Circuit Break Podcast #415

CI/CD, We Salute You with Brenden Duncombe

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January 30, 2024, Episode #415

This week Parker and Stephen welcome Brenden Duncombe to the show to discuss the pros and cons of continuous integration and continuous delivery/deployment (aka CI/CD) for hardware. Continuous integration (CI) refers to the practice of automatically and frequently integrating code changes into a shared source code repository. Continuous delivery and/or deployment (CD) is a two-part process that refers to the integration, testing, and delivery of code changes. In theory, CI/CD helps organizations avoid bugs and code failures while maintaining a continuous cycle of software development and updates, but we wanted to learn more about this with Brenden, so Parker and Stephen asked him about CI/CD, and also covered topics like:

  • Brenden’s product development background
  • “What is a Director of Customer Engineering?”
  • A brief history of CI/CD
  • Why it’s the opposite of a nightmare
  • Unit tests for software…how does it work for hardware?
  • Pinball Wizardry
  • A “smearing” vs. a “silo”
  • Test-driven dev benefits over the entire dev cycle
  • Is CI/CD a hard concept to sell?
  • How to make the investment worthwhile
  • The Hardware Regression Struggle
  • When start-ups aren’t really prepared for contract manufacturers
  • What is the ideal development cycle?
  • Building something for your contract manufacturer? Always build two
  • Teenage Engineering
  • Prep your firmware people with dev boards before the hardware reaches them
  • “Like taking your specification doc and writing a test doc on top of that”
  • Standard Fixtures and Future MacroFab Projects
  • more!

About Our Guest:

Brenden Duncombe is the Director of Customer Engineering at MacroFab. His extensive experience in Electrical and Systems Engineering, and his leadership in steering engineering teams from concept to manufacturing, make him an essential voice at Macrofab.

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Stephen and Parker are joined by MacroFab OE Project Manager Kyle McLeod and Team Lead Nicholas Lundgaard to talk about the most recent software releases that back up the MacroFab platform.

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Pete Staples from Blue Clover

We welcome Pete Staples, the CEO and Co-Founder of Blue Clover Devices! Founded in 2003, they explore ways to make the electronics industry more efficient.

About MacroFab

MacroFab offers comprehensive manufacturing solutions, from your smallest prototyping orders to your largest production needs. Our factory network locations are strategically located across North America, ensuring that we have the flexibility to provide capacity when and where you need it most.

Experience the future of EMS manufacturing with our state-of-the-art technology platform and cutting-edge digital supply chain solutions. At MacroFab, we ensure that your electronics are produced faster, more efficiently, and with fewer logistic problems than ever before.

Take advantage of AI-enabled sourcing opportunities and employ expert teams who are connected through a user-friendly technology platform. Discover how streamlined electronics manufacturing can benefit your business by contacting us today.