Issue link: https://iconnect007.uberflip.com/i/1069358
40 PCB007 MAGAZINE I JANUARY 2019 component selections and skill sets in some cases to use the parts that will be available in the long term. Designers also need to pay attention to parts availability in the short term too. It may begin with the designers, and the designers certainly end up being held accountable to updating the design to keep the product current, but it takes the entire supply chain straight through fabrication to be in communication to keep everyone informed and in production. Watson advises, "Stay informed. Many of the component vendors publish their component forecasts. Stay aware of trends in our industry. The sooner you know of the problem or the direction, the faster you can make a sound decision on needed changes. This will require reading electronic journals and news." Doherty shares the Digi-Key point of view, "This isn't a fun time for some of these individuals trying to source and find products. However, we want to be that trusted partner still, and the one thing we do see is—regardless of the constraints—our customers still want to go to authorized sources." Doherty offers this advice, "Our engineering staff is available to help consult. We have customers physically send us their BOM and ask us to score it when they're in the purchasing mode down the road. We want that to be an easy, hassle-free experience, and you can't impact it at the time of procurement. It has to be upstream in design, so start with a phone call, webchat, or an email. If not Digi-Key, then there are other services out there to subscribe to that I would say are worth their weight in gold in times like this if you can design that little extra flexibility." Mann puts a number to it: "It is highly suggested to have your supply chain management team work very closely with both the OEM and supplier base to ensure that a minimum of a full year of demand is covered." He continues, "There is little to no ability for the market to absorb demand increases within this period. It is also highly suggested that you eliminate single-sourced commodity components as a single source limits flexibility in the supply chain solution." Back to The Beginning SnapEDA and other component library suppliers are working to help as well. "Since we have a large database of vendor specifications, we can make recommendations for similar parts," Baker points out. "For example, if a product is unavailable, SnapEDA recommends pin- and footprint-compatible alternates. This allows designers to use a different product in its place that has the same specifications without requiring any PCB layout changes and also keeps the project on schedule. It can even help with optimizing BOM costs." Baker adds, "While we don't target procurement professionals explicitly, we've definitely seen adoption. Often, they use our proprietary aggregator for pricing and availability from distributors. Where SnapEDA really shines is when they begin to consider product alternatives." Conclusion As a key step in the manufacturing chain for electronic products, the PCB fabrication industry has been relatively protected from the supply chain ripples so far. With only isolated instances of material supply shortages, the largest impact seems to be in the form of more volatile customer forecasts driven by parts availability issues. For now, at least. As this shortage in supply continues, and the three most significant sectors continue their consumption of parts in the open market, it is possible that copper shortages could worsen, causing wider ripples than those noted by Martin. Furthermore, component shortages could create issues for fabrication equipment companies, potentially slowing the fulfillment of equipment orders for fabricators all while the PCB business continues to grow in volume produced. In the meantime, fabricators might expect to see a large number of revisions on existing products as older, now-unavailable parts are designed out for newer, smaller components. Yes, the ripples do reach far and wide. PCB007