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its functionality expanded to fit into a
higher price bracket. With information
on expected sales, marketing can
help purchasing negotiate volume
discounts.
Although the various product planning
and re-engineering functions can be
performed serially, in today’s fast-
moving marketplace, it is unlikely to
be successful. The entire lifecycle of a
product can be just two or three years,
from idea to end-of-life. Decisions
taken early will have a dramatic effect
on the product’s success.
OEMs have to be able to move from
design to full production extremely
quickly to beat their competition. The
time from prototype to production
needs to be extremely short and rules
out the process of serial redesigns.
As a result, design engineering as a
function is being tightly integrated
with purchasing, marketing and other
engineering roles.
Engineers now start out with approved
lists of suppliers and perform cost
analyses to provide marketing with
early guidance on likely end-user
pricing levels. This is a laborious
process without tools. To support the
engineer in making decisions guided
by supply-chain issues we have seen
the introduction of tools that help
build up the bill of materials (BOM).
A BOM management tool, such as
the BOM Manager software from
Digi-Key, provides instant feedback
on component-selection decisions
and collates much of the information
needed to keep other parts of the team
in the loop. The software on its own
is not enough. A direct link from BOM
management to distribution is vital,
because this provides all-important
feedback on how easy it will be to
source components from prototype to
production.
Stocked product at a major catalogue
distributor is an important indicator of
the ease with which product can be
sourced throughout its lifecycle. These
are generally products with a large
customer base or the prospect of one,
which in itself provides high assurance
of supply needs being met later on.
By selecting stocked product, design
engineers can also be sure of receiving
parts for the prototype as quickly as
possible – within 48 hours with a major
distributor. By selecting the distributor
with the greatest breadth of BOM, the
design engineering team can more
easily meet deadlines while selecting
components from the supplier list
approved by purchasing.
As well as providing feedback
on stocking and pricing levels, a
sophisticated BOM management tool
can inform component selection over
the entire lifecycle of a product idea.
Because it is tied into the distribution
network, it can determine whether a
given component is coming to the end
of its own lifecycle. If a component is
not recommended for new designs,
that will be shown in the tool.
The BOM management tool can
provide vital information to the
marketing team by allowing what-
if analyses of volume purchases. For
example, the engineers can quickly
determine how per-part component
prices will shift as the end product
moves into higher volume. At the same
time, the BOM management tool will
determine the most effective means
of packaging for each product. For
prototype and early production runs,
it will, for example, select cut-tape
packaging for components in favour of
full reels. The result of these features
is a highly effective tool that minimises
the amount of rework needed to get
from the initial concept and prototype
to production.
BOM management in partnership
with the supply information that only
a leading distributor can provide are
becoming essential tools not only in
shortening the time from prototype
to production but in supporting the
entire lifecycle of an idea.
Steve Vecchialrelli, Vice President Supply
Chain Solutions at Digi-Key Electronics
New-Tech Magazine Europe l 33