SHARE

Challenge:

The fast-paced world of RF and Microwave Design often requires a certain amount of agility. As projects evolve, the ability to make last-minute design changes without compromising production schedules provides a significant competitive advantage. However, lengthy board house turn around times can make practicing such agility easier said than done.

The Microwave and RF components division of Trilithic, Inc. is familiar with this dynamic. A leading provider of filter and filter subsystem designs for communications networks, Trilithic depends on its ability to make late-breaking board adjustments for its customers.

Solution:

To maintain flexibility and agility for its customers, Trilithic relies on in-house rapid printed circuit board (PCB) prototyping equipment from LPKF®. LPKF’s state-of-the-art PCB milling technology produces fully functional board prototypes in just a few hours, making it much easier to accommodate last-minute design changes.

Results:

Thanks to its rapid prototyping capabilities, LPKF equipment has become essential to Trilthic's production process. The company regularly uses its LPKF equipment to do prototype runs for its customers. Trilithic engineer, Rob Nowosielski, describes his team's LPKF equipment as an “extremely effective tool to shave a couple of hundred dollars and a couple of days off prototype runs and make changes on the fly.” For instance, Nowosielski recalls a case where Trilithic started out working on a lumped element filter design that would not function properly. At the last minute, the team solved the problem by switching to a planar design. Using LPKF equipment, Trilithic was able to make those design changes and complete the project without delaying their production schedule. As Nowosielski puts it, “If we hadn’t had the LPKF machine we wouldn’t have been able to turn around the project and complete the order within our customers time frame.”