OnTrack: The PCB Design Podcast

The town of Calumet, with a population of barely seven-hundred, was once the booming epicenter of Michigan’s upper peninsula mining industry. When the industry began to fail, unemployment skyrocketed, and the townspeople sought local solutions for creating jobs that could sustain the town’s families.

Rob Cooke, Director of Engineering Services at Calumet Electronics Corp, joins the OnTrack podcast to discuss the Open Source Ventilator project, his experiences implementing Altium-365, and the radical decision business owners in that small town of Calumet, Michigan made more than 50 years ago, which led to the rise of Calumet Electronics Corp.

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Watch the video, click here.

Show Highlights

• Intro to Rob Cooke: how he got involved with Dugan Karnazes and the Open Source Ventilator Project.
• From copper ore to copper pours: Calumet, Michigan’s fascinating backstory.
• So what’s the hold-up? The right tool for avoiding excessive holds and other barriers to expedient design.
• Reality transcends the map: Altium-365 demos vs firsthand experience.
• The impact and implications of sudden hyper-efficiency at the designer, fabricator, and assembler level.
• The shock of realtime: “This is what can happen when things don’t go on hold!”
• Rob offers some final thoughts on the purchasing and quoting paradigm.

Resources:

• Rob Cooke on LinkedIn
• Calumet Website
• Open Source Ventilator Video
• AltiumLive 365 Demo
• Altium 365 product page
• Open Source Ventilator Project (OSV) Combats Ventilator Shortage
• Previous Episode with Rob Cooke: How to Conquer Data Package Problems

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In this episode of the OnTrack Podcast we echo the style of “Ask me Anything” and feature Ben Jordan and Judy Warner who will mine the AltiumLive forum for questions. Ben will answer your questions about Engineering and PCB Design and Judy will respond to topics related to manufacturing and supply chain. Join us today as we tackle the question: If we have only one or two EEs, do we really need data management?

For future episodes, you can submit your questions on the AltiumLive forum, and sign up to be part of the community. Or email your questions directly to us.

Watch the video here.

Show Highlights:

• The Lounge is where the community talks about interesting topics related to PCB Design and Electronics Engineering, not necessarily only Altium products.
• Today’s question from the lounge is: “Is the Altium Vault really worthwhile in a company with just two EEs??” Perhaps another way to pose this question is: is it worth having a formal data management system for your electronics design, if you’re only a small business? We could even ask, is it worthwhile for an individual design contractor? The short answer is: Absolutely!
• Statistics and analytics from webinars, show that 80% of designers do not even use a formal version control system.
• A version control system allows you to have a central location for storing data, and as you work and make edits, and save files; it must be committed to the system as a revision.
• Version control allows you to go back to any point in time and restore it. Also, it allows comparison changes, in context, in a team or if you’re an individual designer.
• A normal backup system does not give you associativity between that moment in time and what you were doing, or the engineering intent.
• A version control system is not a formal data management system: it doesn’t give lifecycle management or links to supply chain data.
• A true data management system would not permit release unless everything is saved, committed to version control and contains the latest revision. Including in the component library.
• Provides accountability in the way you use and store your data.
• What are some problems with footprints in manufacturing?
• Panelization, v-cut, scoring for breakaway tabs etcetera, not following procedure.
• Slow down to hurry up - spend time upfront to set up the system, then you can move faster.
• Documentation is essential in the industry for re-use and provides a lifecycle.
• Data management keeps you accountable.

Links and Resources:

Join AltiumLive forum, and check out The Lounge

OP’s original question and related question

Email new questions to: OnTrack@altium.com