From Collaboration to Co-Creation: Introducing Altium Develop

In our last article, we argued that electronics development is broken. Siloed teams, disconnected tools, and late-stage surprises create an environment where complexity overwhelms capacity to innovate. The industry needs a reset. But what does that reset actually look like?

For decades, “collaboration” has been the default answer. Teams meet weekly to compare progress. Files move back and forth over email. Procurement checks in once designs are nearly complete. Manufacturing raises concerns late in the process. Compliance steps in at the finish line. This kind of collaboration helps teams coordinate, but it rarely prevents issues before they grow costly.

And that’s the problem: collaboration, as we’ve practiced it, is reactive. It connects disciplines but doesn’t unify them. It informs, but it doesn’t transform. What has changed isn’t that products require multiple disciplines—they always have. The difference today is the growing complexity of how those disciplines come together: distributed teams working across time zones, fragile global supply chains, and compliance pressures that can derail launches. Traditional collaboration methods—emails, meetings, late reviews—simply can’t keep up with this level of interdependence.

What’s needed is co-creation—a model where disciplines don’t just work alongside each other. Rather, they actively shape products together, in real time, within the same environment. Instead of handing off tasks outwards across silos, the correct approach brings team members in to share context, data, and purpose from the very beginning.

Altium Develop: A New Model for Product Creation

This is the vision behind Altium Develop. It includes both the trusted PCB design tool Altium Designer and Altium 365, the secure cloud collaboration platform. Altium Develop creates a single environment for multidisciplinary product creation. Unlike heavyweight enterprise systems designed for global corporations, Altium Develop is out-of-the-box and accessible—tailored for small and mid-sized organizations that need to move quickly without the overhead of a complex infrastructure that they must maintain themselves.

What makes it different is how it translates the principles of the reset—continuous insight, true co-creation, and a peer-powered network—into practical capabilities that support every stage of product development:

• Design – Break down silos by enabling PCB and hardware designers to co-create with systems engineers, procurement, and manufacturing in one environment.

• Project Management – Track project status, BOM costs, and cross-functional issues in real time, keeping everyone aligned without chasing updates.

• Requirements – Import, trace, and manage requirements from concept through verification, ensuring nothing gets lost between intent and execution.

• Supply Chain – Access real-time part pricing, availability, and risk data during design—not after it’s too late.

• Manufacturing – Engage early with production teams, resolve DFM issues before they escalate, streamline prototype builds and the design-to-build handoff.

By embedding these capabilities into one environment, Altium Develop turns fragmented collaboration into true co-creation. Reviews, sourcing decisions, and compliance checks are no longer interruptions—they happen naturally, as part of the flow of development. As this work happens within Altium Develop, all of the team’s data is captured in a shared space, and unlimited data sharing erase cross-functional blind spots and improves decisions.

Who It’s For

Altium Develop is designed to empower every role involved in product creation:

• Engineers and Designers who want to spend less time reworking and more time innovating.
  
  

• Project Managers who need real-time clarity without chasing updates.
  
  

• Procurement and Supply Chain Teams who must stay ahead of component risks, pricing, and availability.
  
  

• Manufacturing and Compliance Teams who need to engage earlier to prevent costly surprises downstream.

By uniting these groups in one shared environment, Altium Develop transforms scattered efforts into a coordinated process that builds momentum instead of friction.

Working as One

The shift from collaboration to co-creation is driven above all by the need for speed. Market windows are short, and delays from misalignment, rework, or late discoveries can cost companies both revenue and relevance. At the same time, challenges like limited component supplies, shortages of specialized engineers, and distributed teams add new layers of risk that slow development even further.

Co-creation tackles these pressures head-on. By working together in real time, teams cut through silos, reduce delays, and maintain momentum. And while faster delivery is the clearest outcome, the benefits don’t stop there—co-creation also builds resilience, confidence, and creativity into the process.

Altium Develop provides the environment where that becomes possible. It’s not just a new product; it’s a new way of working—one that enables teams to move from working together to working as one.

Discover how Altium Develop is redefining electronics co-creation at altium.com/develop.