Introduction

For any PCB bare board and/or PCB assembly order, there is always a chance that issues come up due to the order data.

Some examples:

• Drill files are missing from the board data. Drillmap files have been supplied instead, but these cannot be used to generate the production data for the bare board. Extra data needs to be supplied.
• The bare board order details indicate that no legend is needed on the bottom layer, but the supplied data set contains a bottom side legend layer. This needs to be clarified.
• The board data contains tracks of only 0.07 mm, and the limit in production is 0.1 mm. Can these tracks be widened?
• The BOM list supplied for assembly contains some part descriptions that are not clear. Which parts should be used for assembly? This needs to be clarified.
• The part defined in the BOM list does not seem to match on the board. The copper pads on the board do not match the part pin layout. Should another part be selected or is there a design error on the board.

What all these examples have in common is that either extra information is needed to be able to produce the correct board, or that a faulty board will be delivered. This results certainly in loss of time and possibly in extra costs.

We at Eurocircuits supply tools to avoid a number of these issues as part of our Virtual PCB Production and Assembly project. By allowing the visual simulation of the PCB production and assembly some of these issues can be detected before the order is placed, allowing for the correction of the supplied data. This way the order delivery term and price can be respected.

The PCBA Visualizer is one of these tools that focus on the assembly part. This manual describes how to use the tool.

This manual is organized according to a typical flow: first we load the BOM and identify and validate all part definitions. Then we load the CPL and validate all component positions.