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56 The PCB Magazine • September 2015 you get there. Keep track of what makes a good supplier and ensure your organization is aware of this. When turnover occurs, take the time to introduce new resources to your suppliers so that they understand how they helped you grow. Make clear you expect them to continue to build on the relationship. All too often, competitively bidding erodes relationships. After all, it is the environment that we live in. As a company, you must involve your suppliers in the challenges you have as well as the risk you are trying to avoid. There is a positive way to competitively bid so that everyone wins. Good suppliers will adapt to changing environments with you. Do not make the mistake of taking the lowest price and forget that you need to invest in building the relationship. Additionally, make sure you understand what role each supplier plays in your project. If we look to PCBs, your production supplier is not the critical supplier. At this stage you are sourc - ing something developed to a company that spe- cializes in this. In design, your critical supplier is your prototype supplier. A good prototype supplier is essentially a team member. They help you to produce a solid design by working directly with your engineering resources. They can help you design in a way that avoids problems in pro- duction. Concept 2: Delegate, Delegate, Delegate Before we go further, write down the word "delegate" a fourth time and hang this paper at your desk—it is that important. Engineers, by nature, want to be involved in every aspect of their design. It is built into an engineer's DNA to want to do everything himself. However, short development cycles do not allow this. Take, for example, the person who starts a business on his own. To grow, he must step out of what he loves to do and delegate tasks that allow him to fo - cus on bigger topics—like growing the business. Engineers have the same situation: To develop more advanced products, they must delegate and focus on a higher level. Engineering schools do not teach this critical way of thinking. For the most part this is a new idea in engineering and still carries the stigma of "my job is going away." Note: Delegation is really a paradox. For ex - ample, I delegate what I am effective at, but in turn, I use the experience to create new things to be effective at. This idea can be explored by look- ing at the concept of globalization. The book The World is Flat by Thomas L. Friedman provides a good history lesson on how engineering evolved to what it is today. Concept 3: Stop Learning from Mistakes Mistakes are how we learn, or so goes the cliché. In automotive, however, OEMs ex- pect suppliers to not make mistakes. After all, they took the time to architect the system and source a piece of that business. There is an expectation that you can deliver. The typical 14-month development cycle seen on many components of the automobile does not allow you time to learn. Mistakes can be disastrous to a successful launch and potentially cost you the next opportunity. To avoid mistakes, strategies must be devel- oped. Do not assume that your engineering team can do it independently, project to project. As with any strategy, it can only be successful with the right people. Companies have to evaluate the team continuously and identify who can coach, who can provide lessons learned and who can be trained. There are many more things to look for, but to say it simply, you must be evaluating your people and developing a strategy to utilize those people in order to avoid mistakes. In the news recently there was a story about an OEM recalling vehicles. In some cases, the is - sue resulted in loss of life. As vehicles become more complex, the opportunity for system fail- ure increases. Engineers have a higher level of ac- countability than ever before. By focusing on developing relationships, del- egation and avoidance of mistakes, you can make your next project a success and improve the cur- rent one. Be open-minded and analyze your situ- ation without bias. Simple changes that are im- plemented as culture will ensure your success in the environment we operate in today. PCB HOW TO HANDLE SHORT DEVELOPMENT CyCLES continues SwItChIng gEArS Davian Larente is a senior engineering manager with the automotive Products group at Marquardt Switches Inc.