The electronics industry is facing record lead times for essential products like microcontrollers, cellular and Wi-Fi modules, and more. Delayed lead times even extend to some 3 leaded sensors that are experiencing 52+ weeks of wait time. There is also talk of an 80-week lead time for one popular part. President of the Exponential Technology Group (XTG) and Senior Vice President of Corporate Business Development at TTI, Inc., Michael Knight, has predicted that supply chain disruption is not forecasted to be resolved any time in the near future. Innovation and forward-thinking are required to contend with the obstacles the electronics industry is seeing.
In an effort to persevere, many manufacturers are headed back to the drawing board with redesigns that swap hard-to-source components for parts that are more readily available. Connected Development can conveniently assist developers in streamlining every step of the redesign process with their specialized end-to-end engineering and project management support:
Prototyping
Development
Testing
Documentation
Manufacturing management/transfer to manufacturing
Connected Development offers comprehensive options and solutions for your redesign process. For example, microcontroller availability has been heavily impacted by supply chain disruptions. Luckily, Connected Development is well versed in different brands and types of microcontrollers. While there aren’t many drop-in software compatible options for 32-bit ARM® Cortex® Microcontrollers, there are a few cases where microcontrollers are pin for pin compatible. Board redesign and layout are sometimes necessary in these instances, but generally, only software porting is required.
Additionally, cellular modules are another category of parts that manufacturers are seeking to compensate for in redesigns. Cellular modules facilitate communication from remote machines to a home base or to the cloud. Cellular modules may have different footprints and different software that requires technical engineering to make changes surrounding printed circuit board layouts. Many times, redesign of cellular radios may result in carrier re-certification. Highly experienced in certification processes, Connected Development can aid developers in streamlining re-certification surrounding the redesigns.
Microcontrollers and cellular modules are just two examples of hardware are software sources that would require engineering time to change. Connected Development provides engineering design support services in:
Custom antenna design
Full hardware design and prototyping
Mechanical design and implementation
Embedded software development
Mobile and wireless software development
Custom firmware design
Application design
In-house anechoic chamber and extensive testing equipment
With decades of combined industry experience, Connected Development is uniquely qualified to help companies design out difficult to get parts and design in parts with more reasonable lead times. If your product deployment or design process has been impacted by supply chain disruptions, Connected Development can provide a solution. Contact us today!