Issue link: https://iconnect007.uberflip.com/i/1467185
MAY 2022 I DESIGN007 MAGAZINE 19 Matties: Exactly. Jen, we hear getting that end- user feedback is so important, but it doesn't happen very oen. How do you solve that? Is there a way to find that feedback? Kolar: It really depends on the customer, and on having good project management. We train our project managers to follow up with their customers, to reach back out and ask, "How did it go?" From our end, sometimes we won't necessarily do that, because they're busy and onto the next design. But ideally we ask, "Were there any issues we should keep in mind for next time, so that we can remove those pain points?" Nolan Johnson: When you're dealing with the design part in the vacuum, do you start to actu- ally calculate in the budget for some of that extra work for the design? Kolar: Not really. When you're quoting some- thing, you quote based on what you know, and what you think it will take, considering things go okay-ish. For some customers we say, "Oh, that customer is involved. Double the quote. ey're going to swirl; they're not going to give us the info we need." But in most cases, a customer wants to get a quote that is aligned with what they expect. You're not going to get that bid if you buffer it like that. Here's another point in the vacuum—starting before the sche- matic is finalized or starting a quote before you have much data, when you're still guessing how things are going to evolve. Grunwald: We will oen get requests for quotes for a project that is in the schematic stage. at's difficult to quote because I don't know if these 10 pages of parts are going to be going on a board that's 12 by 12 inches or two by two inches. at's going to change the amount of time that design can take. Kolar: ere can be an information vacuum from different teams as well. You may be in a "mechanical requirements vacuum" when you're working with the electrical team. You may be waiting on the next STEP outline, but they're moving some holes around. Two weeks later, you find out they want a big mounting hole smack in the middle of where you put your processor. Grunwald: I recently had a project put on hold because they didn't have a mechanical designer available to work on the design. Aer discus- sion with the customer, I told them that we didn't want to waste their time moving forward and then when mechanical comes back, having to make modifications for where connectors need to be placed. ey agreed that we should wait until we have a mechanical designer. Kolar: Depending on the end-customer, they may like to get multiple bids from fabrica- tors, and they don't necessarily want to decide which one they're going to use until the end. With most fabricators, if you have a history of making RFQs and not going to them, they will get pretty burned out doing DFM and stackup requests. We don't want to burn that bridge. Matties: What do you think is the most impor- tant skill for a designer to learn, especially younger designers? Grunwald: Communication is a key skill to learn. It's not something you get in engineering Depending on the end- customer, they may like to get multiple bids from fabricators, and they don't necessarily want to decide which one they're going to use until the end.