Why layout determines board manufacturability in PCB Design - Dashboard Impact

Dashboard Mode - Why layout determines board manufacturability

Goal

Understand how PCB layout factors affect the ease and cost of manufacturing circuit boards.

Sample Data: PCB Layout Factors and Manufacturing Impact

Factor	Description	Impact on Manufacturability	Example
Trace Width	Width of copper traces on the board	High	0.1 mm vs 0.3 mm
Trace Spacing	Distance between adjacent traces	High	0.15 mm vs 0.5 mm
Via Count	Number of vias connecting layers	Medium	50 vs 200 vias
Component Density	Number of components per area	High	30 vs 80 components per sq. inch
Board Size	Physical dimensions of the PCB	Medium	100x100 mm vs 200x150 mm
Layer Count	Number of copper layers	High	2 layers vs 6 layers

Dashboard Components

• KPI Cards:
  • Total Vias: SUM(Via Count) from sample data (example: 50 + 200 = 250)
  • Average Trace Width: AVERAGE(Trace Width) (example: (0.1 + 0.3)/2 = 0.2 mm)
  • Average Trace Spacing: AVERAGE(Trace Spacing) (example: (0.15 + 0.5)/2 = 0.325 mm)
  • Average Component Density: AVERAGE(Component Density) (example: (30 + 80)/2 = 55 components/sq.in)
  • Board Size Range: Min and Max from Board Size (example: 100x100 mm to 200x150 mm)
  • Layer Count Range: Min and Max (2 to 6 layers)
• Bar Chart: Visualize impact level by factor. Use Impact on Manufacturability categories mapped to numeric scale (Low=1, Medium=2, High=3). Formula: SWITCH([Impact], "Low", 1, "Medium", 2, "High", 3)
• Table: Show all factors with descriptions and examples for quick reference.

Dashboard Layout

+----------------------+-----------------------+
| KPI Cards            | Bar Chart             |
| (Top left)           | (Top right)           |
+----------------------+-----------------------+
| Full Factors Table (Bottom, full width)          |
+--------------------------------------------------+

Interactivity

Filter by Impact on Manufacturability (Low, Medium, High) updates KPI cards and bar chart to focus on selected difficulty levels.

Hovering over bar chart bars highlights corresponding rows in the factors table for easy comparison.

Self Check

If you filter the dashboard to show only factors with High impact, which components update and how?

• KPI Cards recalculate averages and totals only for High impact factors.
• Bar Chart shows bars only for High impact factors.
• Factors Table filters to show only High impact rows.

Key Result

Dashboard showing how PCB layout factors like trace width, spacing, vias, and layers affect manufacturability difficulty and cost.