Software, not hardware, is the challenge for time to market

Hardware design no longer has an impact on the time to market. Things like software development take much more time these days. The software also determines the functionality of the hardware. That is the statement of Patrick Winkelaar and Johan Vonk from Betronic BV during their lecture at the online conference on hardware design of E&A 2021. We spoke briefly with Patrick.

By: Dimitri Reijerman

Patrick says that significant steps have been taken in the field of hardware design of the PCB to ensure that this part of the chain is not a pain point: “Our lecture is about the customer's wishes for the realization of the end product. We focus on the impact of hardware on time to market. Our position is that the hardware design has no influence on the time-to-market and that other factors have a much more important role.”

He continues: “You have to get a number of things right, but the hardware design is not on the critical path of development, we have our affairs well in order here. For example, you can order a prototype from Eurocircuits, start software immediately using evaluation kits and purchase components in advance for production. But making molds and developing software are factors that take longer to realize than the development of the PCB.”

Upside-down world

According to Patrick, the amount of time required for software development has increased enormously: “Software development has become a much more important item in the development of the product. Nowadays, software development accounts for seventy to eighty percent of the work that needs to be done, thirty years ago the roles were reversed.”

The focus of Betronic's presentation will be on the development process. Patrick: “During our presentation we describe how we involve the customer in the entire development process, from his wishes to the realization of the end product. We want to use IoT (Internet of Things) as a framework, for example unlocking data from a coffee maker or a heat pump. Betronic wants to make it clear that you must have the process properly organized for hardware development, only then will the time-to-market remain manageable.”

Do you want the lecture by Patrick Winkelaar and Johan Vonk from Betronic to attend? Register here for this webinar.