SolidWorks.PCB.2016.SP3 Altium has announced the release of PCBWorks 2016 SP3, a new PCB design tool engineered specifically for collaboration with mechanical designers in SOLIDWORKS. This new design tool strengthens the Altium product portfolio, offering a never-before-seen collaboration process between electronic and mechanical design teams. Collaboration Features With PCBWorks, the collaboration process between electrical and mechanical design teams is now a seamless process with linked design data between both environments. Designers can maintain their own distinct workflows with support from the following features: – ECAD/MCAD collaboration server. SolidWorks users can now make changes to component placement, board shape, and mounting holes on a PCB, and then push those changes to PCBWorks as a managed Engineering Change Order (ECO) to keep design data in sync. – Separate component lifecycles. Lifecycles for components can now be separately managed in their respective design environments. This allows an electrical designer to place a component without waiting for mechanical models to be complete, while linked data allows the component to be updated when the 3D model is finished. – Parasolid support. PCBWorks support for SOLIDWORKS Parasolid file format allows the electrical designer to link directly to native mechanical models for enclosures and component bodies. PCB Design Features PCBWorks includes a number of PCB design features that allows electrical designers to complete their PCB designs in one unified design environment, tying together the schematic capture and layout process with support from the following features: – Interactive and differential pair routing. PCBWorks includes a number of routing options to make the board layout process easier. Differential pair routing helps the designer to route high-speed designs with properly tuned lengths between signal pairs. – Library management. Schematic templates and components can be stored within a central library in PCBWorks, providing electrical designers with a number of design re-use options for future design projects. – Supplier links. With supplier links, electrical designers have direct access to supplier databases, including real-time information on component pricing and availability.