PCB Design Guidelines-Panelization

We at Hopetimepcb offer panelization services to clients for PCB fabrication , but we do not offer any set default panel sizes. We only require the PCB design to be panelized to have a circuit board size within a range of 50mm*50mm to 500 *500mm. Hopetimepcb primarily produces low and medium volumes of PCB . Therefore when fabricating , we typically will automatically adjust for the most appropriate panel size for better material utilization . With these smaller volumes of PCB fabrication , the cost-saving from higher production efficiency is not significant ; therefore , Hopetimepcb does not offer cost-saving for using panelization. However, producing multiple designs simultaneously does save a portion of the shipping costs.You are not required to layout the panels yourself as our technicians will do this to optimize our process.

Panels consist of multiple circuit board designs combined together in order to form a single large board called a “panel”. Some designs strive to fit multiple circuit boards onto a single panel, as more circuit boards on one panel can be more cost-efficient. There are two main types of panelization, simple panels (also called arrays), and complex panels. Simple panels have the same circuit board repeated on one panel, while complex panels are composed of different circuit boards on the same panel.
Panelization is a way to safely manufacture multiple PCBs simultaneously while keeping the PCB’s separation process afterwards as smooth as possible. In terms of large volume PCB manufacturing, the cost will be lower based on how many boards fit onto a single panel as the process will be more efficient. Higher panelization efficiency requires carefully setting PCB design sizes for effective panel space usage. For the highest efficiency, circuit board length and/or width should be integer divisors of default panel size when margin and spacing are taken into account.

1.1 Fiducials
Fiducial markers, also known simply as fiducials, are marks meant to be seen on images produced by an imaging system. Fiducials, also known as circuit pattern recognition marks, are a point of reference for SMT placement equipment to accurately locate and place parts onto the printed circuit boards. By measuring the fiducials locations relative to the board layout, the machine can compute how much each part must be moved relative to the layout to ensure accurate part placement.
We at Hopetimepcb can apply these fiducial marks onto our fabricated panelized boards if specified. Multiple fiducial marks are needed as common measurable points to precisely determine a board's orientation . At least three fiducial marks placed asymmetrically are needed to allow machines to determine the offset of both the X and Y axis and determine if the PCB has rotated during clamping . If a clamped board has been rotated,the SMT placement machine will automatically rotate parts to match. Additional fiducial marks are required to further fine-tune the targeting for placement of parts such as ball grid array packages. The lower end boards do not require as much precision and may only have two fiducials or use screen printed fiducials