Electronics360 recently had a chance to converse with Peter Schneid, vice president of marketing for Harwin. This year, at Electronica 2024, Harwin is excited to showcase their latest advancements in design tools, which are aimed at streamlining the electronics design process for engineers.
Schneid specializes in leveraging data-driven insights to enhance customer relationships, and has driven successful customer engagement and operational efficiency across diverse markets.
He was generous enough to tell us about Harwin's presence at Electronica 2024, as well as what he's excited for and his tips for attendees.
E360: How does Harwin's commitment to innovation influence the electronic design process for engineers?
In a number of different ways. By developing, manufacturing and testing products using the very latest design tools and high-precision automated manufacturing systems, we deliver technologies that allow engineers to meet stringent requirements in the most demanding of applications in terms of performance, integration, size, weight and reliability. In addition, we go beyond the product to develop optimized solutions in areas such as electrical and mechanical protection and custom cable assembly.
And then we back up these innovative technologies and solutions with comprehensive support services that include advanced online tools that make product selection and application development as fast and as intuitive as possible. Right now that includes powerful tools from TraceParts and TrustedParts, the SnapMagic (formerly SnapEDA) search engine solution and an interactive cable configurator offering real-time 3D rendering from Cadenas (a leading software developer in the areas of strategic parts management and parts reduction) that we will be unveiling at Electronica.
E360: What are the main challenges engineers face in modern electronic design, and how do Harwin’s tools address these challenges?
Among the key challenges facing engineers are delivering the performance and reliability demanded by the target application while addressing so-called SWAP (size, weight, power and cost) demands. At the same time, there is increasing pressure to do more with fewer resources. Harwin’s tools address these challenges by not only simplifying the process of selecting and sourcing products that are optimized for application-specific and SWAP criteria, but also making subsequent application development and prototyping much easier.
E360: How do the new design tools specifically help in reducing time-to-market for electronic products?
By providing intuitive, on-demand services that dramatically reduce the time needed for product selection, application prototyping and, ultimately, purchasing. Tools such as the cable configurator, for example, effectively provide automated access to Harwin’s experience and expertise, and minimize the efforts that engineers have traditionally had to spend on this.
E360: How important is user interface design in the effectiveness of tools like component search engines and CAD models for engineers?
As the choice of online tools has grown, user experience and quality of data have become two of the most fundamental criteria. This makes the design of the user interface absolutely critical. A good user interface that delivers 3D models, eCAD downloads, footprint and 2D models will not only increase the chance of an engineer re-visiting that tool, but can sway a design decision in favor of a particular manufacturer.
E360: On a scale of 1-10, how critical are reliable, high-performance interconnect technologies? Why?
Obviously it depends on the target market and the length of time that equipment is expected to operate, but in more and more applications - not least commercial new space, uncrewed vehicles, industrial systems and medical equipment - we are seeing interconnect reliability as a design criteria that would rank 9 or 10 for many design engineers.
As a result, we are seeing growing interest in our high-reliability (Hi-Rel) interconnect for mission-critical applications where high performance and dependability are absolutely vital. This portfolio includes the compact and lightweight Gecko (1.25 mm pitch), high-density Datamate (2 mm pitch), compact power M300 (10 A) and the high-power (60 A) Kona series.
E360: Where do you see high potential for growth?
I think there is potential for growth across all of our target markets, not least where customers are looking to ramp up automated production. Our technologies are well-suited to the pick-and-place processes used in modern automated manufacture and we have specific solutions, such as our Flecto range, which address the challenges of the high-speed assembly of PCBs with multiple connector pairs.
E360: How is Harwin monitoring engineers’ design needs and future market needs?
At Harwin our mantras is that "engineers shape the future," so we place great importance on monitoring and anticipating their needs.
Obviously face-to-face interaction during the design process is important, as is monitoring how they are using our design tools. We have also implemented data-driven processes for product design and development that aggregate information from across our internal systems and, in some cases, use AI and ML techniques to predict future requirements.
E360: Let’s shift to Electronica 2024. What are you most looking forward to there?
The opportunity to meet face-to-face with customers, prospects and partners. With almost 70,000 visitors, Electronica is the biggest event in our industry and offers unrivaled opportunities to talk in person about how we can address specific challenges and requests.
Of course, the event’s scale makes it the perfect forum for showcasing our latest digital tools - including the formal launch of our cable configurator - and demonstrating our latest board-to-board and high-reliability connectors and board-level shielding products.
E360: What Electronica 2024 show tips might you have for Electronics360 readers?
Electronica is a big show in terms of both number of exhibitors and physical floorspace. With this in mind, two of the best tips I can give are to plan your trip in advance (for instance you can book a meeting with Harwin on our webpage at harwin.com/electronica) and don’t wear a new pair of shoes!