Ep. 8 | From Prototype to Market: Design for Manufacturability with Untapped Engineering Resources
Host Dave Finch interviews Dr. Don Kai Shenguan of Untapped Engineering Resources and Mark Hughes of Royal Circuits Solutions about the critical importance of Design for Manufacturability (DFM) and Design for Test (DFT) in electronics. The guests explain how engaging with Electronic Manufacturing Services (EMS) partners early in the design cycle prevents costly errors, such as single-source component obsolescence or unnecessary complexity like buried vias. They emphasize that modern EMS companies act as design partners, offering value engineering to optimize yield and cost, rather than just executing prints. The discussion highlights the need for young engineers to gain practical board design experience using tools like Altium and Cadence to bridge the gap between academic theory and production reality.