Why designers are demanding more from their distributor

This pressure has paved the way for a new way of working for design engineers - one that uses off-the-shelf boards, accessories and software to accelerate their innovation process. After all, as more complex functionality is required in their designs, it ever more important for engineers to source the best development, test and production tools to facilitate their work.

This shift in how products are taken from prototype to production is, in turn, having a major impact on the electronics industry, where distributors need to cater to engineers’ needs to maintain a competitive edge.

Here are the three major design trends that are driving these changes.

The explosion of SBCs

One key development we have seen in recent years is the proliferation of Single Board Computers (SBCs). SBCs have a crucial role to play in the democratisation of the design process, as they put powerful and easy-to-use design tools into the hands of hobbyists and professionals alike.

An increasing number of engineers are using SBCs as the basis for their designs, as they can incorporate open source software to modify the board and/or add new features as needed. They can then re-use this custom platform in future prototypes, further reducing the time to market. Beyond the time and cost-saving advantages, SBCs are also a lower-risk option with many of the more difficult portions of the design already being done, such as the high-speed memory layout.

There is no doubt that these open-source, low-cost development boards are going to increase in popularity - and we only have to look at the success of Raspberry Pi and BeagleBone Black to see their potential. However, for designers, it is important to have a distribution partner that is familiar with the complexity of the boards’ structure.

Ultimately, by bolstering their SBC expertise and know-how, distributors will be better placed to support engineers much more close, and able to provide them with exactly what they need to bring their designs to life.

Accessorising your SBC

Another important trend, driven by the increased use of SBCs in a professional setting, is the growing number of accessories that are now available to engineers.

Accessory boards have become popular over recent years as they help engineers to integrate different capabilities into their design, while minimising development costs and the margin for error. As a result of the rise in use of SBCs, a significant variety of accessories have also been developed that are specifically designed to support SBCs’ operating systems.

It’s no surprise, then, that the accessories for Raspberry Pi are plentiful. Amongst the most popular are the Cirrus Logic Audio Card (extending the Pi’s audio capabilities in to HD audio), Explore NFC (a fully NFC-compliant, high-performance expansion board) and PiFace Digital (which enables engineers to have greater control over their Raspberry Pi add-ons). For BeagleBone boards, the portable, touchscreen LCD solution BB View, has also been incredibly successful.

For distributors, the challenge now will be to ensure they have the latest accessories in stock and that this range covers all boards that are being used in both a professional and personal capacity.

Finding the right parts

Traditionally, design engineers would have had to source individual parts for their designs, then find a supplier to create the PCB, and finally have the board built and tested. Over time, that process has been transformed - and this can largely be attributed to developments in software.

Distributors are now making available software packages such as Altium Circuit Studio and CadSoft Eagle, giving engineers access to a single software package that provides all the technical support they need to integrate component sourcing. Through design centres and software stores, distributors are now delivering the various processes, from PCB fabrication to prototyping, all under one roof. As engineers, designs - and the tools needed to realise them - become more complex, the demand for fully supported software solutions can only be expected to increase. In turn, this will make it important that engineers can find a distribution partner to support them throughout and beyond the purchasing process.

These three developments have been triggered by industry trends such as IoT and the demand for wirelessly connected devices, which require engineers to create ever more complex designs. The components needed to realise these designs were once expensive and complicated but, thanks to the availability of budget-friendly SBCs, are now accessible to more design engineers than ever before. This has given rise to a new desire for additional software and design services, which distributors and others involved in the production cycle are striving to satisfy.