PCBflow is an online tool and collaboration space that accelerates the designto-manufacturing handoff process by connecting designers directly with manufacturers. It enables a DFM analysis using the current constraints for a specific manufacturer during the early stages of the design process, reducing design iterations, costs and time-to-market. Accelerating design-to-manufacturing handoff by connecting designers and manufacturers for instant DFM analysis

Benefits

• Saves time and costs in the design-tomanufacturing handoff process by addressing manufacturability issues during the design phase

• Enables anyone to easily preview designs and perform DFM analysis

• Connects designers and manufacturers to perform specific design for manufacturing (DFM) analysis based on the actual process capabilities of a chosen manufacturer

• Enables designers to get accurate price estimates, immediately

• Provides a secure, cloud-based, collaborative environment with no IT investment 

PCBflow enables a two-way workflow, left and right, between designers and manufacturers.

Features

• Fast and easy – fabrication DFM analysis in two simple steps

• Smart, self-explanatory and interactive –DFM report includes filtering, statistics, summary tables and error grouping

• Design for assembly (DFA) for manufacturer-specific BOM validation and identification of component placement and manufacturing violations

• Easy zooming and navigation through all board layers, as well as interactive viewing of DFM results, powered by Valor Parts Library

• Support for Gerber 274x files – enabling upload, preview, editing and DFM analysis by users who lack access to ODB++ or IPC2581

• Immediate and accurate price estimates, using QuickPrice powered by Boardera

• Easy, secure, in-app collaboration and downloadable PDF report 

• Powered by the Valor NPI engine, an industry standard for DFM analysis 

As a cloud-based tool, PCBflow requires no installation or configuration. Designers can simply upload ODB++Design files into the secure cloud environment and select one or more manufacturers to apply process capabilities to the DFM analysis.

PCBflow even supports flex and rigid-flex DFM analysis. PCBflow provides an interactive online viewer that enables drill-down and investigation of design faults, secure in-app sharing and collaboration, and a downloadable PDF report.

A new vision for electronics manufacturing 

PCBflow reimagines the electronics design-to-production process. PCBflow lets you optimize your designs for manufacturing at any time, from any location and with no IT investment.

PCBflow is the beginning of a broad collaborative platform that aims to connect the electronic manufacturing ecosystem, simplify collaboration and streamline the design-to-manufacturing process.

Create mature designs earlier

PCBflow guides designers through the manufacturability design errors, including manufacturing risk analysis. DFA analysis enables BOM validation based on manufacturer part numbers using the Valor Part Library Database, and exposes component placement problems and potential assembly issues. In addition, PCBflow allows designers to review and track updates in the context of design violations, minimizing back-and-forth with manufacturing partners and making it simple to validate and optimize designs.

Users can see, pan, zoom and navigate through all board layers, seeing all details, including component geometry. They can easily fully investigate the DFM analysis with an interactive result viewer that automatically zooms to the location of the result being investigated.

Designers can easily and securely upload ODB++, IPC2581 and Gerber 274x designs to PCBflow and run comprehensive DFM analysis instantly, online, at any time.

Get accurate price estimates, immediately 

PCBflow instantly shows updated cost and availability information for the components in a Bill of Materials (BOM), using the BOM Pricing and Sourcing tool.

PCB designers can use the QuickPrice function (powered by our partner Boardera) to receive instant, accurate price estimates within PCBflow for the manufacturing and assembly of their projects.

Manufacturers can easily become qualified QuickPrice providers in PCBflow, and receive notification each time a price estimate is requested.

Secure cloud environment

PCBflow adheres to the strict Security standards of Siemens software, including ISO27001 certification.

Read more about Siemens cloud security measures in the Siemens Trust Center.