DDi Corp., Lords of the boards

Manufacturing in Action, Source : The Manufacturer US

Quick-turn printed circuit board manufacturer DDi Corp. continually pushes technology innovation. Linda Seid Frembes finds out more

A little-known fact: printed circuit boards (PCBs) are the backbone of our modern life. Every piece of electronic equipment has at least one: everything from the cell phone, computer, TV, and iPod to the microwave and even medical devices like pacemakers.

DDi Corp. of Anaheim, CA, is the leader in engineering and quick-turn manufacturing highly complex, technologically advanced multilayer PCB prototypes for a wide range of industries like telecommunications, wireless technologies, semiconductor, computing, military, aerospace, and medical instrumentation.

“We’re a leader in a very difficult field,” said Carolyn Perrier, vice president of marketing for DDi. “Our differentiator is the breadth and scope of capabilities across markets, customers, and technologies. We primarily work on next-generation products.” The company has over 1,000 active customers, making it a formidable contender in the marketplace.

DDi in its current form was created 10 years ago by investment firm Celerity Partners, which spent more than a year studying the PCB industry and approached nearly 100 competitors in the market. In 1996 Celerity acquired Dynamic Circuits, which served as the core company of a long-term consolidation plan. Seven other acquisitions followed, including Details Inc. in Anaheim, with the sum total of companies forming DDi. At the time of its initial public offering in 2000, the company was already a leading manufacturer in the market.

Today DDi’s fabrication facilities are located in Anaheim, as well as Milpitas, CA; Sterling, VA; Toronto, ON; and the Corporate Data Center in Richardson, TX. The company’s assembly and system integration are located in San Jose, CA, and Longmont, CO.

The company stays closely involved with the customer right from the start. DDi field engineers usually enter the creation process in the concept stage to help address manufacturability issues. “Using our decades of experience, we know how to assist the PCB designer or design house to address issues related to design for manufacturability (DFM),” noted Raj Kumar, vice president of research and development.

Throughout the process, the company’s outside sales team keeps the customer informed at every turn. Once the engineering and design issues are worked out, the final step is manufacturing. DDi specializes in higher-margin, quick-turn, low- to mid-volume manufacturing. In its facilities, there are up to 100 different materials actively engaged at any given time. Perrier added: “Every PCB is custom on every job, with lots of variation.” The company doesn’t take on large-scale, mass manufacturing of PCBs. For customers who wish to bring their design in that direction, DDi maintains partnerships in Asia and will sometimes help in the transition.

According to Kumar, each PCB has its own requirements that vary based on use. A PCB used for a cell phone has very different design and material criteria than one used for aerospace. DDi’s breadth of experience means that it carries a good understanding of product applications, material sets, and design requirements. “Complexity is the key word,” he noted. “Real estate on a PCB is high value; miniaturization and density are driving the evolution. We’re working with 0.5-mm ball grid arrays (BGAs).”

The variability occurs in production, so DDi has developed a system that can continuously run through different products in different volumes. Each year the company logs approximately 10,000 new product designs of varying sizes and lot counts. Production can quickly accommodate variations using a modular setup; jobs can skip processes. Depending on the number of layers and type of PCB, a product may go around the shop once or several times. Kumar added: “We use our years of operating history effectively and have created a rules-based system in our front-end engineering to plan jobs with the most optimized process flow.”

Contrary to common industry practice, every PCB from DDi goes through testing prior to delivery. The company created proprietary software to automate the testing process. Automating this process helps cut test cycle times and reduces the risk of handling damage. “Our intelligent database learns what is needed for testing as the PCB moves through the shop. When the product is finished, there’s a test plan ready for it,” said Perrier.

The database is housed in the company’s own data center, which ties all four facilities together. Each manufacturing location services geographical customers and can take one another’s projects when there is excess capacity. Each facility offers a unique mix of technology levels to best serve all customers.

Prototype production delivery times typically range from 24 hours to 10 days, depending on the complexity of the project. DDi also offers quick-turn pre-production fabrication services to customers who are introducing new products to the market and need larger quantities of PCBs in a short period of time. Pre-production services typically include manufacture of 500 to 5,000 PCBs per order, with delivery times ranging from two to 20 days.

Even with such quick turns, quality control is top priority. DDi is certified in the highest quality standards, including ISO 9001:2000 registered, Military 31032 certified, Bell Core compliant, UL, CSA, and TUV.

Another example of DDi meeting customer and industry expectations is its implementation of the SEA Lean Enterprise System, which is the industry standard business system being adopted by aerospace, defense, and space suppliers. Using the Lean Enterprise System, suppliers intend to make the US supply chain more efficient and competitive.

To further innovate the PCB industry, DDi introduced Stacked Microvia (SMV) technology in 2004. This technology consists of 0.004-inch laser-drilled holes that contain a solid copper plate. SMV technology is a method to provide cost-competitive thinner board profiles and smaller pitches by enabling designers to increase circuit routing density by 25 to 30 percent.

Currently, DDi has 1,300 employees. “According to the company’s customer satisfaction surveys, the quality and commitment of our people are always ranked high. Our work culture is a ‘can-do’ attitude. Everyone makes the extra effort and is available 24/7 to our customers,” said Perrier. “It’s very exciting to work with top tier companies and to spearhead revolutionary technology.”

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