Macaos Enterprise 5.3 (August 2020)

Assembly Data Manager (ADM)

The new Macaos ADM is an integrated BOM Tool and Pick and Place Data Manager for PCBs. It provides an environment for managing and reviewing Pick and Place (PnP) and Bill of Materials (BOM) data.

Macaos Assembly Data Manager

The ADM helps dramatically reduce time and effort in preparing assembly data, by combining the following features in a single module:

  • Graphic viewer with component editing functionality
  • Structured component overview with properties editor
  • Component search facility
  • Send RFQ for assembly to participating EMS providers (Basic version only)
  • Component price estimator (Pro version only)
  • Component rotation, height and solder temperature editor
  • Export PnP and BOM data (Pro version only)

The ADM makes use of the recently released X3 extensions1 to the Gerber Format to combine PnP, BOM and Assembly Drawing data into an integrated component layer of a PCB product. As CAD systems2 implement these extensions, a rapid and error-resistant path from designer to manufacturer may be achieved.

The component layer displays the location, rotation, size and key pin location of each component together with properties such as manufacturer part number, supplier SKUs, height, max solder temperature, etc. The use of a standards-based structure for this information allows purchasers, supplers, process line operators, etc to automate their systems and thereby reduce costs.

1 Macaos actively participates in the development of these standards.
2 Some CAD systems, such as kicad, already support Gerber X3 output.

See the ADM user guide for more info.

Mechanical parts

When selecting the paint color for a mechanical part, it is now possible to specify exactly specify the color as RAL, NCS, RGB or HSL.

It is now possible to easily attach additional files, such as a STEP file or additional specification documents, to a mechanical part product.

Stencil module improvements

The stencil module now calculates the Aspect ratio and Area ratio for the smallest apertures in the stencil. This is used to recommend a maximum stencil thickness when creating a stencil. See Stencil ratios for more info.

DXF file import

Limited support for importing DXF files has been added.  A DXF file may be imported to a user layer in the Import module. When loading a file directly in the Stencil module, you may load either a Gerber file or a DXF file.

Only those DXF entities which easily map to Gerber-style objects are imported. Other entities are ignored. For more info see DXF Files.

Other improvements

The biggest change in this release is under the hood. We have enhanced our Gerber reader and writer to be fully compliant with all features of the latest Gerber Format standards. This improves data reliability from your CAD system all the way to the manufacturing processes.