Issue link: https://resources.pcb.cadence.com/i/1545418
Qualified Alternates vs. Suggested Alternates The library should distinguish between two classes of alternate: f Qualified alternates: Fully verified, approved for production use without additional review. Procurement can substitute without engineering involvement. f Suggested alternates: Identified as candidates but not yet verified. These require librarian or engineering review before production use. Making this distinction visible in the library and in the BOM prevents procurement from substituting an unverified alternate under schedule pressure, which is exactly when that decision is most likely to go wrong. 6. Leverage Known-Good Components and Remove the Junk Many organizations accumulate years of component data containing a significant proportion of obsolete parts, parts from legacy designs that were never used again, and parts added for a single project and never reviewed. Maintaining components that are no longer relevant creates an expansive database that bogs down part selection and increases the risk that a designer picks an unsuitable part because it appeared in the search results. The goal is a library where every visible part is known-good: active, verified, compliant, and sourced. That requires deliberate curation, not just accumulation. Approaches to Library Cleanup f If starting from scratch, there is no need to carry legacy data. Build the database with current, verified data from the ground up. f If migrating from an existing database, perform a bulk import of known-good component data using a review of recent or active designs and BOMs as the starting filter. Parts that have not appeared in a released design in the last two to three years are candidates for archival or deletion, not automatic migration. f Implement bulk delete capability to remove obsolete components or legacy data that no longer belongs in the active library. Validate before committing by previewing bulk changes to verify additions and removals before they are finalized. f Parts used in released products that are no longer appropriate for new designs should be retained in an archived or legacy view accessible for sustaining engineering work, but not visible in the standard part selection interface. 9 www.cadence.com Managing Your Component Library for Supply Chain Resilience