Altium Case Studies Omnisys Instruments: Managing Design Revisions and Component Lifecycles with Altium

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	Omnisys Instruments: Managing Design Revisions and Component Lifecycles with Altium Altium

Omnisys Instruments: Managing Design Revisions and Component Lifecycles with Altium

Altium

Technology Category	Application Infrastructure & Middleware - Data Exchange & Integration Platform as a Service (PaaS) - Data Management Platforms
Applicable Industries	Electronics Equipment & Machinery
Applicable Functions	Product Research & Development Quality Assurance
Use Cases	Experimentation Automation Inventory Management
Services	System Integration Testing & Certification
Challenge	Omnisys Instruments, a Swedish SME specializing in the development and production of complex, high-performance hardware products for the space industry, faced significant challenges in managing design revisions and component lifecycles. The company was involved in the sequential development of several major projects for Europe’s scientific and space industry, which incorporated advanced analog, microwave, ASIC, and power electronics. The extreme conditions found beyond Earth’s atmosphere amplified the normal constraints of electronics design, necessitating careful component selection and rigorous testing of designs to ensure high reliability after deployment. It was crucial for Omnisys to ensure that only approved components were used and thoroughly prototyped and tested designs were released to manufacture. Read More
About Customer	Omnisys Instruments is a Swedish SME known for its excellence in the development and production of complex, high-performance hardware products for the space industry and other specialized scientific instrument applications, including ground-based antennas and radiometers. Since 1993, the company has been engaged in the sequential development of several major projects for Europe’s scientific and space industry, ranging from ultra-reliable satellite power supply units to autocorrelation spectrometers. These complex designs incorporate advanced analog, microwave, ASIC, and power electronics, demanding exceptional capabilities from both the Omnisys engineers and the design tools they use. Read More
Solution	Omnisys has been using Altium products since its inception in 1993, starting with Protel and continuing to the latest version of Altium Designer. Recognizing the potential for managing components and releases, Omnisys became an early adopter of Altium’s Vault technology. The Vault ensures that every component placed on a board maintains its identity and origin, and that all releases are managed. This solution perfectly fit Omnisys' needs, providing greater confidence in knowing their design models each have a managed lifecycle. The “Where-used” feature of the Vault allowed Omnisys to easily monitor the use of item revisions, speeding up the overall design process and facilitating efficient and confident late changes. Managing the Vault proved to be smoother than separately managing a SVN and collection of DBLibs, even with a team of 20+ engineers. Read More Log in to view content
Contents

Technology Category

Application Infrastructure & Middleware - Data Exchange & Integration

Platform as a Service (PaaS) - Data Management Platforms

Applicable Industries

Electronics

Equipment & Machinery

Applicable Functions

Product Research & Development

Quality Assurance

Use Cases

Experimentation Automation

Inventory Management

Services

System Integration

Testing & Certification

Challenge

Omnisys Instruments, a Swedish SME specializing in the development and production of complex, high-performance hardware products for the space industry, faced significant challenges in managing design revisions and component lifecycles. The company was involved in the sequential development of several major projects for Europe’s scientific and space industry, which incorporated advanced analog, microwave, ASIC, and power electronics. The extreme conditions found beyond Earth’s atmosphere amplified the normal constraints of electronics design, necessitating careful component selection and rigorous testing of designs to ensure high reliability after deployment. It was crucial for Omnisys to ensure that only approved components were used and thoroughly prototyped and tested designs were released to manufacture.

About Customer

Omnisys Instruments is a Swedish SME known for its excellence in the development and production of complex, high-performance hardware products for the space industry and other specialized scientific instrument applications, including ground-based antennas and radiometers. Since 1993, the company has been engaged in the sequential development of several major projects for Europe’s scientific and space industry, ranging from ultra-reliable satellite power supply units to autocorrelation spectrometers. These complex designs incorporate advanced analog, microwave, ASIC, and power electronics, demanding exceptional capabilities from both the Omnisys engineers and the design tools they use.

Solution

Omnisys has been using Altium products since its inception in 1993, starting with Protel and continuing to the latest version of Altium Designer. Recognizing the potential for managing components and releases, Omnisys became an early adopter of Altium’s Vault technology. The Vault ensures that every component placed on a board maintains its identity and origin, and that all releases are managed. This solution perfectly fit Omnisys' needs, providing greater confidence in knowing their design models each have a managed lifecycle. The “Where-used” feature of the Vault allowed Omnisys to easily monitor the use of item revisions, speeding up the overall design process and facilitating efficient and confident late changes. Managing the Vault proved to be smoother than separately managing a SVN and collection of DBLibs, even with a team of 20+ engineers.

Impact #1	The adoption of Altium’s Vault technology has significantly improved the operational efficiency of Omnisys Instruments. The Vault's ability to thoroughly document and track all components has been crucial in meeting the mission-critical nature of Omnisys’ product development. The 'Where-used' feature has not only sped up the overall design process but also facilitated efficient and confident late changes. The pain of testing and deploying last-minute design changes has been greatly alleviated. Furthermore, Component Lifecycle Management in the Vault has provided the engineers at Omnisys the freedom and flexibility to design to their full creative potential, knowing that they are designing only with approved components. This has not only saved valuable design time but also ensured that the project stays under budget.

Impact #1

The adoption of Altium’s Vault technology has significantly improved the operational efficiency of Omnisys Instruments. The Vault's ability to thoroughly document and track all components has been crucial in meeting the mission-critical nature of Omnisys’ product development. The 'Where-used' feature has not only sped up the overall design process but also facilitated efficient and confident late changes. The pain of testing and deploying last-minute design changes has been greatly alleviated. Furthermore, Component Lifecycle Management in the Vault has provided the engineers at Omnisys the freedom and flexibility to design to their full creative potential, knowing that they are designing only with approved components. This has not only saved valuable design time but also ensured that the project stays under budget.

Benefit #1	Greater confidence in design models due to managed lifecycle
Benefit #2	Efficient monitoring of item revisions with the 'Where-used' feature
Benefit #3	Smoother management of the Vault compared to separately managing a SVN and collection of DBLibs

Benefit #1

Greater confidence in design models due to managed lifecycle

Benefit #2

Efficient monitoring of item revisions with the 'Where-used' feature

Benefit #3

Smoother management of the Vault compared to separately managing a SVN and collection of DBLibs

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Overview

Omnisys Instruments: Managing Design Revisions and Component Lifecycles with Altium

Operational Impact

Quantitative Benefit