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PCB Components
Concord Pro and Component Creation
Altium Concord Pro
™
as a standalone product and brand name has been discontinued and the capabilities are now available as part of our Altium enterprise solutions. Learn more here. Introduction First off, before I say anything, the more that I have been using Altium Concord Pro
™
, the more I like it. In fact, I love it. Altium has surprised me many times with the quality of the tools they put out. A few examples: Draftsman
®
, ACTIVEBOM
®
or
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Advancements in Electronic Component Management
In this volatile business of ours, we can ill afford to rest on our laurels, even to pause in retrospect. Times and conditions change so rapidly that we must keep our aim constantly focused on the future. - Walt Disney I stood at the large hospital window looking out at the early evening sky. I could see several stories below just a small section of the nearby freeway. As typical for the late hour, the traffic was at a standstill, with its
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Concord Pro and the Library S.M.A.R.T. Rule Part-2
Altium Concord Pro
™
as a standalone product and brand name has been discontinued and the capabilities are now available as part of our Altium enterprise solutions. Learn more here. Introduction In the first part of this blog, we saw how you could use Concord Pro
®
to set up and support the S.M.A.R.T. Rule of Data Management, specifically the Singularity and the Management of your data. Now, we will continue to look at the additional pillars with a
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Singularity in PCB Design Keeps the Team On the Same Page
S.M.A.R.T. Rule First Pillar - Singularity "If we fail to plan then we are planning to fail." -Benjamin Franklin Given a professionally diverse readership composed of many people with differing company structures and situations, my intention isn’t to give a ‘sole’ method or plan that will magically fit everyone’s situation. Rather, I want to give a detailed explanation of how it “could” be done. I aim to give the bird’s eye view of this whole
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Why Your Root Cause Analysis Starts with Component Traceability
At this point, we’ve reached a significant milestone. Having followed through with the last article, we now have a very stable and, more importantly, reliable PCB library. Since we can safely use the data in designs, many people decide not to go beyond the review process. You should, however, continue to the fifth pillar if you want to ensure success. So, why the fifth pillar? Because although we have a great structure, we must take the
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BOM Management and PCB Design Data Synchronization
Cloud-based tools for data management can keep your design and production data synchronized If you lead a design team, then your job is already difficult enough. Your design teams need to adhere to a development schedule and manage requirements changes as they create a new product. Collaboration is key in any environment with multiple players, and your design tools play an important role in creating a productive environment. Ensuring that all
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Agile Product Lifecycle Management Methods in PCB Design
Supercharge your productivity with agile product lifecycle management Any industry that relies heavily on new technologies must frequently reinvent itself and address product obsolescence. Every piece of technology has a finite lifecycle that ends due to obsolescence or malfunction. Electronics and the PCBs that support them are no different; components on PCBs eventually wear out and malfunction, or the product can no longer compete with a
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What is an Engineering Bill of Materials in Agile PCB Design?
If you’ve ever prepared a new device for manufacturing, then you’re probably familiar with the different types of bills of materials. Each document has its place in the design and production planning process. If you understand the role of each type of bill of materials, you can take advantage of the information it contains to improve your design process. If you’re an agile hardware development team, then you know that your design team will need
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Why Your BOM Excel Template is Going the Way of the Dinosaur
It’s time to ditch your BOM Excel template The saying goes in software, “great coders use great code”. The same idea applies to Excel templates. I like to use Excel templates for a number of business tasks. I use invoice templates, finance calculators, and an accounting template. There’s no need to reinvent the wheel, so why not use a great template when someone makes it available for free? The usefulness of an Excel template depends on the data
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Growth and the PCB Design Learning Zone
The phone rang at my desk. Tracy was on the other end. It had been several weeks since she had surgery for her implant. I could tell from the tone of her voice that she had exciting news. “Do you think you might be able to get an afternoon off?”, she asked. “Sure, how come what’s up?” I responded. “Well, it’s been 5 weeks since my surgery, and everything is completely healed up. I wanted to ask.” She hesitated for a moment, “Wanted to know if you
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Mastering PCB Design: Best Practices for Developing Accurate and Reliable Component Libraries
Over many years, I have seen many elaborate PCB Library systems. The best ones were not based on the size, but rather on the quality of the information. The old axiom is “not Quantity but rather Quality.” I recently sat with a VP of Engineering, and I asked what he thought of his PCB Library. He thought for a moment and said, “I believe it is pretty good.” I asked my question another way, “But do you know?” There is a difference. If I tell you
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Smart Architecture for Successful PCB Component Libraries
Organizing is what you do before you do something so that when you do it, it is not all mixed up. - A. A. Milne Architecture is the specific structure that governs our collected data. It determines how we store, arrange, and utilize the data in the system. In a way, the architecture of your PCB library is like the architecture of a building. You need to have it completed before you build your library so you don’t wind up with a virtual Hotel Del
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Continuous Integration: An Implementation Using Altium Designer
In a previous article, Continuous Integration and Deployment in ECAD, we discussed the concept of Continuous Integration while testing within a build system (leveraging Git). In this article, we will take a deeper look at how to set this up and run these “tests” against one’s PCB design project. Continuous Integration Tests: Revisited In Software Engineering, the purpose of implementing Continuous Integration into a workflow is to prevent one’s
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PCB Librarians and SMART PCB Component Management
In the 1972 classic movie “The Candidate”, Bill Mckay, played by Robert Redford, ran for the State Senate. Although he was a long shot and an underdog, McKay ends up surprising everyone with an incredibly close win. After the concession speech of his opponent, a vast mob surrounds McKay. He fights through the crowd, trying to reach his campaign Manager Marvin (played by Peter Boyles). Finally reaching him, he pulls him aside into a hotel room
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How to Establish a PCB Creator Library for Your Design Practice
When we think of a library, we first think of a building which holds materials of some kind. In April of 1800, when the seat of the government moved from Philadelphia to Washington, one of President Monroe’s first acts was allocating $5,000 to purchase books for Congress to use. Once established, the Library of Congress originally held a total of 740 books and three maps. Now, it contains 32 million cataloged books and other print materials in
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Operational Process Improvements and PCB Data Management
Is it practical or indulgent to look at exactly how the principles of good PCB Data Management can and should change our normal PCB Design processes? It is practical and necessary for operational processes to benefit from continual improvement. Let’s explore how to do so with PCB data management. Root Causes You need to allow specific PCB Data to change your operational processes so you can analyze and find the root causes of problems. However
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PCB Layout Tip: Save Time with Reusable Blocks
To survive today’s business environment for PCB Designers, design reuse is crucial for quick PCB layout. We must always work faster and smarter. That means whatever available methods might streamline the process to make it more straightforward and faster the better. However, when things go faster, usually more mistakes occur, and they are generally not caught. One strategy that helps tremendously is using reusable designs. A common practice in
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