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December 2011

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TechNet E-Mail Forum <[log in to unmask]>, Pete <[log in to unmask]>
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Fri, 23 Dec 2011 08:56:01 -0600
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Brian, that list needs to be presented to every Engineering VP!  I wish I had that a few weeks ago, when we were putting to gether our "how to fix this mess we're in" presentation.   Yup, a few years in to our brilliant new plan to cut costs in Engineering, we were tasked coming up with a plan that could easily have started with "I told you so"

It's not about about new, fresh out of college, any of that.  It's about areas of expertise and resource utilization.  Brian's list very completely described all of the things NOT taught in engineering school.  And, it's a list of things that a properly utilized EE just doesn't have time to deal with.  That's why there (used to be) PCB designers.

Our case study:  We used to have a group of PCB designers, working very closely with in house engineers and captive PC assembly.  We bought a smaller company in Europe, they had no PC designers, EEs did the free CAD thing, but they didn't manufacture much.  Upper management then decided PCBs are electrical, EEs can design them.  China is cheaper, open an R&D group there.  I am now the only PCB designer in a company of 4K employees.    We closed our captive facility and outsource assembly.  

Our Europe EEs are excellent EEs, but don't understand PCBs, so I spend way too much time with vendors trying to get their expensive and unreliable boards built.  Our China group has very little technical experience, and a culture that discourages independant thought.  So while they bill 1/3 what the US bills, designs take 4x as long, I spend 1-1/2x as much time handholding as it would take me to do the design.  And still, that time with the vendors building poorly designed boards.  Our EEs in the US, having worked with PC designers, have been able to get their design work put on my overloaded schedule.  

After 3 years, that same management asked us to figure out why our time to market and product cost has grown exponentially.  The first suggestion they shot down was to hire another PCB designer.

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