-
- News
- Books
Featured Books
- design007 Magazine
Latest Issues
Current IssueShowing Some Constraint
A strong design constraint strategy carefully balances a wide range of electrical and manufacturing trade-offs. This month, we explore the key requirements, common challenges, and best practices behind building an effective constraint strategy.
All About That Route
Most designers favor manual routing, but today's interactive autorouters may be changing designers' minds by allowing users more direct control. In this issue, our expert contributors discuss a variety of manual and autorouting strategies.
Creating the Ideal Data Package
Why is it so difficult to create the ideal data package? Many of these simple errors can be alleviated by paying attention to detail—and knowing what issues to look out for. So, this month, our experts weigh in on the best practices for creating the ideal design data package for your design.
- Articles
- Columns
- Links
- Media kit
||| MENU - design007 Magazine
South African Electronics Industry Going Strong
April 3, 2018 | Barry Matties, I-Connect007Estimated reading time: 3 minutes
EDA Technologies is a South African company that offers PCB design engineering services, mainly for the domestic electronics market, which makes up a surprising 12.5% of South Africa’s GDP. I recently spoke to founder Nechan Naicker about the benefits of outsourcing to South Africa, the market segments they service there, and any advice he had to offer from his 20+ years in the industry.
Barry Matties: First, tell our readers a little bit about your company and what you do?
Nechan Naicker: EDA Technologies is a concept-to-complete electronics solutions company founded over 20 years ago. We've always been involved with PC boards. Back in the day we sold and supported P-CAD, one of the earliest PCB design tools working on DOS, developed by IBM for their own use and later sold off. PCAD changed owners numerous times and evolved until what we have today in Altium Designer. Over the 20 years of selling and supporting PCB CAD tools, we’ve obviously done a lot of training.
Being at the bottom tip of Africa, people always imagine that we have lions running around in the streets. They do sometimes, but thankfully not where I live. What's interesting is that most of the people that I speak to have no idea how advanced South Africa’s electronics industry is. To give you an idea, a large part of SAAB’s electronics engineering is done in South Africa, employing a few hundred engineers. We have many hundreds of engineering contacts in our database, so I would say that South Africa has a thriving and advanced electronics industry.
Matties: Expand a little on EDA Technologies and the services you offer.
Naicker: Originally, we started as a PCB design house, but then we also started to sell and support PCB CAD tools. Today we offer turnkey electronics engineering and manufacturing services, using local and global manufacturers. Many companies don't have the expertise or the resources in-house to do full electronics development, so that's where we come in. We look after the full development and supply chain so that clients can focus on their core business.
Matties: And you're selling the tools as well?
Naicker: Yes, so we have been a reseller for Altium in South Africa for many years. Altium is the most widely used PCB tool in South Africa. Since we have also used Altium Designer to design exceptionally complex designs, our understanding of the tool is of the highest level so that we can quickly assist our customers with support.
Matties: My understanding is that the Chinese bring a lot of investment and infrastructure into this region as well, such as highways. Is that the case?
Naicker: Yes. Africa is rich in minerals, so copper is a big commodity along with other sought-after minerals. The Chinese investors have purchased entire mineral mines in parts of Africa, like Botswana. In exchange, they may build roads and put up some infrastructure.
Matties: You've been doing design for many years. What sort of design changes have you seen over the years that surprised you?
Naicker: EDA has been designing and manufacturing multilayer PCBs of 12 layers and above for over 15 years now, so this is nothing new. I would say that the technology that intrigued me most recently was the need for embedded copper coin technology. Due to high power demands in electronic systems like RF designs, there's a big need for embedded copper in the PCB to handle the heat distribution and large currents. So, manufacturers mill out a piece of the PCB, insert precisely crafted copper in the cavity, plate over it, and the result is one of the best thermal conductivity solution available on PCBs.
To read this entire interview, which appeared in the March 2018 issue of Design007 Magazine, click here.
Testimonial
"The I-Connect007 team is outstanding—kind, responsive, and a true marketing partner. Their design team created fresh, eye-catching ads, and their editorial support polished our content to let our brand shine. Thank you all! "
Sweeney Ng - CEE PCBSuggested Items
Considering the Future of Impending Copper Tariffs
07/30/2025 | I-Connect007 Editorial TeamThe Global Electronics Association is alerting industry members that a potential 50% tariff on copper could hit U.S. electronics manufacturers where it hurts.
Foxconn, TECO Announce Strategic Alliance Targeting AI Data Center Capabilities
07/30/2025 | PRNewswireHon Hai Technology Group (Foxconn) and TECO Electric & Machinery Co Ltd Ltd (TECO) on Wednesday announced a share exchange, strategic alliance that will strengthen their AI infrastructure capabilities and propel the two Taiwanese tech majors into key markets in the global super-computing race.
Sypris Wins Awards to Support Subsea Cable Systems
07/29/2025 | BUSINESS WIRESypris Electronics, LLC, a subsidiary of Sypris Solutions, Inc., announced it has secured follow-on contract awards from a leading global provider of subsea cable systems. Under the terms of the agreement,
Creating Connections in Mexico
07/30/2025 | Michelle Te, Community MagazineA concerted effort by the Global Electronics Association—Mexico team over the past year has created inroads for the Global Electronics Association (formerly IPC) with leading electronics companies, government offices, and academic institutions in Mexico. “Our goal is to bring more awareness to what the Global Electronics Association is and what it offers,” says Lorena Villanueva, senior director. “We also aim to increase our membership. Of 3,200 members of the Global Electronics Association, only 180 are in Mexico.”
North American EMS Industry Down 8.9% in June
07/29/2025 | Global Electronics AssociationThe Global Electronics Association announced today the June 2025 findings from its North American Electronics Manufacturing Services (EMS) Statistical Program. The book-to-bill ratio stands at 1.28.