Leveraging Arrow’s Software Competence Centre in Gdansk, the services will be accessible via all local Arrow branch offices across Europe. These new services complement the existing hardware and software design capabilities that are offered globally by eInfochips, Arrow’s professional engineering services arm.
Embedded system designs are advancing rapidly with increased feature sets and as a result, the proportion of project effort devoted to the software development for these advanced projects is now a dominating factor for successful design execution. Arrow said that it had recognised that there was a critical and growing need for software support and has invested in its engineering teams, developing the expertise to support customers through the software development process.
Arrow’s software support services will provide customers with engineering expertise in OS and compilers (Linux, RTOS, C++, Python, Javascript, TensorFlow, Torch); communications protocols (Wi-Fi, TCP/IP, BT, BLE, Mesh, ZigBee, Thread, cellular); solution architectures (edge computing, automotive, DevOps); together with specific expertise in IoT, artificial intelligence and machine learning, computer vision, and cloud connectivity and integration.
The distributor's professional software support services follow a structured menu for customers to select from. Some initial services, such as assistance getting development tools from the hardware supplier up and running with the standard supported software, are complimentary. Other, more involved tasks are fee-based, with Arrow’s key goal being to help the customer get their product to market as quickly as possible.
Margit Tischler, vice president of engineering in Arrow’s EMEA components business, said, “With the ever-increasing complexity of system design, Arrow recognises the growing importance of software development, integration and validation as a critical path to successful product launches. Our software competence centre in Gdansk, Poland, where we continue to invest, will help customers de-risk project schedules and accelerate design cycles, in order to gain faster time to revenue. With the launch of Arrow software support services, we help with complex hardware technology selection and design but also stay engaged in the project through the vital software development stage.”
Arrow said that it would provide continued delivery of software code for project evaluation, enabling customers to test software early in their system design against product requirements specifications. This approach allows for continual improvement and adaptive planning. The starting point for an engagement with Arrow can be existing customer software, or Arrow can be involved in architecting a new project.
Arrow’s new software support services aim to bring complex projects to pre-production level more rapidly. Following this stage, customers will then have the opportunity to industrialise their designs with Arrow’s professional engineering services arm, eInfochips, to assist in development, verification and test.
