Our PCB house has seen plenty of boards that were perfectly manufacturable… until it was time to assemble them.
A few DFA mistakes that cause more trouble than they should:
- Components placed too close to the board edge
- Connectors that are difficult to access after assembly
- Poor component orientation that complicates assembly or inspection
- Large differences in component size or thermal mass that make soldering harder
- Missing or inaccessible test points
- Silkscreen/reference designators hidden under components
- Not leaving enough room for rework
- Designing the PCB without considering how it will actually be assembled, inspected, and tested
The last one is probably the biggest.
A board being manufacturable doesn’t automatically mean it’s easy to assemble!!
You should read this guide:
