What part of stack-up planning takes you the longest?

Tools & Calculators
1

Sierra’s take: From the manufacturing side, we often see the most back-and-forth happen when the stack-up is developed too late in the design process. Material availability, finished thickness, impedance requirements, copper weights, dielectric thicknesses, via structures, and the fab house’s capabilities all affect one another.

One thing we always recommend: involve your fabricator before you start routing, especially for controlled impedance, HDI, high-speed, or unusual material requirements. A stack-up that looks perfect on paper may need adjustments to actually be manufacturable and changing it after routing can create a lot more work.

2

Sierra has had a strong stack-up tool for many years and we update it on a regular basis. You should absolutely use it. It’s free.

https://www.protoexpress.com/tools/pcb-stackup-designer/

3

Let’s hear it from the designers here, shall we? Is it choosing materials, determining layer count, impedance planning, via architecture, or something else that eats up most of your time?

4

And I forgot to share our Stack-Up Design Guide.