There may be times when a Designer needs to come up with a quick estimate for a PCB Design.

PCB2Est was developed to give a 'Quick Estimate' on how long a design will take.

The only Input required is the X-Dimension, the Y-Dimension and the Number of Pins on the PCB. From this Input, a reasonable estimate of time can be derived.

The estimate that is generated takes into account...

1) Pattern creation (for that odd Pattern or two that a good Designer does not already have in a well-stocked Library)

2) Netlist Import

3) Pattern Placement

4) Manual Routing

5) Gerber File Generation

6) Fabrication Drawing - based on a Designer who uses a Fabrication Template to reduce time

7) Assembly Drawing - based on a Designer who uses an Assembly Template to reduce time

8) Other Post-Processor files that take a matter of minutes

The estimates assume manual routing of the PCB. It has been determined that even if someone uses an Auto-Router (and there are ALWAYS exceptions to this...), that the clean-up and finishing of the auto-routed layout will often take as long as a manually routed design - especially since the designer may auto-route the design 3 or 4 iterations until they get the desired results.

The calculations are meant for the Designer who has their process under control. That is, they know the steps involved (no surprises).

But even if the engineer makes a 'change' mid-way in the PCB Layout, the estimate drops to an 'hour-by-hour' estimate until the new Netlist has been Imported and the layout is back to the point where it left off.

At this point, the balance of the estimate kicks in. This can be stipulated up front. Engineers will usually accept this as a valid condition, as they still have something to plug into their project planning software - which usually has a column for project 'slippage' when estimating time.

There is also an option for creating an estimate for Schematic Capture, but one needs to know the number of pins, which is used as Input to PCB2Est, and this is usually not known until after the Schematic is drawn.

PCB2Est gives the Designer the ability to generate estimates for engineering and management that are are more professional than the usual '2 to 4 weeks' estimates, which will help them, and who may begin to modify their views of Designers, and treat them with a bit more respect, and professionalism that they deserve.

Click here to see the documentation (PDF File) that comes with the program. - PCB2Est Documentation -

PCB2Est is a 32-bit program that runs in a Windows 95, 98, 2000, NT or XP environment.

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