Web-based data collection service
The new data collection service introduced in this release enables data collection for electronic components in your PCBA and Wire Harness by integrating directly with SiliconExpert, a data provider with access to more than a billion manufacturer part numbers across thousands of suppliers. This integration requires a subscription to SiliconExpert Technologies Webservices (https://www.siliconexpert.com). If your company has an existing subscription, that can be used. If your company does not have an existing subscription, please contact your aPriori account team.
As in the past, PCBA and Wire Harness costing takes place in your on-premise deployment of aPriori Professional, but we have added an integration hosted on Amazon Web Services (AWS) that connects you to SiliconExpert’s extensive repository of component information.
A screenshot of a cell phone Description automatically generated
This step fits into the PCBA and Wire Harness workflows as shown below:
A screenshot of a cell phone Description automatically generated
A screenshot of a cell phone Description automatically generated
A screenshot of a cell phone Description automatically generated
After importing the PCBA or Wire Harness BOM or other definition file(s)—but before costing--you can proceed to data collection by kicking off the data collection service. For example, for PCBA you launch the service with a button on the PCBA Costing dialog as shown below. In order to utilize the data collection service you must have the columns Customer Part Number, Manufacturer Part Number, Level, and Quantity in your BOM and populated for components for which you would like to collect data.
 
 
The left side of the screen shows the components found on the BOM and the right side shows matches in the SiliconExpert database. If there is only a single match for a component, the cost is automatically retrieved for that component. Matches include information such as minimum and average costs, availability, etc.
Clicking the PDF icon in the lower left corner of the match information brings up the datasheet for the component, which is especially useful for comparing multiple matches.
If there is a problem finding a definitive match for a component, such as if there are multiple matched manufacturer part numbers or the manufacturer part number found does not have cost information, then the entry on the left will be flagged with a yellow icon on the left if a match exists indicating that the component was not costed and an action must be taken. A red icon indicates that no matching manufacturer part number could be found (see “2” in the following illustration).
Users can also use filters to focus on components that require specific actions, such as Not Costed, parts that require some action based on matched part(s), or Cannot Cost, parts that had no match in the SiliconExpert database. This can be done by clicking on the filter button as shown below.
You can address these issues in a couple of different ways:
• If you know the cost for a component that does not have cost data available, you can select the component back on (“2.”) and then click the Edit icon (“3.”) to supply your own information.
• If you know that you will be replacing the obsolete or non-existent part and have a general estimate for the part cost, you can click the Add button (“4.”) to create a custom part and provide all of your own information.
• You can leave the component as-is and cost in aPriori, potentially referencing data from the component library if it exists.
Once you have completed analyzing the BOM and providing any manual data you can export the updated BOM for costing in aPriori, by clicking the Export icon.
A screenshot of a cell phone Description automatically generated
Once the new BOM has been imported in aPriori, you can specify preferences from the costing dialog as to what information aPriori should use:
• Just the data from SiliconExpert
• Just the data from the component library
• SiliconExpert data preferred
• Component library data preferred
• The least expensive component from either
• Along with this powerful new data collection capability, the component library can still be used for both PCBA and Wire Harness and is recommended to capture various component data:
• Custom components manufactured for your company – these components will not appear in the SiliconExpert database
• Components with negotiated pricing for your company – these costs will more closely represent the way that your business operates. Using the options described above, these negotiated costs can be compared to costs coming from SiliconExpert