CIE Components in Electronics
As increasingly intricate product designs and shorter time-to-market deadlines put pressure on engineers to solve their thermal equations reliably and accurately, 71 per cent have reported their dissatisfaction with their current thermal simulation software packages. Despite this, 60 per cent admitted to having not switched provider in over three years.
According to The State of Thermal, an industry-wide survey of over 170 thermal engineers conducted by simulation software vendor 6SigmaET, there is a drastic difference in the capabilities of the various thermal simulation suites available on the market today. The research found that 66 per cent of thermal engineers face at least a day’s wait for their models to solve. This compares to 32 per cent who are able to solve their simulations within a single hour.
The chief concern for thermal engineers is the time-consuming nature of completing key processes such as importing CAD, building models and solving simulations. While it’s acknowledged that simulations place very high demands on processing power, the general consensus within the industry is that older simulation packages mean some engineers are wasting more time than is necessary.
Less than a third of those surveyed reported being completely satisfied with their current simulation package. Despite this fact however, many engineers feel ‘locked in’ to a particular platform with 40 per cent having never tried switching to an alternative simulation tool.
Responding to the report’s findings, Tom Gregory, product manager at 6SigmaET, said: “There have been numerous advances made in thermal engineering over the past decade, and there is simply no reason that today engineers should be spending days waiting for relatively uncomplicated simulations to solve.
“The reluctance of engineers to upgrade from traditional hardware and embrace more modern simulation solutions is costing companies both time and money. The fact that 60 per cent of engineers have not switched provider in over three years, and 40 per cent have not switched to an alternative package at all, is alarming. It’s bad for both businesses and end-users.
“We believe that thermal engineers cannot continue to rely on slow, unreliable and outdated technology to complete their product designs – not if they’re to deliver accurate results within limited timeframes. At 6SigmaET, our simulation suites are built with usability and rapid solve times in mind. Using our expertise and experience, combined with the latest technology, our platform was designed to tackle the real thermal simulation issues currently facing the electronics industry.”
To download a copy of 6SigmaET’s State of Thermal report visit: www.6sigmaet.info/whyswitch
