3 reasons to optimize your electronics development now

The past weeks showed that there is no business which is not affected by COVID-19. Stock markets are in free fall, millions have lost their job, and huge levels of uncertainties have been created. As you can see that does not reduce the amount of challenges which need to be solved.

Many look at software to solve these challenges, e.g. with the help of hackathons. However, the best software does not run without the appropriate hardware. Engineering electronics is very time consuming with the current methods. Especially in these times, when entire industries stop working, it is absolutely important to get back on one’s feet as fast as possible. Electronics engineering can act as a bottleneck for developing new ideas and therefore ultimately for growth. To put it simply: This bottleneck needs to be eradicated. Let us show you how:

1.     Boost efficiency through automation

Automation is the key to growth in the coming years, it could potentially add $1.1 trillion. We emphasize that this does not mean to replace humans with robots, but to smarter distribute the tasks between them. Machines are best in doing repetitive task sand following clearly defined processes. Humans on the other hand have creative minds, are looking for solutions and develop innovations. These are also the tasks a human enjoys and finds less boring. In electronics development that means that the developer develops functions and requirements of a PCB and the algorithm identifies the right components for the job and suggests schematics and design to the developer, much faster than a developer could have ever done it. Consequently, time-to-market is radically reduced and there is time for even more innovation and growth!

2.     Enable IP-sharing within your team and prepare for remote work

Imagine if the COVID-19 crisis had hit us 20 or 30 years ago. Remote work back then was simply impossible. However, tools such as slack or Zoom can help make remote work easier and feasible. By the way, both companies have also been affected by the crisis, but in a positive way. You might say that working remotely and developing electronics simply don’t go together. We believe it should.

Not only should this be the case for remote work, but also for collaborative work. Large companies usually have several departments.Their electronics engineering departments are distributed across the globe. But many of these development teams have created similar solutions to identical problems. Why develop another analog input, if your colleague from overseas has already solved the problem. Developments should be stored in a machine-readable way, to enable re-use on previously designed electronic modules, no matter who designed it, when it was designed and where it was designed. Your overseas colleague is practically sitting right next to you.

3.     Create new revenue streams through IP-sharing

Talking about sharing knowledge we should increase our horizons. On the IC level, IP is being shared and sold between companies. The same should be possible with your secondary IP on board level, thereby creating new revenue streams for yourself. On the other hand, you can save time and reduce your time-to-market, by buying suitable IP from others.

‍Now is the time for you to look to improve your processes and create new revenue streams. Companies which have invested in growth during recessionary the ones, which come out on top. At CELUS we believe we can get there together. We need to re-imagine electronics engineering and see the potential for the strongest boost in electronics engineering automation in the next months. It’s not about simply surviving a recession but reaching new heights!