Altium and Renesas are enabling the drive toward Economy 4.0 ─ the digitized, interconnected, and automated economy that integrates data, AI, and the Internet of Things ─ by connecting and automating electronics creation across multiple industries.
Electronics Are Essential to Economy 4.0
In Economy 4.0, a steady stream of electronics innovations are reshaping modern life. And the industry that produces them is assumed to be among the most modern in the world, continually turning out products that grow exponentially in power and capability. But while the products themselves are incredibly sophisticated, the industry processes that create them are anything but. In the view of Hidetoshi Shibata, CEO of Renesas, “The electronics value chain is so fragmented, so inefficient, it’s deeply in need of transformation.
According to Leigh Gawne, VP, Head of R&D, Digital Industries, “They’re using file formats designed 40 years ago for floppy disks.” As the creator of the industry’s most widely used software for electronics design, Altium has made modernizing electronics creation its central mission, helping the world’s electronics companies produce better products faster by connecting everyone in the process.
The Electronics Industry Must Be Connected
Today’s electronics are incredibly complex, with thousands of individual components assembled and placed on a single printed circuit board (PCB), and engineering teams from design, mechanical, test, supply chain, manufacturing, and other disciplines all contributing to the final product. This is where the process runs into trouble. “The people working together to create electronics are siloed from one another in a fragmented environment where separate teams use different tools and systems. That creates friction in the overall workflow,” said Ted Pawela, VP, Head of Customer Success, Digital Industries. “To help the electronics industry realize the full potential of Economy 4.0, Altium is solving that problem.”
The solution, he believes, is in the cloud. “Altium is using our cloud platform to attack the industry’s inefficient processes and disconnected systems.” With the cloud, engineering teams, component suppliers, and manufacturers can all connect with each other and their data in real time and standardized formats, eliminating errors and enabling faster innovation.
Cloud Enablement Will Change Everything
Aram Mirkazemi, SVP, Head of Software and Digitalization at Renesas, and President of Altium, refers to this as “the cloud enablement of all things electronic.” Altium and Renesas recently joined forces to bring this transformative vision to life.
“Believe it or not,” he says, “the engineering world has not been able to successfully move its brick and mortar processes onto the cloud. And Altium is one of the first companies that has been able to do that.” Cloud enablement gives electronics producers the power to quickly discover the electronics solutions that will work, move seamlessly into component acquisition and commercial production, and manage the entire lifecycle of each product version, including over-the-air software updates.
CEO Shibata believes it’s the purpose of his company and modern electronics “To Make Our Lives Easier”, which the cloud is facilitating. “Connected to the cloud, things that touch our everyday lives are becoming smarter,” he explained. As Economy 4.0 marches forward, the innovations that emerge will help the planet feed growing populations, manage climate change, and keep life sustainable far into the future.
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