Component Engineering Overview
Component Engineering - What is it?
What do Component Engineers Do?
Component Engineering Topics
Component Engineering - What is it?
Component Engineering (CE) is, in general, the practice of selection, approval/qualification, documentation, and management of all purchased components and direct material utilized to produce an electronic assembly or end product. CEs are often either generalists,meaning they have expertise in dealing with a broad range of component types (e.g., semiconductors, passives, interconnect, optical), or specialists and deal exclusively with a particular commodity or commodity subset like DRAMs or microprocessors. This responsibility typically extends throughout the entire product lifecycle.
Component Engineering is typically not taught in universities; engineers often enter the field after having done something else. That, in fact, is what we find makes a good CE. The best CEs have a depth of experience in and knowledge of materials, design, manufacturing, and other areas like failure analysis for the component types they are expert in. Semiconductor CEs often come from semiconductor companies and may have backgrounds in IC design, process design and engineering, product and test engineering, or reliability engineering. Many also have backgrounds in board/system-level design and/or test.
What do Component Engineers Do?
Outside of and during Product Development, typical Component Engineering business processes and tasks will include taking a lead role in
Supplier and Component Selection and Qualification - see DCA's well-received article on Aligning Design & Supply Chains
BOM Analysis, including compliance with environmental regulations and requirements
Early Risk Identification, Assessment, and Mitigation, including component obsolescence and availability assessment, and minimizing the potential for incorporating counterfeit parts
Purchasing Specification Creation/Maintenance
Component Application Engineering
Component, and occasionally System-Level, Reliability Calculations
Once a product is released to Manufacturing, Component Engineers continue to support it. Typical business processes and tasks include
Environmental regulations and requirements compliance analysis, conversion, and recommendations for non-convertable items
Post-Development Second-Sourcing
Component (or related) Failure Analysis and/or Problem Resolution via the 8-D Methodology
PCN/EOL Review and Support
Sourcing hard-to-find components
Component Engineers are also often involved in the following business processes as part (and often leader) of a team:
Identifying and introducing new potential suppliers, both strategic and tactical
Negotiating contracts with key, strategic suppliers
Providing Product Lifecycle vs. Component Lifecycle Strategies
Developing Part Numbering Systems and Strategies
Providing Strategic Component Roadmaps for a wide variety of commodities
Developing Strategic Supplier Relationships
Identifying and Qualifying the Right Contract Engineering/Design Service Provider
Identifying and Qualifying the Right EMS Provider/Contact Manufacturer
Creating and Validating Sourcing Strategies
Developing and Implementing Component & Supplier Qualification and Control Procedures
Developing and Implementing Risk Assessment and Mitigation Procedures
Design for Manufacturing and Manufacturing Process Issues
Prototype Debug
Identifying, assessing, implementing, and configuring Design and Supply Chain related tools, such as PLM, PDM, CSM, and SCM systems
Supplier and Component Data Cleansing and Enrichment/"System of Record" Data Integrity Improvement
Providing Competitive Product Analysis/Reverse Engineering
We are your resource for contract Component Engineering. We can provide:
Targeted, specialist CE support either on-site or remotely on an as-needed basis
An on-site generalist with a short- or long-term contract
On-call remote "service bureau" on a one-time or retainer basis
Focused service for any specific business process or task listed on this page, as well as many others.
Whether you require support for a specific project or general CE support across your product lifecycle we have the expertise and knowledge you need to improve time-to-market while reducing product cost enabling you to produce a more supply-chain-robust product.
