failures by lot and customer
- Laminate and prepreg stock against open lots
- Quoted against actual panel utilisation
Systems it may need to connect to
Note which ones you already run.
- Test equipment result files
- Accounting export
- SMS
Questions for any vendor
Put these to every supplier you are comparing.
- Does it replace our CAM software?
- Can one panel lot carry boards of different part numbers?
- How are impedance coupons handled?
- Can the buyer see where a lot is?
- What if a lot is split at a step?
- Do operators need a PC at each station?
- How long does moving our order history take?
- How is the cost worked out?
Where the work usually breaks today
Circle the ones you recognise. They set the order of the project.
- The wrong Gerber revision gets imaged
- Engineering queries wait in email
- Yield is known only at the end
- Chemical bath changes are not tied to lots
- Customer certificates are typed by hand
Prefer to talk it through? See the pCB manufacturers page.