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16 The PCB Design Magazine • November 2014 have a core competency in assembly, with just a token design presence. • Overseas service centers have the po- tential to entice many companies who are look- ing for a quick, cheap solution. This has been a good solution for some companies, but use cau- tion. Some countries have an untrained labor pool using pirated software in nearly slave labor conditions. You run the risk of finding your IP or product cloned and then facing a much dis- counted competitor. In this situation, you may find yourself with little recourse. I have watched engineers laugh as the PCB design work went overseas, only to later find that his engineering work shortly followed. What it Takes to Succeed at Outsourcing As you can see, one size does not fit all. In any of these situations, the best governing principle is to establish a business partnership in which you value each other's success. Remember, the PCB designer is an extension of your design team whether they are inside or outside of your four walls. Ideally, the work outsourced should be consistent with internal requirements. One of the key elements to understand is that the PCB design labor pool has been dwindling for quite some time. That does put the competent designer in a more strategic position. Design- ers might be worthy of some esteem as valued team member crucial to your success. These views shared are the author's per- spective and reflect his attempts at objectivity. I hope this helps you in your outsourcing efforts! PCBDESIGN ThE VIRTuAL CAD DEPARTMENT: ThE CASE FOR OuTSOuRCING DESIGNS continues feature Mike Creeden is the owner of san Diego PCB. he has been involved with the PCB design industry for many years as an application engineer, a PCB designer, and an iPC CiD Designer instructor. he can be reached by clicking here. realtimewith.com CliCk To View Video Interview Jay gorajia, director of consult- ing at Mentor graphics, joins editor ray rasmussen to discuss the creation of a consulting organization to help customers extract value from their existing assets. The organization's main goal is to help small- to medium sized companies—those who don't continually buy or expand capacity—make the best of what they already have. Mentor Fine-Tunes its Consulting Operations by Real Time with... SMTAI