Mentor Graphics is an EDA company that provides PCB design and manufacturing integration solutions. Their traditional NPI process had issues like call-backs from manufacturing due to data mistakes and misunderstandings. Their new Valor NPI flow embeds DFM checks into the design process, uses the ODB++ standard to pass the complete product model between design and manufacturing for consistency, and automatically prepares the manufacturing processes. This seamless integration improves manufacturability and reduces design revision spins and costs for customers.

1. © 2014 Mentor Graphics Corp.
www.mentor.com1
The Lean NPI Flow:
Seamless Integration of PCB Design
& Manufacturing Processes
Better for Design, Better for Manufacturing
David Wiens & Michael Ford
Mentor Graphics
www.mentor.com
© 2014 Mentor Graphics Corp. Company Confidential
Mentor Graphics
2
 Electronic design automation (EDA) industry pioneer and global
innovator of advanced design solutions
 Founded in 1981
 Revenue ~$1.15B; 7% CAGR
 Market share ~23% of worldwide EDA market; ~45% of PCB
Source: EDAC Market Statistics

2. © 2014 Mentor Graphics Corp.
www.mentor.com2
www.mentor.com
© 2014 Mentor Graphics Corp. Company Confidential
The New Product Introduction (NPI) Process
PCB Design
Define the Product
NPI
 Optimize Product to Processes
 Prepare Process Instructions
Executing PCB Fabrication
Execute Manufacturing Process
Executing PCB Assembly
Execute Assembly Process
Design-Through-Manufacturing
www.mentor.com
© 2014 Mentor Graphics Corp. Company Confidential
Why NPI Matters
4

3. © 2014 Mentor Graphics Corp.
www.mentor.com3
www.mentor.com
© 2014 Mentor Graphics Corp. Company Confidential
Product Costs Are Committed In The Design Phase
$
70%
Design Manufacturing/Execution/Realization
Design NPI Ramp to
volume
Volume Sustain – End-of-Life
Cost incurred
Cost committed
Reduce costs by left shifting towards design
www.mentor.com
© 2014 Mentor Graphics Corp. Company Confidential
Traditional NPI Process
 Where is the waste in the NPI flow?
– Call-backs from manufacturing
– Data reconstruction, misunderstandings & mistakes
 How many design revision spins during the NPI phase?
– Industry average: 2.8 design revision spins, per design
– (Aberdeen Research, Printed Circuit Design Integrity)

4. © 2014 Mentor Graphics Corp.
www.mentor.com4
www.mentor.com
© 2014 Mentor Graphics Corp. Company Confidential
Best Practice NPI Flow Until Today – Putting Pieces Together
DFM verification at the design level:
– Based on manufacturing rules
– Reduced cost and first-pass yield
– With fewer design revision spins
Manufacturing-level product-data:
– Control over what is manufactured
– Eliminates data reconstruction & guesswork
Consistency in manufacturing:
– Multiple vendors, fabrication and assembly, from the same model
www.mentor.com
© 2014 Mentor Graphics Corp. Company Confidential
Valor NPI
Lean NPI Flow 2014 - Let’s Look At How This Works

5. © 2014 Mentor Graphics Corp.
www.mentor.com5
www.mentor.com
© 2014 Mentor Graphics Corp. Company Confidential
DFM Left-Shifted - Now Embedded Into Design
 Valor DFM technology embedded in Xpedition:
– DFM in the context of the layout process
– Rules managed centrally for all
designers on the network
– Designer need not have
manufacturing domain knowledge
– Improve manufacturability at source
– Good news for manufacturing!
www.mentor.com
© 2014 Mentor Graphics Corp. Company Confidential
Valor NPI
Intelligent, Integrated Product-Model Hand-Off

6. © 2014 Mentor Graphics Corp.
www.mentor.com6
www.mentor.com
© 2014 Mentor Graphics Corp. Company Confidential
ODB++ v8 in the Xpedition Lean NPI Flow
 Complete product-model
 Links product-NPI and process-NPI
 De-facto standard
 Structured, integrated
 No need for drawings
– Direct load into software-driven processes
– High automation
– High repeatability
– High quality
– Reduced supply-chain risk
www.mentor.com
© 2014 Mentor Graphics Corp. Company Confidential
Process-NPI: Fabrication

7. © 2014 Mentor Graphics Corp.
www.mentor.com7
www.mentor.com
© 2014 Mentor Graphics Corp. Company Confidential
Process-NPI: Assembly & Test
Valor Process
Preparation
www.mentor.com
© 2014 Mentor Graphics Corp. Company Confidential
Enterprise Global Build Process Preparation
14
 NPI once, not NPI again, over and over
 Central engineering libraries
 Auto-generation & simulation
 Product portability
 Integrated NPI & process
preparation, for EMS

8. © 2014 Mentor Graphics Corp.
www.mentor.com8
www.mentor.com
© 2014 Mentor Graphics Corp. Company Confidential
 We started with a complicated problem:
– A major bottleneck to business innovation & success
Summary
www.mentor.com
© 2014 Mentor Graphics Corp. Company Confidential
 We started with a complicated problem:
– A major bottleneck to business innovation & success
Summary
 We have achieved an industry first:
– A complete lean NPI flow
– DFM fully embedded into design
– Enhanced manufacturing product-model hand-off
– Immediate process preparation, globally
– Better for design, better for manufacturing

9. © 2014 Mentor Graphics Corp.
www.mentor.com9