-
- News
- Books
Featured Books
- design007 Magazine
Latest Issues
Current IssueAll 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.
Designing Through the Noise
Our experts discuss the constantly evolving world of RF design, including the many tradeoffs, material considerations, and design tips and techniques that designers and design engineers need to know to succeed in this high-frequency realm.
- Articles
- Columns
Search Console
- Links
- Media kit
||| MENU - design007 Magazine
Altium to Acquire Octopart and Ciiva
August 21, 2015 | AltiumEstimated reading time: 2 minutes
Altium Limited has announced the acquisition of two industry-leading electronic parts content and search providers, Octopart and Ciiva. A definitive purchase agreement has been signed to acquire Octopart, a provider of electronic parts data and specialized inventory search. In addition, a finalized agreement has been signed to acquire Ciiva, a cloud-based electronic component management system that controls and tracks components throughout the product lifecycle management process. These acquisitions will enable Altium to expand their product lineup to include an integrated content strategy for enhanced component management workflows.
“The acquisitions of Octopart and Ciiva represent a significant step forward in the evolution of the Altium content strategy,” said Aram Mirkazemi, CEO at Altium. “Tightly integrated CAD models and part supply information will bring a state change to the way in which parts selection and component management are performed during and after the design process is completed.”
Intelligent Electronic Parts Data from Octopart
The acquisition of Octopart provides Altium with direct access to over 30 million electronic and industrial components, allowing Altium to expand their content offering for users of their PCB design tools. Altium customers will also benefit from an extensive supplier database network provided by Octopart, allowing designers to directly connect to the electronic component distributors and manufacturers.
“We believe that everyone involved in the product development lifecycle can benefit from the bringing together of Altium content and design tool expertise with the Octopart data and search capabilities”, said Sam Wurzel, Octopart Co-Founder and CEO. “We are excited to pursue the opportunity to deliver smart content and actionable supply chain intelligence to makers and design engineers as they develop the next generation of connected devices.”
Cloud-Based Component Management from Ciiva
The acquisition of Ciiva will allow Altium to provide customers with an integrated parts management solution that enables engineers to overcome BOM and component data management challenges. The integration of the tools, content, and services between Altium and Ciiva will empower engineers all over the world with specialized design and data management capabilities throughout the entire product design process.
“Our vision to provide easy access to parts data and to help people overcome common component data management challenges will only be accelerated with our acquisition by Altium,” said Leigh Gawne, Co-Founder and CEO at Ciiva. “By integrating our tools, content, and services with the Altium ecosystem, we’re able to accelerate the reach of our vision and offer a complete component management solution to every engineer around the world."
Availability and Updates
All services and solutions offered by Octopart and Ciiva will continue to operate as usual, with no changes for current customers. Altium will be working closely with Ciiva and Octopart in the coming months to integrate their existing technologies and data management platforms into the Altium ecosystem. Future information about the developments of this integration by can be found on the Octopart blog and Ciiva blog.
About Altium
Altium Limited (ASX: ALU) is a multinational software corporation headquartered in San Diego, California, that focuses on electronics design systems for 3D PCB design and embedded system development. Altium products are found everywhere from world leading electronic design teams to the grassroots electronic design community.
Suggested Items
Robust AI Demand Drives 6% QoQ Growth in Revenue for Top 10 Global IC Design Companies in 1Q25
06/15/2025 | TrendForceTrendForce’s latest investigations reveal that 1Q25 revenue for the global IC design industry reached US$77.4 billion, marking a 6% QoQ increase and setting a new record high. This growth was fueled by early stocking ahead of new U.S. tariffs on electronics and the ongoing construction of AI data centers around the world, which sustained strong chip demand despite the traditional off-season.
Cadence Advances Design and Engineering for Europe’s Manufacturers on NVIDIA Industrial AI Cloud
06/13/2025 | Cadence Design Systems, Inc.At NVIDIA GTC Paris, Cadence announced it is providing optimized solutions for the world’s first industrial AI cloud in collaboration with NVIDIA.
Zuken Autorouters Embrace Collaborative AI
06/12/2025 | Andy Shaughnessy, Design007 MagazineMaybe you’ve never liked autorouters; if so, you’re not alone. As Andy Buja, Zuken’s technical account manager for PCB Solutions, admits, autorouters are not perfect. But today’s autorouters allow designers a greater level of control than ever before, especially routers that incorporate collaborative AI.
Bridging the Knowledge Gap in Test: A Conversation with Bert Horner
06/11/2025 | Barry Matties, I-Connect007Bert Horner is a seasoned industry veteran and co-creator of The Test Connection, Inc. (TTCI), a test and inspection company spanning over 45 years. In this candid conversation, Bert reflects on the challenges our industry faces with the retirement of career professionals and the subsequent loss of critical tribal knowledge. As he unveils The Training Connection’s innovative training initiatives, Bert emphasizes the importance of evolving educational programs that align with industry needs, particularly in design for test (DFT), and sheds light on strategies being implemented to foster the next generation of engineers.
The Shaughnessy Report: Planning Your Best Route
06/10/2025 | Andy Shaughnessy -- Column: The Shaughnessy ReportDesigners don’t like autorouters, period. In my 26 years of covering PCB design and EDA tools, I’ve met about 25 designers who admit to using autorouters regularly. Two of these, Barry Olney and Stephen Chavez, have articles in this issue. If experts like these use routers, why haven’t you tried one?