Case Study: How Soberlink Avoided Production Delays

By: Joe Corbisiero on July 19th, 2022

In this case study, we worked with Soberlink to examine how SiliconExpert help them avoid production delays and more effeciently find alternative parts. Soberlink is an American medical devices company specializing in a mobile breathalyzer product. We spoke with their VP of Engineering, Dan Rhodes, to get a better understanding of some of the day-to-day challenges that he faces. 

The Challenge: Difficulty Sourcing Alternative Parts

On average, engineers spend 5 hours a week researching alternate parts that meet design requirements for a single component within a product’s BOM (Bill of Materials).

At Soberlink, when components start going obsolete and require a product design re-spin, Dan would spend a full day researching alternatives for 3 or 4 parts. When extrapolated to a BOM of 100 parts, this could take upwards of 200 hours spent reading datasheets, browsing forums, and making sure the specs meet design requirements.



The Solution: Parametric Part Search

When faced with a last-minute supplier notice pushing the delivery time of a part out by 12 weeks (when he needed the part within 2 weeks), Dan was able to use SiliconExpert to quickly find alternatives within an hour. 

What would have taken a full day to research, Dan was able to easily compare alternative components and find the best fit quickly within his first couple days as a SiliconExpert customer. And with proper guidance, onboarding & training from our customer support team, companies can find crosses for hundreds, or even thousands, of parts within minutes.

The Impact: 8X Faster Results, Reduced Risk to Design & Supply Chain

By drastically reducing the time spent finding alternatives, Dan was able to quickly source replacement parts and meet the two-week deadline for his product design. By freeing up valuable time, Dan was able to turn his attention towards other critical parts of the business, including pre-emptively looking into other components for any procurement or lifecycle risk to reduce future redesigns.

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Read more about how Soberlink used SiliconExpert tools like Part Search to quickly find alternatives.

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