Electronic packaging designers face new challenges in creating portable communications, computing and consumer products. Mechanical and electronic design issues clash when component packages, PCBs, and complete assemblies must be thinner and lighter without higher costs or lower reliability. Rapid information transfer between ECAD and MCAD tools, between designers and modelers, between customers and vendors is critical to meeting the challenges. InterCAX solutions for the electronics industry are based on the STEP AP210 data model standard, a vendor-neutral format for storing product information that provides a common meeting ground for all the stakeholders in electronics design and manufacturing. A wide selection of InterCAX translators, viewers, editors and database tools link AP210 to all the major ECAD vendors. Harmonization with other STEP standards, including AP203, AP212and AP214 brings in mechanical CAD tools. Finally, the breadth of product data stored provides an easy link to simulation models that can validate product performance and reliability at the design stage. Applications for InterCAX tools include

• Data Exchange between Design Tools
• Product Data Management
• Design-Analysis Integration
• Long-term Data Archiving