Manufacturing file review in PCB Design - Real Business Scenario

Scenario Mode

👤 Your Role: You are a quality analyst in a printed circuit board (PCB) manufacturing company.

📋 Request: Your manager wants you to review the manufacturing files to identify any discrepancies in layer counts, drill sizes, and material specifications before production starts.

📊 Data: You have a dataset containing PCB job IDs, layer counts, drill hole sizes, material types, and file approval status.

🎯 Deliverable: Create a report that highlights any files with mismatched layer counts, drill sizes outside the allowed range, or incorrect material types. Include a summary dashboard showing the count of approved and rejected files.

Sample Data

Job ID	Layer Count	Expected Layers	Drill Size (mm)	Allowed Drill Range (mm)	Material Type	Expected Material	Approval Status
PCB001	6	6	0.8	0.6 - 1.0	FR4	FR4	Approved
PCB002	4	6	1.2	0.6 - 1.0	FR4	FR4	Rejected
PCB003	8	8	0.5	0.6 - 1.0	Polyimide	Polyimide	Approved
PCB004	6	6	0.7	0.6 - 1.0	FR4	FR4	Approved
PCB005	6	6	1.1	0.6 - 1.0	FR4	FR4	Rejected
PCB006	4	4	0.9	0.6 - 1.0	FR4	FR4	Approved
PCB007	6	6	0.6	0.6 - 1.0	FR4	FR4	Approved
PCB008	8	8	1.3	0.6 - 1.0	Polyimide	Polyimide	Rejected

1

Step 1: Create a new column 'Layer Mismatch' to check if 'Layer Count' matches 'Expected Layers'.

Layer Mismatch = IF([Layer Count] <> [Expected Layers], "Mismatch", "Match")

Expected Result

Row with PCB002 shows 'Mismatch', others show 'Match' accordingly.

2

Step 2: Create a new column 'Drill Size Valid' to check if 'Drill Size (mm)' is within 'Allowed Drill Range (mm)'.

Drill Size Valid = IF(AND([Drill Size (mm)] >= 0.6, [Drill Size (mm)] <= 1.0), "Valid", "Invalid")

Expected Result

PCB002, PCB003, PCB005, and PCB008 show 'Invalid' drill sizes.

3

Step 3: Create a new column 'Material Mismatch' to check if 'Material Type' matches 'Expected Material'.

Material Mismatch = IF([Material Type] <> [Expected Material], "Mismatch", "Match")

Expected Result

All rows show 'Match' since materials are correct.

4

Step 4: Filter the dataset to show only rows where 'Layer Mismatch' = 'Mismatch' OR 'Drill Size Valid' = 'Invalid' OR 'Material Mismatch' = 'Mismatch'.

Filter condition: Layer Mismatch = 'Mismatch' OR Drill Size Valid = 'Invalid' OR Material Mismatch = 'Mismatch'

Expected Result

Filtered rows: PCB002, PCB003, PCB005, PCB008.

5

Step 5: Create a summary dashboard showing count of files by 'Approval Status'.

Count Approved = COUNTROWS(FILTER(Table, [Approval Status] = "Approved")) Count Rejected = COUNTROWS(FILTER(Table, [Approval Status] = "Rejected"))

Expected Result

Approved: 5 files, Rejected: 3 files.

Final Result

Manufacturing File Review Dashboard
-----------------------------------
| Approval Status | Count          |
|-----------------|----------------|
| Approved        | 5              |
| Rejected        | 3              |

Files with Issues:
Job ID | Layer Mismatch | Drill Size Valid | Material Mismatch
-------------------------------------------------------------
PCB002 | Mismatch       | Invalid          | Match
PCB003 | Match          | Invalid          | Match
PCB005 | Match          | Invalid          | Match
PCB008 | Match          | Invalid          | Match

✓Four files have issues: PCB002 has wrong layer count and invalid drill size.

✓PCB003, PCB005 and PCB008 have drill sizes outside the allowed range.

✓All materials match expected specifications.

✓Five files are approved, three are rejected due to these discrepancies.

Bonus Challenge

Create a visual heatmap showing the frequency of each type of discrepancy across all files.

Show Hint

Use conditional formatting or color coding in your BI tool to highlight mismatches in layers, drill sizes, and materials.