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The Shaughnessy Report: Breaking Down the Language Barrier

According to Ethnologue’s 2024 update, there are currently 7,164 living languages being spoken today. It makes you wonder: Do they count PCB design as a language? PCB fabrication? Assembly?

Over the years, I’ve learned a decent amount of Spanish and French. I can speak enough to get around, and if someone is speaking Spanish or French fairly slowly, I can usually understand the gist of the conversation. But I still miss a lot of the little things—prepositions, adverbs, verb tense, and other points of grammar that can change the entire meaning of the conversation.

When we started planning this issue, I couldn’t help comparing PCB designers and fabricators to citizens of different countries trying to communicate. They can each comprehend most of what the other person is saying, but many of the little things are lost in translation. Here again, it’s the little things that can cause big misunderstandings.

It must be frustrating to be a PCB designer. They’re thinking, “I know what I mean. Why don’t you know what I mean, Mr. Fabricator?”

Of course, the fabricator is thinking the same thing in reverse. “What are you trying to tell me, Mr. Designer? Is this copper weight before or after processing?”

In this month’s issue, our expert contributors clear up many of the miscommunication problems between PCB designers and their fab and assembly stakeholders. But as we see, a little extra planning early in the design cycle can go a long way toward maintaining open lines of communication with the fab and assembly folks.  

We start with an interview with Jen Kolar and Kelly Dack, who discuss some of the most common communication breakdowns between designers and manufacturers. Ray Fugitt points out some typical pitfalls in the data handoff process. Gerry Partida explains exactly what it takes for designers to achieve first-pass success. 

Stephen Chavez helps bridge the gap between PCB designers and manufacturers, and Paul Cooke discusses how designers can coordinate efforts with fab. As Joe Fjelstad says, flexible circuits demand even better communication between design and fab. We also have interviews with Karen Burnham and Paul Park, as well as columns by Kelly Dack, Matt Stevenson, and Barry Olney. We also feature an article by Tony Plemel of Flexible Circuit Technologies.

We’ll be attending IPC APEX EXPO. If you’re at the show, stop by our booth. See you next month.

Ths column originally appeared in the March 2025 issue of Design007 Magazine.