Issue link: https://iconnect007.uberflip.com/i/1067105
10 SMT007 MAGAZINE I JANUARY 2019 In his article "No Rest for the Weary: Supply Chain Pressures Are Here to Stay," Jamey Mann walks us through current best practices for ensuring a steady supply of critical parts during these times of uncertain supply. Next, Natasha Baker, SnapEDA CEO, discusses how her company's dynamic parts library for design tools can help identify supply issues while designing. In his column "Knocking Down the Bone Pile," Bob Wettermann considers the ques - tion, "How much is too much?" with respect to heating and cooling cycle limits on PCBs during both the manufacturing and potential rework phases. Given the changing dynamics of the supply chain calculus, rework comes once again to the fore. This month, Eric Camden devotes his column to "The Effect of Thermal Profiles on Cleanli - ness and Electrical Performance." He submitted a paper to the SMTA International 2014 proceed- ings, and the topic continues to be timely. Eric refreshes that paper and continues the discus- sion. Finally, John Vaughan's column, "The Fourth Pillar of Defense Acquisition: Cybersecurity," puts yet another variable into play for the supply chain crisis—the security of the data as it moves through the chain of manufacturing. Quoting John's column here, "In today's digi - tized world, every one of these [infinite number of] supply chain touch points represents a potential product security risk." After researching and conducting numerous interviews, it would seem that the dynamics and root causes of this crisis are generally well understood. What is emerging—and disrup - tive—is the awareness that even when things get better, the "business as usual" we return to will not be exactly the way it was. No, we'll be doing things differently—and hopefully, better—once this is all over. SMT007 The repercussions ripple up and down the supply chain at will. To stay competitive and create long-lived products, design teams need to improve their component selections—and their design skill sets in some cases—to use the parts that will be available long term. They need to pay atten - tion to parts availability in the short term too. It may begin with the designers—and the designers certainly end up being held account- able to updating the design to keep the prod- uct current—but it takes the entire supply chain being in communication to keep everyone informed and in production. As you will see from this issue, there are a LOT of moving parts to this set of circumstances. While the general consensus is that this is not just a radar blip in the supply chain, there will be relief. Approach these challenges with the right attitude and learn from the experiences of others under the same constraints, and when the relief comes, we'll all be better and more flexible designers with some new traditional behaviors. We kick it off with John Watson's article outlining "A Veteran Engineer's Perspective" on the current market. John delivers a great over - view of a serious situation without losing his sense of humor in the process. Next, Andy Shaughnessy and I talk to Digi- Key COO, Dave Doherty, about the careful, small adjustments being made to improve the current shortages. Dave's insight is valuable to contract manufacturers and designing custom - ers alike. Speaking of designing customers, the I-Connect007 editorial team explored the value of incorporating parts availability, performance characteristics, and design tool parts definitions with Octopart's Dan Schoenfelder. Stephanie Martin, senior VP of supply chain at Vexos, also spoke with the I-Connect007 editorial team on the root causes of the supply chain situation and how to adapt. PCB fabrication is a critical step in this process, and Sunstone Circuits' Matt Steven- son gives his insights to help us gauge the impact all this is having on the board fabrica- tion business. Nolan Johnson is managing editor of SMT007 Magazine. Nolan brings 30 years of career experience focused almost entirely on electron- ics design and manufacturing. To contact Johnson, click here.