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JUNE 2022 I DESIGN007 MAGAZINE 55 e transparency of dynamic pricing will allow even inexperienced PCB designers to learn and assess cost and benefit with confi- dence. e nimbleness and transparency of this new approach has the potential to change the game for product development. As teams are empowered to provide precise require- ments to manufacturers, the manufacturers, in turn, will be better equipped to provide con- sultation that results in a better product. is future offering will make getting a quick, cost- effective quote accessible to PCB designers and small product development teams, level- ing the playing field for those making the tech- nology of tomorrow. DESIGN007 Matt Stevenson is the VP of sales and marketing at Sunstone Circuits. To read past columns or contact Stevenson, click here. of them have reached the late 20th centur y in terms e-commerce and do have a website. Unfortunately, in many c a s e s , m a n u f a c t u r e r websites' calls to action for requesting a quote still involve the phone or an email. is process ranges in length from a few hours to a few days, requires back and forth b e t w e e n t h e m a n u - facturer and designer regarding cost and pro- duction requirements, and consumes valuable time. A handful of manu- facturers do have RFQ forms on their websites that allow for inputting some of the informa- tion about design requirements. ese forms may speed up the turn time for a quote and potentially increase the accuracy, but not by large amounts. A few PCB manufacturers now offer online quoting for a faster, more streamlined process. A design engineer can input the needs and design parameters of a project and get near- real-time pricing with the click of a button. e turnaround time for quotes shortens from hours or days to just minutes. Today, a sur- prisingly small number of manufacturers have implemented online quoting, and some are deploying systems more effectively than oth- ers. at said, this advancement is definitely a step forward for designers in the grand scheme of things. e next evolution of the quoting process will involve real-time dynamic pricing. Design- ers will see how each selection they make impacts the quote price, immediately demon- strating where the design's cost drivers are and empowering them to make design decisions that will keep the project on budget.