Arrow Speeds Design with SiliconExpert

The faster the better is the overriding value in design these days. To support this, Arrow Electronics and Cadence Design Systems have developed a collaboration to bring integrated design tools to design engineers. The goal is to help design engineers accelerate the pace of new product development and get products to market faster and cheaper.

SiliconExpert was created to speed the process of designing parts into new products.
(Source: Arrow Electronics)

The collaboration allows engineers using the Cadence OrCAD suite of printed circuit board design tools to access Arrow’s comprehensive online component and reference design data available through SiliconExpert. “This is part of Arrow’s overall digital strategy,” Matt Anderson, Arrow’s chief digital officer, told Design News. “We decided we needed to focus on the work design engineers do online to help them get to market faster and keep up with all the changes in the market.”

Anderson noted that access to component and reference design data early in the design and schematic-capture process can help engineers shorten their time to market. The SiliconExpert tool was designed to help engineers find production-ready designs and ensure that components are readily available. The tool also indicates whether the components are regulatory compliant and have lifecycles consistent with product requirements and cost targets.

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The accelerated design speed comes from bringing part info into the design process. “When they’re building the BOM, they can do real-time scrubbing to find out if the parts will work with the design. You can find out if the part is environmentally compliant. You can also get end-of-life data,” said Anderson. “Now when you’re putting together a design, you can change things based on information from SiliconExpert. In addition we’re also bringing the reference designs straight into the Cadence environment.”

The collaboration with Cadence was forged for speed. “Now when you’re putting together a design, you can change things based on information from SiliconExpert,” said Anderson. “In addition, with the reference designs, you benefit from work that has already been successfully completed.”

Rob Spiegel has covered automation and control for 15 years, 12 of them for Design News. Other topics he has covered include supply chain technology, alternative energy, and cyber security. For 10 years he was owner and publisher of the food magazine Chile Pepper.

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