Data management: limiter or accelerator for electronic design creativity

Data Management is the key to introduce concurrent engineering, configuration management and work in progress control throughout the entire design process. That has been recognized by MCAD and ERPIMRP Software vendors years ago. Product Data Management (PDM) solutions are used and accepted for mechanical designs but not in electronic design departments. The EDA industry has not been focussing on strategies to fill the gap between business processes and design activities. Therefore today proprietary processes on a directory file level mostly manage variant handling and configuration management. Standard database management solutions or Product Data Management applications could not reach major market shares up to now. Reviewing the electronic design process, there are already gaps in the information flow from the component manufacturer to the component users, which is limiting the cost effectiveness of product development. Component and Supplier management applications (CSM) tried to fill this gap with additional services and got widely used in electronic enterprises by procurement and purchasing with the goal to implement 828 capabilities. But electronic designers have not been addressed due to missing integration in the ECAE tools. Additional gaps appear in the data flow from the designer’s desk to Manufacturing Resource Planning systems (MRP) which relay on bill of material information.