How to Reduce Time to Market by Streamlining the Design-to-Source Process

Within the context of the electronics manufacturing industry, reducing time to market (TTM) is a major competitive advantage. Inefficiencies in the design-to-source process normally lead to lost opportunities, high costs and disappointed customers. However, in order to stay in the competition, experts in the electronics supply chain, specifically in the EMS industry, need to improve processes and efficiency. In this paper, we address the issue of how to streamline the design-to-source process to achieve time-to-market to achieve significant reductions in time-to-market..

The Importance of Speed in Electronics Manufacturing

• Speed is of the essence in electronics supply chain management. Time to market determines the profitability of a project, minimizing customer dissatisfaction and the competitiveness of an organization. The aim is that for any product, its time to market should be minimized as much as possible. In this way, manufacturers will begin to earn a return on their investments fast with less risk of lagging behind what current technologies are offering.
• What are the reasons as to why speed kills in electronics manufacturing?
• First-mover advantage: The first player to enter a market is always able to gain more customers and establish authority.
• Cost efficiency: Even the best planning will be hindered by changing circumstances that will increase cost, e.g., the unavailability of some components, their unpredicted price, or the absence of a window for production.
• Customer satisfaction: Customer satisfaction is strongly linked to the speed of response, especially when addressing customer needs and expectations efficiently.

What Is the Design-to-Source Process?

The design-to-sourcing process encompasses all activities ranging from product design to procuring the elements required for product assembly. This usually involves PCB design, choosing the components, sourcing the suppliers, and making sure that all the crucial components are available in adequate amounts at a competitive price.

The design-to-source process ensures that there are no interruptions in the manufacture of a product from the idea stage to mass production. However, inefficiencies such as manual data entry, little communication between teams, and delays in the acquisition of components may cause avoidable waste of time.

Streamlining BOM Management with Automation

Controlling a bill of materials (BOM) is one of the key factors concerning the design-to-source process.  With electronics supply chain solutions for BOM, businesses can automate BOM management, reduce errors, and streamline updates, ensuring accurate and up-to-date information flows between teams. A bill of materials is a document containing all parts, sub-parts, and assemblies needed to construct a given end product. Manual control of BOM management is labor-intensive and creates a high rate of errors. This is so for complicated ventures made up of many components and even more suppliers.

Businesses that automate BOM management:

• Reduce errors: Automation reduces the risk of manual data entry errors. This ensures that the correct components are listed.
• Increase efficiency: Automation tools streamline the process of updating and sharing BOMs between teams, reducing delays due to miscommunication or outdated information.

Leveraging Real-Time Supplier Data for Faster Decision-Making

Accessing supplier information on real-time changes is one of the most effective ways to reduce time. Acquisition of such information, which contains the availability of components, price, and the time required for them all, enables the procurement team to act quickly on well-rounded decisions based on facts.

Instead of having to wait days or weeks for suppliers to quote, real-time data enables teams to compare options and place orders confidently and quickly. This data can also be used to predict supply chain disruptions or shortages, enabling teams to secure critical components before they go out of stock.

Optimizing Sourcing with Technology

Component shortages in the electronics supply chain can cause significant production delays. By automatically identifying replacement parts, companies can quickly find necessary parts that meet their design specifications and avoid bottlenecks in production.

Automation tools search databases for compatible parts and offer options based on parameters such as performance, cost, and immediate availability. This not only reduces the time spent manually searching for replacement parts, but it also ensures that production remains on time even when original components are unavailable.

Demand prediction, supply chain disruption identification, and cost savings are some ways predictive analytics assists businesses. Through studying past data, companies plan procurement activities in a way that is more logical. It also assists in shortening the time to market. For example, predictive analytics can advise procurement teams on when prices are more likely to go up or when suppliers’ issues are likely to affect lead times. With this information, firms can revise their purchasing policies to prevent the unnecessary imposition of delays.

Integrating Engineering and Procurement for Seamless Collaboration

Engineering and procurement teams often work in silos. This often delays the design-to-source process. By bringing these teams together with a shared platform or collaboration tool, manufacturers can ensure that information flows smoothly between departments.

For example, engineers can share updates on design changes for procurement teams to assess the impact on component procurement immediately. This collaboration avoids delays caused by last-minute adjustments or miscommunication.

Real-Time Monitoring and Progress Tracking

Real-time monitoring of the design-to-source process ensures every step of production is on track. Engineering and procurement teams can use advanced verification tools to identify potential bottlenecks or delays before they become major problems. This visibility also helps teams make adjustments on the fly, ensuring that the project stays on time even if unexpected challenges arise.

In Conclusion

Improving the design-to-source process is critical to reducing time-to-market in electronics manufacturing. With a platform like Luminovo that provides electronics supply chain solutions for BOM, manufacturers and suppliers can leverage real-time data and intimate, relevant teams, allowing them to move from design to production faster than ever before. Predictive analytics and real-time monitoring add another level of efficiency, helping companies stay ahead of the competition.

Have you implemented any strategies to improve your design-to-source process? Share your thoughts or experiences on how CPQ automation has improved your customer experience!