The use of flexible printed circuit boards (PCBs), whether stand-alone or to connect rigid boards, has rapidly grown over the past decade. This growth has been driven by the proliferation of smaller form factors of products, such as wearable electronic devices. Because of their unique properties, flex circuits require special manufacturing methods compared to rigid PCBs and can be less tolerant of issues that negatively affect manufacturability.
This paper describes design-for-manufacturing (DFM) methods for flex circuits to help identify and correct problems during design. Applying these DFM techniques can save costs and ensure the project stays on schedule.