Our workflow for products with rigid PCB assemblies
- The mechanical designer lists the mechanically important components: buttons, connectors, LEDs, modules and any large components that set the product's form.
- The electronics designer responds with a recommended minimum board area and thickness, and recommends specific mechanical components along with their requirements.
- The mechanical designer drafts the board outline in CAD, with mounting holes and the placement of those key components.
- The mechanical designer exports the board as a 3D model plus 2D DXFs of the top and bottom views, with a 2D drawing where needed. These record where the layout is flexible, the keep-out areas, whether components may be placed on both sides, and part numbers for anything that must be a specific part, such as a particular USB-C connector.
- The electronics designer reviews the 2D and 3D files and either signs off or sends it back to step two with feedback, until both disciplines agree.
Why it matters
The workflow exists to save time, cut the hours lost to back-and-forth communication and stop work being done twice. It also heads off the classic integration failures: an antenna buried inside a metal enclosure, a battery sized without its charging and duty cycle in mind, a connector with no room for the mating cable, or heat with nowhere to go. Settling these early means the board and the enclosure shape each other, instead of one being squeezed to fit the other late in the project.