Owning the PCB Design Process: A Case Study on CAS Tecnologia and Altium

CAS Tecnologia is a technology firm based in São Paulo. The company applies scientific and engineering principles to improve efficiency across a wide range of sectors, including government services, environmental projects, financial services, and telecommunications. Their work impacts thousands of lives daily, from data security to managing the distribution of natural and public utility resources like electricity, water, and gas. The employee-owned company was the first of its kind in Brazil, allowing employees to purchase company stock after just 12 months. CAS Tecnologia aims to grow in the intelligent automation and telemetry industry.

CAS Tecnologia, a São Paulo-based technology firm, was struggling with its PCB design process. The company, which applies scientific and engineering principles to improve efficiency across a wide range of government services, environmental, financial, and telecommunication projects, was heavily reliant on outsourcing to complete critical parts of a product design process. This dependence on other companies was hindering their financial success and future growth potential. To continue growing in the intelligent automation and telemetry industry, CAS needed to bring all of their design processes in-house for complete control and independence. A significant aspect of their restructuring required integrating an electronics design process into their existing mechanical workflow.

CAS Tecnologia chose Altium Designer as their electronics design environment for intelligent automation and telemetry technology. The software met their unique design challenges, which included developing products for the management and distribution of electricity, water, and gas, requiring a high degree of electrical complexity. Altium Designer's strong integration between schematic and layout interfaces led to significantly improved PCB and product design. The software's powerful Native 3D PCB editing engine allowed CAS engineers to visualize their mechanical enclosures directly in the environment to ensure their PCB design fit as expected. One of the first big tasks for Altium Designer was the development of CAS's RS2000 Z-MONO smart device. The software's library management tools, integrated interface connecting schematics and layout, and customizable rule management were instrumental in the device's development.

• The adoption of Altium Designer allowed CAS Tecnologia to bring their design processes in-house, achieving their goal of self-sufficiency. The software's powerful features and integrated environment enabled the company to meet their unique design challenges, particularly in developing products for the management and distribution of electricity, water, and gas. The software's Native 3D PCB editing engine allowed CAS engineers to visualize their mechanical enclosures directly in the environment, ensuring their PCB designs fit as expected. The successful development of the RS2000 Z-MONO smart device using Altium Designer demonstrated the software's effectiveness and the company's ability to handle complex design requirements in-house.

• Product design capability was strongly increased after introducing Altium Designer

• The software's strong integration between schematic and layout interfaces led to significantly improved PCB and product design

• The eight-month development cycle of the RS2000 Z-MONO smart device was successfully completed using Altium Designer