94 DESIGN007 MAGAZINE I OCTOBER 2022
In a recent issue of SMT007 Magazine, we discussed
"supply pain management." This reminded us of the
question that doctors often ask: "What's your pain level
on a scale of 1–10?" PCB designers really deserve a
lot of credit. For years, they've been working through
supply chain pain, like Rip Wheeler after he got shot on
"Yellowstone." It hurts, but we're short on cowboys, so
get back to work.
There's one lesson that all designers have learned over
the past few years: Components might be here today
and gone tomorrow, so tracking your parts is more
important than ever. Any resources that help you keep
tabs on your required parts are invaluable in these days
of 40-week lead times.
Have you ever
gone to a buffet
hungry and look-
ing forward to
digging in? You
get to the end
of the buffet, but
there's no room on your plate for the good
stuff. At this point, you probably feel much
like that with the first part of looking at our
footprint, but rest assured, although your
plate is already full, the good stuff is still
waiting for us.
During these
times of sup-
ply chain
uncertainty,
many product
developers are
considering new ways to conserve materi-
als—from laminates to components, layer
reduction, and everything in between. Barry
Matties and Happy Holden recently spoke
with Alun Morgan, president of EIPC and
technology ambassador for Ventec, about
material conservation strategies for today's
PCB designers and design engineers.
TOP TEN
Altium's EDDI Report Tracks Components'
Availability—Today and Historically
Elementary, Mr. Watson:
Anatomy of Your Component—
Footprint, Part 2
The Shaughnessy Report: Working
Through the Design Pain
EDITOR'S
PICKS
Material Conservation:
The PCB Designer's Role
