In the complex PCB manufacturing process, when customers are demanding you reduce the delivery period, they also look for the lowest prices. In spite of automation in design and manufacturing a concerted effort must be made to generate reliable PCB production. A collection of drops makes the ocean. Look at each drop.

Drop 1: Is your NC program optimized?
A: When the NC program is not optimized, either in X, or Y or both, then the travel length of the machine is longer per lot. And the loss on energy increases. Once the routing program is performed, if it is not optimized for minimal travel of the spindle (especially in array routing), it drains more energy.

Drop 2: Don't use square innerlayer systems.
A: The square-sized material fits in any direction; the warp and weft directions may interchange and the expansion factors will be different. This will lead into multilayer rejections due to misalignment.

Drop 3: Don't return to customers for every problem.
A: Your buyer could be a non-technical materials man, and the amount of time you spend getting clarification may exceed your limit, especially if the delivery is overdue.

Drop 4: When you create tear-drops for innerlayers.
A: The tear-drops by some of the low-end CAM systems may overlay tear extensions to shorts, and do not indicate an error in DRC. Create a netlist prior to tear-drop, then create a new netlist after tear-drops. Then compare them to sort out errors.

Drop 5: SM creation for SMD pads.
When pads are sketched as lines, the SMD pitch and dimensions vary. This will lead to ganged masking without web: a potential area for a solder bridge.

Drop 6: Reduce the number of tools.
A: If two holes are within 1-mil difference then select a single drill tool to reduce the number of drill bit changes while drilling.

Drop 7: When possible, avoid secondary drill.
A: The secondary drill calls for additional operation, and a slight offset in location accuracy is more or less the norm. Try to reduce the number of holes drilled in the secondary or avoid it with anti-pads.

At all times, use your intuition along with your technical know-how!