Stacked Caps

In the ancient past, I discouraged the use of design-for-automation design guidelines unless there was a dedicated budget and schedule to provide the automatic hardware for which the design rules applied.

It was better, it seemed to me, to take advantage of unique skills present in the current manufacturing environment that automatic processes couldn't do, that provided performance in the finished product that the automated systems wouldn't, in a desirable package.

Layout rules, including stacking caps (or even just placement in a non-standard orientaion (the thin side down . . or at 37 degrees rotation) were typical of performance/miniaturization advantages that could be persued.

. . . . but I don't think this applies in a free market nowadays, as manual and quick custom services are easily provided by off-shore concerns.

Your stacked parts can probably be (at least partially) automated these days, without the blink of an eye, in Shenzen. I can even see an IPC standard being written for this, eventually, unless another Asian standards organization gets there and does it first . . .

RL