While many companies are cutting costs and reducing services, others are taking the long view and enhancing product portfolios through acquisition.

In these tough economic times, many companies are cutting back. A few companies, however, are looking at where the market is going and then strategically positioning themselves for 2010. These companies are making investments that are aimed at providing a stronger and more diverse product portfolio and enhanced company capabilities that will be leveraged as market condition improve. One such company is EMA Design Automation that recently acquired DesignAdvance. Printed Circuit Design & Fab had the opportunity to talk with EMA president, Manny Marcano, about the purchase and what this means for EMA and the CircuitSpace products moving forward.

PCD&F: Why is DesignAdvance a good fit for EMA?

EMA: It is a niche product that works primarily with Allegro. We are very familiar with the technology and have many happy Allegro customers that use CircuitSpace in their design methodology. In addition, DesignAdvance was an engineering intensive company, and EMA is a Sales and Marketing machine. Now we have the best of both worlds.

PCD&F: What are your plans for the future with DesignAdvance products, e.g. what level of R&D resources will be focused on these technologies? How does this compare with the previous investments made by DesignAdvance?

EMA: I do not see any change in strategy as it applies to CircuitSpace, CircuitProbe and CircuitPlan. Other than some packaging changes, I have no intention to undo what the smart guys at DesignAdvance put together.

PCD&F: How do CircuitSpace, CircuitProbe and CircuitPlan fit into the EMA portfolio. Are they complementary to the Cadence products, and how so.

EMA: These products are productivity tools for the PCB Designer. They automate some of the tedious tasks a PCB designer must do with every board, allowing for some pretty impressive productivity gains.
Everything we sell is complimentary to Cadence products, and that is indeed our strategy. We want to be able to offer productivity tools that enhance our Cadence customer’s ability to get their job done faster. All of these products integrate directly with Cadence Allegro products, allowing them to fit right into a customer’s flow. In fact, the user interface for CircuitSpace is implemented through an added menu in the Allegro PCB Editor menu structure. An Allegro user simply has an additional set of capabilities added to his or her tool of choice.

PCD&F: What new R&D activities are the EMA/DesignAdvance team working on?

EMA: Once we digest the DesignAdvance purchase, we already have our eye on some great integration opportunities such as TimingDesigner and CircuitSpace. Now that we own the technology, I can afford to invest in a proper integration strategy.

PCD&F: EMA has a history of “bringing products back to life,” as we have seen in the past with OrCAD. Do you see similarities with some DesignAdvance products?

EMA: We do take a lot of pride in our ability to do these things! Certainly D/A has a good brand name, but I am convinced that there is a lot to be done on the marketing mission. Once we figure that out, then we can improve our execution and coordinate our sales strategy.

PCD&F: What do you see as the three biggest challenges facing North American designers today, outside of the economic situation, and how are EMA products positioned to help?

EMA: The biggest challenge designers have is that they are doing the job of several people. They have to be that “jack of all trades” and not necessarily “master” of the one trained for. I think designers are overworked and wish they just had designing to worry about. My strategy to help is to put as much technology into our productivity tools as possible. Our CIP tool, for example, is not technological wizardry but a tool that eliminates man hours of mundane data collection, thus freeing up design time. TimingDesigner and MathCAD are other examples of productivity tools that we sell and support. Certainly, you can do these tasks manually, but why would you want to? Let the CAD tools do the work so you can do what you are paid to do: design products.

PCD&F: Can you talk a bit about the EMA team and the resources of the company?

EMA: We are doing our best to keep our staffing level about even, and we are muscling through the economic challenges the best we can. Going on offense and acquiring technology are bold moves in today’s market, but it is absolutely necessary to invest in the future. The risks that we take now will make us a stronger company, and we will be well positioned to survive and thrive going forward. PCD&F

Manny Marcano is president and CEO of EMA Design Automation; This email address is being protected from spambots. You need JavaScript enabled to view it..