-
- News
- Books
Featured Books
- smt007 Magazine
Latest Issues
Current IssueComing to Terms With AI
In this issue, we examine the profound effect artificial intelligence and machine learning are having on manufacturing and business processes. We follow technology, innovation, and money as automation becomes the new key indicator of growth in our industry.
Box Build
One trend is to add box build and final assembly to your product offering. In this issue, we explore the opportunities and risks of adding system assembly to your service portfolio.
IPC APEX EXPO 2024 Pre-show
This month’s issue devotes its pages to a comprehensive preview of the IPC APEX EXPO 2024 event. Whether your role is technical or business, if you're new-to-the-industry or seasoned veteran, you'll find value throughout this program.
- Articles
- Columns
Search Console
- Links
- Events
||| MENU - smt007 Magazine
Footprints: A Distributor’s Perspective
February 19, 2021 | Andy Shaughnessy, Design007 MagazineEstimated reading time: 2 minutes
No issue on footprints and library management would be complete without input from a component distributor. I recently interviewed Geof Lipman of Octopart; as director of operations for part data, he’s one of the brains behind the entire site. Geof explains how Octopart functions and manages millions of component data points, and he also discusses the current landscape of electronic components.
Andy Shaughnessy: Geof, give us a quick background on how Octopart operates.
Geof Lipman: Absolutely. We aggregate and curate data about electronic components from hundreds of distributors and thousands of component manufacturers. We use a combination of approaches to acquire data. Some of our intake is highly automated, which results in us having the most comprehensive and up-to-date marketplace information in the industry.
Other data types need to be evaluated, and classified or normalized. ECAD data like footprints, 3D models and schematic symbols need to be built. We have teams of electrical engineers who ensure the quality and completeness of these types of data. We provide ECAD models for over 1 million parts, supporting multiple popular formats, footprints, schematic symbols, and 3D models.
Shaughnessy: What sort of data do you provide your customers when they search for a component?
Lipman: Broadly speaking, we supply marketplace data, lifecycle status, datasheets and other manufacturers’ documents, compliance data, technical specifications, free ECAD models, similar parts, and alternate names and MPNs for about 40 million parts.
For instance, marketplace data provides customers with answers to these questions: How much does it cost? What are the price breaks for quantity? How many are in stock? Who has the stock? What is the current typical lead time? We provide a “freshness indicator” so that our customers can see how long ago this marketplace data was updated.
The lifecycle status information tells you if the part you are specifying is likely to be hard to get or obsolete when you go into production. We provide a “freshness indicator” here too, so that our customers can see how long ago the lifecycle data was updated.
We provide two “flavors” of lifecycle status: The “Manufacturer Lifecycle Status” is exactly what the manufacturer says—no more, no less; and the “Lifecycle Status” is a composite spec summarizing all the lifecycle data that we have on a part. This could be from both the manufacturer and several distributors, for example.
To read this entire interview, which appeared in the February 2021 issue of Design007 Magazine, click here.
Suggested Items
Catching Up With TapRen Tech Solutions’ Tristan Ren
05/21/2024 | Dan Beaulieu, D.B. Management GroupI am always looking for companies that develop new and innovative ways of doing things, so I was delighted when I got a call from Tristan Ren, who wanted to tell me about his new company TapRen Tech Solutions. As I talked to “Ren,” I realized this was not your normal value-added broker. (I know everyone hates that term but that’s what many of these companies are.)
Quantic Electronics Announces Acquisition of M Wave Design
05/20/2024 | Quantic ElectronicsQuantic® Electronics, a portfolio company of Arcline Investment Management, announced the acquisition of M Wave Design, a leading supplier of ferrite-based RF and Microwave components for aerospace, defense, and quantum computing applications.
Danutek Celebrates 20 Anniversary
05/20/2024 | DanutekDanutek, a leading supplier of capital equipment and service support to the electronics manufacturing sector in Europe, proudly marks its 20th anniversary this year.
GlobalFoundries Appoints KC Ang as President of Asia
05/20/2024 | GlobalFoundriesGlobalFoundries (GF) announced the appointment of industry and company veteran, Kay Chai (KC) Ang, as President of Asia and Chairman of China.
Altus Adds PVA's Game Changing PathMaster X Software to Portfolio
05/16/2024 | Altus GroupAltus Group, a leading distributor of capital equipment in the UK and Ireland, has announced the addition of PVA's new PathMaster X software to its product portfolio. PathMaster X transforms programming for PVA's conformal coating and dispensing systems with an intuitive, game-like controller interface.