Most teams I speak to believe they’re ready for tapeout. Very few actually are.
Over the last few years I’ve sat in on a number of semiconductor programmes at the sharp end of the schedule. The teams saying “we’re good to go” or “just final checks left” were often the ones who slipped, and not by a few days either. Weeks, sometimes months.
Progress isn’t readiness
The pattern’s fairly consistent. Teams track progress closely, but progress isn’t readiness. You can be 90% “done” and still be nowhere near ready to tape out, because readiness isn’t a measure of how much has been completed. It’s a measure of how much risk is still sitting in the design.
So we spent some time looking at how the more experienced PD teams actually judge readiness, rather than relying on instinct or a green status report. It comes down to a handful of structured checkpoints, which we’ve pulled together into a short Pre-Tapeout Readiness Scorecard.
What it looks at
- Design completeness versus assumptions still left open
- Confidence in timing closure, not just the reported status
- Signoff readiness across every domain, not just the usual suspects
- ECO risk exposure this late in the cycle
- Dependency gaps between blocks and teams
Most teams keep an eye on one or two of these. Fewer put all five under real scrutiny at once, which is really where the scorecard earns its keep.
A recent example
We ran it recently with a team who were confident they were ready. It surfaced three risks they hadn’t accounted for, any one of which could have cost two to three weeks. They caught them in time.
That’s really the distinction worth making: it’s one thing to say you’re ready, and another to be able to demonstrate it.
Where to start
If you’re within three to six months of tapeout, it’s worth five minutes of your time. Get in touch and we’ll send you the scorecard.