WILSONVILLE, Ore. — (BUSINESS WIRE) — August 22, 2012 — The ODB++ Solutions Alliance (OSA), the PCB industry’s open forum for implementers and developers of the industry’s first unified data exchange between PCB design and manufacturers, today announced that it has exceeded 2000 users and 26 partner members in its sixth month since formation in February 2012. In addition, the OSA has developed Chinese and Japanese versions of its website for the manufacturing markets in the Asia-Pacific region.

The ODB++ Solutions Alliance was established to promote the successful implementation of the ODB++ format, including access to free software tools, specifications, documentation and continuous improvement to the format and implementation methodologies. Partners of the ODB++ Solutions Alliance include: Ansys, CADCAM Gp, CST, Downstream, Easylogix, Maya HTT, Mentor Graphics, Nagoya, PTC, Sigrity, Simberian, WISE Software and Zuken. New partners are: Agilent, Assembleon, Cadence, Frontline, Macaos, Optimum Design Associates, Orbotech, Remcom, SiSoft, Streamline Circuits, Ubisense, UP Media, and Viasystems.

As an open, vendor-neutral alliance, the ODB++ format has been, and will continue to be, driven by its thousands of users worldwide. OSA members will provide a focal point for further technological development of the data format and promote adoption. Membership and access to the OSA resources are free.

“Most, to all, of the leading PCB manufacturers are using our CAM and engineering solutions and are therefore ODB++ compatible,” stated Ronny Kovartovsky, director of marketing at Frontline PCB Solutions. “They all prefer getting ODB++ from their customers since it reduces CAM data processing by up to 30%, mainly due to cutting the amount of cleanup and data re-integration needed during CAM work.”

Jamie Wise of WISE Software added, “We very much appreciate the implementation support provided by the ODB++ Solutions Alliance—practical, down-to-earth and focused on ensuring that our ODB++ data delivers maximum value across the design-to-manufacturing flow.”

ODB++ intelligent data delivers a manufacturable design requiring minimal preparation effort at the fabricator or assembly-house, thus reducing cycle time and significantly improving new product introduction (NPI) quality. Using the integrated ODB++ format, manufacturers will have a complete set of data containing layers-information, drill, inner-, outer- and component-layers, plus net data and bill-of-materials, in addition to a wide range of capabilities that make separate drawings unnecessary since the format is a single self-contained structure.

Conversely, Gerber data requires manual inspection of data followed by “re-integration” to the manufacturing-oriented model of the product to be fabricated and assembled. The Gerber approach is generally considered to be cumbersome, requiring time to manually import, analyze, prepare and cross-check data for accuracy. At any place in the workflow, there may be errors or omitted data, which can mean multiple communications with the customer to correct errors or get additional data. “On average, about 25% of Gerber data packages received have issues related to missing layers, fabrication drawings, drill files; netlist format violation; and netlist exception violations,” stated Kent Balius, vice president of global front-end engineering, Viasystems.

For more information on the OSA, its list of its partners and members, and how to join, visit the website: www.odb-sa.com.

About the ODB++ Solutions Alliance

The ODB++ Solutions Alliance provides a forum for implementers and supporters of the ODB++ format to share their interest and success with others. Alliance members can exchange information, advice and ideas about the format, including implementation best practices and their experiences in using the format across the PCB design-through-manufacturing flow.

The overall goals of the ODB++ Solutions Alliance are to increase awareness of what is being achieved today with ODB++ in reducing time-to-market, cost and supply-chain risk, and provide the basis for wider adoption by designers and manufacturers so as to maximize the benefits for the PCB engineering community, and further enhancement of the format and its implementation methods in line with technological developments. Website: www.odb-sa.com

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