Start with Reliable Components to Produce Reliable Products

Uncertainty can be very stressful.  Over these last few months, forecasting what tomorrow will look like has been a losing proposition.  It’s worse for engineers.  Engineers spend their entire careers figuring out how things will work to avoid surprises.  Uncertainty is to be avoided at all costs.

We live in a connected world.  There are 3.5 billion smartphone users.   Those smartphones have apps that report on information collected from millions of devices, from automobiles to heart rate monitors to digital thermometers.  All these devices, as well as the smartphones they report to, require processors made up of components.

There is a greater demand for components than ever before.  This has produced a surprising number of suppliers all over the globe.  Just keeping track of these sources would seem hard enough.  Add ever-changing regulations to the mix and sourcing the right components to your bill of materials (BoM) for the projected life of your product becomes extraordinarily difficult.

We haven’t even talked about supply chain disturbances or counterfeit parts, yet.  If 2020 has taught us anything, it’s that contingency planning is not a waste of time.  You can’t start thinking about the viability of the components that make up your product too soon.  Having access to reliable parts information during the design phase can save you a lot of money associated with supply chain disruptions.

SiliconExpert has hundreds of electronics engineers whose experience and relationships with thousands of manufacturers and suppliers provide reliable information on over a billion components.  Machine learning adds to the knowledge gathered by the engineers.  It considers all the data collected and spots trends to help forecast the future health of any given BoM.

Our database contains parametric data, compliance information, and pricing.  We can spot counterfeit parts that could jeopardize the reliability of your product.  We have parts datasheets and product change notifications to give you a holistic view of the components you plan to use.  Our information is constantly being updated so that you have the best information to make the right decisions.

We’ve partnered with Zuken to integrate that information with their design tools.  SiliconExpert CONNECT plugs into CR-8000 and eCADSTAR providing engineers with the information they need from the environment they work in.  Engineers are presented with a BoM grade that helps to identify component risk in their design.  Engineers can research the risk, whether it stems from regulatory compliance or future availability of components, and mitigate it by searching for cross reference parts.

Scrutinizing components as they enter your design helps to future-proof your product.  This can save you from the costly proposition of having to revisit your design.  This will make reliable products more likely and customers happier.  Mitigating uncertainty is a welcome accomplishment these days.

Find out more about how SiliconExpert integrates with CR-8000 and eCADSTAR.

September 18, 2020, by Dwight Morse