Digi-Key updates Free Scheme-it Circuit Design Tool

June 20, 2014 — Digi-Key announced enhancements to the Scheme-it circuit design tool, available at no cost on the Digi-Key website. The tool was co-designed and built by Aspen Labs LLC, a business-media company focused on the needs of engineers.

Often thought of as an "idea generator", Digi-Key's Scheme-it design tool provides users with a simple, free-to-use way to record their circuit design idea in a shareable, electronic form. The tool implements the entire Digi-Key catalog, allowing users to design with actual parts available for immediate shipment from Digi-Key.

"The impetus for developing a tool like Scheme-it revolved around lowering the barrier to design, allowing users to move their design from back of napkin to bill of materials," according to David Sandys, Director, Digi-Key Supplier Marketing. "Integration with the Digi-Key catalog truly differentiates the tool from other free options, as designers are able to design parts into their circuit with the knowledge that they can move right into ordering them from Digi-Key."

Scheme-it comes equipped with an enhanced feature set, including:

• The ability to diagram at the Block, Icon, System, or Schematic level
• A library of over 700 generic symbols, as well as custom symbol creation
• Access to over 4 million components via Digi-Key Catalog integration
• Freedom to keep designs private, make public, share via link, or embedded into web pages, blogs or emails
• Rapid design evolution via Bill of Material (BOM) upload capability
• A direct link to Digi-Key Technical Support for help with component selection activities
• Integrated Bill of Materials and quoting
• Export into PDF or PNG files

The tool has seen incredible adoption, with over 30,000 designs already uploaded into the tool. In addition, the tool receives tremendous traffic, with an average of 42,000 visits per month. However, not willing to rest on these laurels, significant upgrades have been made to the tool in recent months to improve user experience and add functionality.

Digi-Key is currently integrating manufacturer symbols, solutions, and reference designs into the tool. This upgraded functionality is available now, and will continue to grow as the company works to add these vast symbol and reference design libraries to the tool.

"We are excited to see the success of Scheme-it thus far," said Cody Miller, President, Aspen Labs. "With the addition of manufacturer-specific symbol libraries, the tool is taking on a new dimension and has become even more useful, as users can design in specific parts, drop them into the Digi-Key BOM manager, and order them right from Scheme-it. We look forward to building out these libraries and providing this tremendous value to Scheme-it users."

About Digi-Key Corporation
Digi-Key Corporation, based in Thief River Falls, Minn., is a global, full-service provider of both prototype/design and production quantities of electronic components, offering more than three million products from over 650 quality name-brand manufacturers. With over one million products in stock and an impressive selection of online resources, Digi-Key is committed to stocking the broadest range of electronic components in the industry and providing the best service possible to its customers.