Components management are the most crucial part of the electronic design system, but with rapid advancements in technology, selecting components has become a major challenge for engineers across the electronic industry. The process to select components appears to be easy on paper but at the execution level there are many challenges and techniques involved.
Skilled component engineers are thus brought together to assist the design teams in this meticulous task. The component engineers need to have in-depth knowledge and experience in the fundamentals of components, its specifications, construction, and functionality. Once the circuit design is ready, the design engineers should have a clear idea of the various components that are necessary to be implemented. Essentially the design engineering and the component engineering teams need to collaboratively select the most cost effective components without compromising on the design quality.
Below mentioned are the key approaches that enable selection of cost effective and function efficient components:
The primary task of any component engineer should be to match the design requirement with the functional output of a particular component. Component selection is a critical process that enables the circuit to perform its intended operation. For this it is extremely crucial to understand the circuit functionality and to get the exact parametric values within permissible tolerance levels. Selection of suitable components resourcefully helps the manufacturer to attain desired outcome from the particular design.
The web based technology has created a new era for electronic components engineers to select the right components for hand crafting electronic devices much skillfully. He has smart digital component selection tools to use. Practically, he is a part of the whole chain of product manufacturing, packing and supplying to customers. If the component selection is defective with negative side effect, the business will be hampered. Web based technology is conducive to the time reduction in the matter of choosing the best components to engineer devices. He locates perfectly fitted electronic device configuration components in the inventory online. It reduces time and cost of manufacturing sophisticated electronic devices. Cost effectively products are prioritized by customers.
An experienced component engineer needs better understanding about the current value of the specific component comparing with the local products in the open market. He should opt for the cost effective components with better appreciation value in the competitive e-global market.
Time & Cost implications caused due to lack of availability of a component is a major challenge for the electronic industry. In such a scenario assessing life cycle status of a component helps the manufacturer understand the long term benefits of using the component. It also helps the manufacturer mitigate the risk of product redesigning and component unavailability and by pre-planning the procurement schedule for the particular component. Thus it is important for the product manufacturers to regularly monitor the components life cycle status and create a list of alternate components along with their procurement sources.
The cost of a component greatly depends on its volume and its application. The task should be to build an optimal mix of unique as well as standard components such that the overall cost of the product can be maintained. Having limited number of unique components enables the manufacturer to mitigate losses.
Component quality is another aspect to select components. It is always better to use components that will not age or degrade with use. This helps to extend the lifetime of the components and the product as a whole. Certain examples to illustrate the above are:
Component availability or life-cycle, affordability, traceability, reliability or the quality of the component’s performance over a period of time helps one to select the components wisely. This selection of proper components in turn helps the manufacturer produce cost effective products that have higher performance and better usability.
