Reaping the benefits of PCB design reuse with Zuken’s CR-8000

Re-using existing and proven designs is generally considered a viable approach to achieving substantial time and cost savings. By leveraging existing designs and components, you can avoid the effort and resources required to develop everything from the ground up. In its latest release 2023, CR-8000, Zuken’s design suite for advanced PCB design, leveraging existing designs has been significantly simplified in both the engineering frontend Design Gateway and the layout and routing applications of Design Force.

Loading sheets from multiple schematic designs

Instead of spending time and effort loading large schematic designs comprising numerous sheets, users can now start their design by mixing and matching selected pages from several existing designs. This feature enables the incorporation of specific elements from various designs or the utilization of template designs as a solid foundation. You can select and employ only the required sheets from arbitrary circuits, streamlining the design process and granting you the liberty to materialize your innovative ideas.

Reuse and edit circuits and text elements in your documentation

You now have the capability to copy circuits and text elements directly to the Windows clipboard from your favorite design software or documentation tool. Once copied, these elements can be easily inserted into your text documents, ensuring a seamless integration of graphical and textual content. The inserted elements can be displayed in color or black and white, allowing you to tailor the appearance to match the style and requirements of your documentation. This adaptability ensures that your documents maintain a professional and consistent look, regardless of their destination or purpose.

Reuse template areas for consistent multi-channel PCB layout and routing

The reuse of template areas is a new feature in CR-8000 Design Force that significantly boosts productivity and consistency in designs with multiple channels. It allows designers to create designated template blocks that encapsulate specific placement and routing patterns. These patterns can then be propagated automatically across all other blocks in the design, saving time and effort that would otherwise be spent on manual replication. By reusing template areas, designers establish a baseline of consistency that spans across all channels. This results in a more cohesive design that is not only visually harmonious but also performs optimally.

Speed up your development process

Reusing designs with CR-8000 Design Gateway and CR-8000 Design Force allows you to expedite the development process. Since a significant portion of the work has already been done, you can focus on integrating and customizing existing components to meet the specific requirements of your project. This leads to faster time-to-market, which is crucial in competitive industries.