Smart Sourcing Helps Keep RF Heartbeat Going

In an ideal world, design engineers and procurement collaborate to make sure that a product gets built. At the same time, the engineering side is often reluctant to compromise on a part that is the heartbeat of an application because changing the central device in a design can be tricky. It’s understandable—and it takes good communication and careful planning for design and procurement to create a system that works.

On the engineering side of things, the costs associated with evaluating a replacement part, which includes initial review, actual design time, qualification and product introduction, are high. A complex device such as a microprocessor in an aerospace application may contain thousands of lines of code which have to be evaluated to validate the device. In the case of an RF amplifier, it can be every bit as challenging.

RF products not only have the distinction of potentially being a heartbeat product, there is often “black magic” involved with the interaction of other devices on the board and the function of the device in the application.  Where it may not be the most complex of products, designers are often times reluctant to change out one of these devices as they would with a microprocessor due to timing, voltage drop, parasitic interactions, gain values, crosstalk attenuation etc. There are often no true drop-in replacements for a RF product and designing in a replacement will have an impact in terms of more time, additional costs and qualification.

In the world of RF, once a designer becomes comfortable with a device and how it acts, not only is there a reluctance to change, it becomes the go to device for future design applications. Often, these products have long lives—so a long term support plan for the part is critical. The adage of “if it ain’t broke don’t fix it” certainly applies. Meanwhile, the procurement folks are managing an increasingly complex supply chain that demands flexibility and multiple sources in order to manage risk and resilience demand.

For effective collaboration, engineering design and procurement must align their efforts to navigate the requirements and concerns of both teams. Procurement needs to source these baseline products with extra care to ensure that the supplier, or source, intends to support the device over the long term. It’s important to explore creative strategies that might include asking a distribution partner to commit to long-term storage of the device, or adoption of a wafer bank, to ensure the continued availability of the part. The hallmark of a good source in these scenarios is a supplier partner that acknowledges the complexity of the design and the critical need for long-term availability of the product.

To read the article on EPSNews, click here: https://epsnews.com/2023/12/21/smart-sourcing-helps-keep-rf-heartbeat-going/