A poll of Farnell’s element14 community reveals that engineers want to adopt hybrid working and use test equipment at home to become more productive, but companies are failing to provide it.

Engineers want to be able to use specialised test equipment at home in order to become more productive. However, many companies still don’t provide any equipment at all for home use, despite many convenient and low-cost solutions being available.

“There is a growing trend to support a new hybrid working environment in the electronics industry. This demand will drive an increased need for test equipment that engineers can use on site, at the lab and at home. We want to help our customers achieve greater efficiency by providing them with market-leading test solutions that offer high performance with greater flexibility,” said James McGregor, Global Head of Test & Tools, at Farnell.

The poll revealed the following:

  • 90% of the respondents felt that engineers needed some equipment at home
  • 50% have no test equipment provided for use at home
  • Less than a quarter (24%) of the engineers that responded can work fully remote
  • Around a third felt that only some testing should be conducted at home, with the company lab still required for specialised test equipment

These results show the need to deploy cost-effective PC scopes and similar products, to improve engineers’ efficiency by allowing them to create home labs.

Pico Technology is one T&M equipment supplied that prides itself on offering innovative, high-quality and affordable alternatives to traditional bench-top test and measurement equipment and their products have enabled hybrid working and new ways of remote learning throughout the COVID-19 pandemic. This trend has continued post-pandemic as more companies embrace the benefits of using low-cost PC-based scopes in combination with high-performance products to meet the changing application needs of customers in the test and measurement industry.

“Far more could be done from home if engineers had access to portable equipment that met their needs. Historically test equipment has been complex, bulky and function specific, but new PC-connected test equipment now has the same performance as, or in many cases is much better than traditional bench top instruments. Other advantages include cost effectiveness, portability, enablement of remote working and ease of moving data. There will always be tests which engineers can’t recreate in a home lab, but for all of those who can, they should be provided with the equipment to enable them to,” said Mike PurdayRegional Manager for EMEA, Pico Technology.