Why design rules prevent manufacturing defects in PCB Design - Business Case Study

Scenario Mode

👤 Your Role: You are a PCB design engineer working with the manufacturing team.

📋 Request: Your manager wants a report explaining how following design rules helps prevent manufacturing defects in PCB production.

📊 Data: You have data on PCB design rule violations and corresponding manufacturing defect rates from recent production batches.

🎯 Deliverable: Create a dashboard showing the relationship between design rule violations and defect rates, with clear insights for the manufacturing team.

Sample Data

Batch ID	Design Rule Violations	Defect Rate (%)	Manufacturing Line
101	0	1.2	Line A
102	3	5.8	Line A
103	1	2.5	Line B
104	4	7.0	Line B
105	0	1.0	Line C
106	2	4.0	Line C
107	5	8.5	Line A
108	1	2.0	Line B

1

Step 1: Import the sample data into your BI tool.

Load data with columns: Batch ID, Design Rule Violations, Defect Rate (%), Manufacturing Line.

Expected Result

Data table with 8 rows and 4 columns loaded.

2

Step 2: Create a scatter plot to show the relationship between Design Rule Violations and Defect Rate.

X-axis: Design Rule Violations; Y-axis: Defect Rate (%); Color by Manufacturing Line.

Expected Result

Scatter plot showing points rising in Defect Rate as Design Rule Violations increase.

3

Step 3: Calculate the average Defect Rate for batches with zero violations and batches with more than zero violations.

Measure 1: Average Defect Rate where Design Rule Violations = 0 Measure 2: Average Defect Rate where Design Rule Violations > 0

Expected Result

Average Defect Rate with zero violations: approx 1.175% Average Defect Rate with violations: approx 5.16%

4

Step 4: Create a bar chart comparing average Defect Rates for zero vs. non-zero Design Rule Violations.

Categories: 'No Violations', 'With Violations'; Values: Average Defect Rate.

Expected Result

Bar chart showing much lower defect rate for 'No Violations' category.

5

Step 5: Add a text box summarizing the insight: 'Following design rules reduces defects significantly.'

Text: 'Batches with zero design rule violations have about 1.18% defect rate, while batches with violations have about 5.16%. This shows design rules help prevent manufacturing defects.'

Expected Result

Clear summary text on dashboard.

Final Result

PCB Manufacturing Defect Dashboard

Design Rule Violations vs Defect Rate

  Defect Rate (%)
  9 |          *
  8 |          *
  7 |        *
  6 |
  5 |      *
  4 |    *
  3 |  *   *
  2 |  *
  1 |*     *
    +------------------
     0 1 2 3 4 5
   Design Rule Violations

Average Defect Rate by Violation Status

  6 |       |
  5 |       |  *
  4 |       |  *
  3 |       |
  2 |  *    |
  1 |  *    |
    +------------
     No Violations  With Violations

Summary: Following design rules reduces defects significantly.

✓Batches with zero design rule violations have a low defect rate around 1.18%.

✓Batches with one or more violations have a much higher defect rate around 5.16%.

✓This shows that following design rules helps prevent manufacturing defects.

✓Manufacturing lines with more violations tend to have higher defect rates.

Bonus Challenge

Create a trend line in the scatter plot to show the correlation between design rule violations and defect rate.

Show Hint

Use the BI tool's built-in regression or trend line feature to add a line that best fits the scatter points.