The research, which surveyed over 350 electronics engineers, also found that 32% of the respondents ‘regularly’ have products delayed by late stage complications, while 7% have had the majority of their products delayed in this way. 6% said that they have had every single one of their projects delayed as a result of unexpected issues towards the end of the design process.
In identifying the reason for these late stage complications, one in five respondents claimed that unexpected thermal issues were a common cause for delays. According to 6SigmaET’s ‘Heat is On’ report, this may be due to the fact that more than a quarter (27%) of design engineers do not test the thermal operation of their devices before the design stage is complete.
Tom Gregory, product manager at 6SigmaET said: “Rather than waiting until the last minute to identify problems in their designs, electronics engineers need to do more testing at the earliest stages of a design. Using a combination of simulated models and device prototypes can ensure maximum efficiency of a device at all stages of the design process.”
