6 Engineering Project Management Challenges and Their Solutions

Electronics design teams are under more pressure than ever to deliver complex products on accelerated timelines. However, according to a study commissioned by Altium and carried out by Forrester, inefficient project management tools and processes waste an annual average of 159 hours per designer*. That’s nearly a month of productive time lost to project management inefficiencies.

Engineering project management professionals face a seemingly impossible task: coordinating multiple teams across electrical, mechanical, and procurement disciplines while juggling disconnected tools and systems not designed for modern electronics development. The result is delayed projects, frustrated teams, and increased costs.

The good news is that forward-looking electronics design companies can transform their approach to project management by addressing six key challenges that hold teams back. In this article, we explore engineering project management challenges and solutions: from breaking down information silos to eliminating redundant data entry.

#1: Project Visibility: Flying Blind Without Real-Time Design Progress

Achieving an accurate view of design progress can feel like trying to assemble a puzzle with missing pieces. Traditional engineering project management approaches force managers to interrupt engineers for status updates or make critical decisions based on outdated information. Engineering teams spend hours each week just reporting on and documenting design progress. The constant need for manual updates disrupts engineer productivity and also creates delays in identifying and addressing potential issues.

The Solution: Real-Time Design Progress Tracking

Real-time synchronization between design work and project management systems solves the visibility challenge. But data exchange isn’t the whole story. Design tools and project management systems must be thoughtfully integrated to provide a user experience that supports both engineering and project management workflows. 

Altium 365 Jira Integration enables bi-directional task synchronization while preserving the way teams prefer to work. Engineers can create and update tasks directly within their design environment without switching contexts. When engineers spot an issue in a PCB layout, they can instantly create a Jira ticket from Altium Designer with links to the relevant design elements. Project managers continue working in their familiar Jira interface, with design updates and comments automatically flowing through Altium 365.

#2: Tool Overload: When Solutions Create More Problems

Efforts to improve engineering project management often lead to the adoption of an ever-growing collection of specialized tools. Each one promises to solve a specific problem: one system for task management, another for design reviews, separate tools for documentation, and still others for team communication. However, the proliferation of tools often creates more problems than it solves.

Engineers must constantly switch between applications, leading to lost context and reduced productivity. Engineering project managers find themselves acting as human middleware. They spend time copying data between systems and maintaining multiple project timelines.

The Solution: Unified Workflow Integration

Rather than adding more tools to the stack, engineering project management tools should be integrated directly into existing engineering workflows. Integration revolutionizes how electronic design teams work:

• Engineers can create and update tasks directly from their design environment without switching applications.
• Project managers continue working with familiar tools like Jira while receiving automatic updates from design activities.
• Comments and design feedback stay connected to the relevant design elements rather than scattered across multiple systems.

This consolidated approach streamlines design and PM workflows while reducing technology costs. The Forrester study showed that organizations eliminated up to $200,000 in annual tech spending by replacing disconnected legacy solutions with integrated cloud solutions*.

#3: Information Segregation: Breaking Down Development Silos

Modern electronics development requires seamless coordination between electrical, mechanical, procurement, and manufacturing teams. Yet, in many organizations, these teams operate in isolated information silos, with critical data trapped in specialized systems that other teams can’t access.

The consequences are costly: electrical engineers can’t see mechanical constraints until formal design reviews, procurement teams lack visibility into component choices until BOMs are manually shared, and manufacturing teams discover issues that could have been prevented with earlier access to design data. Project managers become information bottlenecks, spending hours each week manually relaying questions and updates between teams.

The Solution: Connected Design Data

Eliminate silos by creating a unified platform where all stakeholders can access the information they need when they need it. The connected approach enables:

• Mechanical engineers to see real-time PCB design progress through ECAD- MCAD integration.
• Engineers and engineering managers to make decisions based on real-time component data.
• Manufacturing teams to review designs and provide feedback before formal release.
• Project managers to focus on coordination rather than information relay.

Connected electronics design projects work more efficiently and reduce costs. For example, organizations save an average of 15 hours per design through more effective collaboration between design and manufacturing teams*. 

#4: Data Redundancy: The Hidden Cost of Manual Updates

Think about how we used to share work documents—emailing files back and forth, trying to track which version was current, and hoping no one was editing the same document simultaneously. Cloud-based solutions have essentially solved this problem for general business documents, enabling real-time collaboration and eliminating version control headaches.

However, many electronics development teams are still stuck in the “email attachments era” when it comes to design data. Information exists in multiple disconnected places: design specifications in engineering documents, tasks in project management software, comments in review systems, and status updates scattered across team communication channels. Engineering project managers spend hours each week playing “document detective,” trying to ensure all these systems stay synchronized.

One electronics designer reported that when two people opened the same file simultaneously, they would “spend the rest of the day trying to work out whose fault it was and how to reconcile the two versions.”

The Solution: Bi-Directional Data Synchronization

Modern engineering collaboration tools eliminate redundant data entry through automated, bi-directional synchronization between systems. When engineers create design comments, they automatically appear in project management tools. Task updates in project management systems are immediately reflected in engineering environments. Design progress automatically updates project timelines. Built-in version control tracks every change, documenting who made modifications and why while ensuring teams can never accidentally overwrite each other’s work. Integration creates a single source of truth that all team members can trust.

#5: Inconsistent Information: When Project Status Conflicts with Reality

Nothing undermines a project manager’s credibility faster than reporting a project is on track when the design team knows differently. This scenario plays out frequently when project management systems don’t reflect actual design progress. Project status updates lag behind reality, completion percentages become educated guesses, and critical issues remain hidden until they cause delays.

The Solution: Real-Time Status Synchronization

The solution lies in creating direct connections between design progress and project status. When engineers modify designs, complete tasks, or identify issues, these changes automatically update in project management systems. 

Real-time synchronization ensures:

• Project timelines accurately reflect design progress
• Issues are visible as soon as they’re discovered
• Management decisions are based on current data
• Team members trust project status reports

#6: Scope Creep: Managing the Inevitable Evolution of Electronics Projects

Electronics projects rarely follow a straight line from concept to completion. Component availability changes, new requirements emerge, and technical challenges arise that weren’t visible during initial planning. Without proper tracking, these inevitable changes lead to scope creep that derails project timelines and budgets.

The Solution: Integrated Change Management

Modern project management platforms allow teams to capture and track changes within the context of their design work. When engineers encounter issues or identify necessary changes, they can create tasks directly from design files with automatic links to the relevant components or areas.

This integrated approach ensures:

• Changes are documented where they occur
• Scope adjustments are visible to all stakeholders
• Impact on resources and timelines is clear
• Design decisions maintain full traceability

Bridging the Gap Between Electronics Design and Engineering Project Management

The challenges outlined above aren’t just inconveniences. They restrict innovation, waste time, and inflate electronics development costs. Altium 365 transforms how teams manage electronics projects by creating seamless connections between design and project management.

Through its Jira integration and other procurement, project management, and collaboration capabilities, Altium 365 addresses these challenges by:

• Enabling real-time synchronization between design work and project management
• Providing unified access to design data for all stakeholders
• Eliminating redundant data entry through bi-directional synchronization
• Maintaining a single source of truth for project status
• Supporting efficient change management within the design context

As electronics development grows more complex, the organizations that thrive will bridge the gap between design and project management. By implementing integrated solutions that address core challenges, teams can spend less time managing projects and more time innovating.

Ready to transform your electronics project management? Learn more about how Altium 365 can help your team overcome project management challenges and accelerate your development process.

*The Total Economic Impact^™ Of Altium 365, a commissioned study conducted by Forrester Consulting, 2023. Results are based on a composite organization.