Case Study: Polycom achieves faster PCB design cycles and improved quality with Cadence Design Systems' Allegro PCB Router

Shaving Weeks Off PCB Design Cycle Via Auto-Routing

Polycom, a San Jose–based leader in video, voice and content collaboration, faced slow, manual PCB layout for its complex 18‑layer, high‑net-count boards. Engineering manager Greg Rousch’s team lacked rigorous design‑constraint capture and spent weeks routing by hand, battling signal‑integrity worries and late-stage routing closure issues that risked missed violations and delayed product cycles.

Working with Cadence and its DFM services, Polycom adopted OrCAD Capture CIS, Allegro PCB Designer and Allegro PCB Router to formalize constraints and enable autorouting. The move shaved weeks off the schedule, delivering a 25% faster PCB design cycle and 10% faster time to market, about $50K annual savings by avoiding outside layout hires, improved signal quality and design‑rule signoff, and better “what‑if” analysis to assess feasibility and align PCB, industrial and mechanical design.

Polycom

Greg Rousch

Engineering Manager