For many years, the layout of a printed circuit board in 2D was sufficient for most mainstream technologies.
These requirements demand comprehensive 3D electronic design and visualization functions in ECAD systems. The layout engineer gains a better overview of complex technologies, e.g. placing components in intermediate layers.
A true 3D ECAD system allows engineers to work in 2D or 3D as needed to precisely design with the latest technology and respond to market demands in high-pressure business cycles. So can today’s CAD tools deliver on these requirements and harness the power of new technologies?
3D ECAD/MCAD Collaboration
While the MCAD industry has always been thinking in three dimensions, the ECAD industry has long been 2-dimensional. At Zuken, the world was no longer flat as far back as 2001. Since then, we have constantly upgraded and improved our 3D PCB design solutions.
The way electrical and mechanical design converge leaves little room for error. That’s why Design Force includes powerful ECAD/MCAD collaboration features. These support the import of mechanical enclosure as a STEP file, the optimization of component placement based on mechanical constraints, and product validation with 3D collision and clearance checks.
3D Electronics Design with Flex-Rigid Technologies
Rigid-Flex technology combines rigid and flexible PCBs into a single design.

Electronics from the 3D Printer
In addition to these well-established technologies, Zuken also supports innovative trends, such as printed circuit boards from the 3D printer.
CR-8000 Design Force generates all required data for 3D printing and supports direct export to manufacturing with no loss of integrity.
Conclusion

- Blog
On our way to achieving sustainable product development, we ask ourselves one central question: how do we engineer products so future generations have enough resources to prosper? Up to four-fifths of a product's lifetime emissions are determined by decisions made at the design stage. Having all the tools needed to get those decisions right is essential for designing sustainable products that meet performance and quality requirements while using fewer resources across the entire life cycle.

- Blog
Artificial intelligence has been on everyone's lips since newspapers, radio, television, and social media have been overflowing with reports on the AI-based text generator ChatGPT since the beginning of the year. We therefore decided to have a chat with ChatGPT itself to find out from artificial intelligence itself what we can expect to see in this area.

- Blog
Learn the history of S-parameters/Touchstone, its advantages and disadvantages, and how to use an automated tool to overcome common challenges in your PCB design.

- Blog
We've all heard of PCB design constraints. They're those little things that limit our ability to create the perfect board in very short periods of time. But what exactly are they? And why do they matter? This blog post elaborates on PCB constraints and why they should drive your design flow.