Engineers Need More Than A List Of Product SKUs & Datasheets

Manufacturing.net
Nov 8, 2011

Jeff Jussel

Last week, element14 launched The Drawer, an innovative content storage tool for users to capture and collect information as they navigate through the element14 community. Jeff Jussel, senior director of global technology marketing at element14, discusses solving engineering pain points with our sister publication PD&D.

PD&D: How have engineers been affected by incomplete/inaccurate information from relevant sources? What sources were they using?

Jeff Jussel: Typically searches are done using a generic search engine such as Google. These searches can return thousands or millions of hits on a given search term and most often do not understand the technical meaning of the terms. This requires designers to sift through the load of data to find the relevant information. There is also the risk that certain data is from old sources, or might return biased results driven by SEM/SEO. The end effect is that designers must spend valuable time validating the results from these searches instead of using the data to further their designs.

PD&D: How are engineers using element14 to address sourcing question and concerns?

Jussel: The Knode on element14 provides a technology-aware search engine on a database of technical information that is kept current to return the most relevant information for an engineer’s design project. The element14 community also allows engineers to discuss technology experience with peers and experts so they can find the best solutions for their problems. With all these resources, element14 brings together the latest products, development tools, and services on an innovative online community and is a trusted source for engineers to find the right design solutions, right from the start.

PD&D: What insight would you provide design engineers looking to source components?

Jussel: Design engineers need more than a list of product SKUs and datasheets. They need the ability to start with reference designs or development kits that help them evaluate the technology products in the right applications. The things that engineers need to know about a product extend far beyond what most distributors can provide. You need real engineering experience, product roadmap information, and the ability to compare product capabilities in the applications you care about. And in the end you need to be able to get those parts and build them into a system.

The Knode on element14 provides the information to help engineers research, source and build their systems. The Drawer enables design productivity in this process by providing an online data management system that is personalized to the engineers needs.
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