Innovation is the driving force for many entrepreneurs who excel at creatively thinking through a problem and building a new product design that resonates with buyers. Although powering up a compelling prototype is a significant achievement in itself, that doesn't necessarily mean a product idea is production-ready. Many entrepreneurs would probably recognize that their innovation skills don’t extend to tackling the manufacturing process.
Because time-to-market is a major component of business success, selecting suitable and experienced manufacturing partners is a crucial step faced by entrepreneurs. In particular, they need a specialist contract manufacturer that can take responsibility for creating a printed circuit board (PCB), sourcing components, and assembling and testing the product. In addition, the entrepreneur and the design team must have the confidence that their contract manufacturing partner can work with them to optimize the design for volume production.
Mouser Electronics and celebrity engineer Grant Imahara dig into this stage of the product lifecycle in the latest video of the Engineering Big Ideas series, part of the Empowering Innovation Together program. In the final episode of the series, Imahara and Beth Kendrick, President of Valley Services Electronics (VSE), take an in-depth look at how entrepreneurs can choose a contract manufacturer to take their prototype PCB to production. Together, they discuss what constitutes a qualified manufacturer and how to establish a long-term trusted partnership. Check out the video:
Selecting a Contract Manufacturer
Understanding all of the factors involved in engaging a contract manufacturer can be a daunting task. Moreover, many manufacturing organizations are offshore, making it more difficult to appraise a potential partner with confidence. For example, some contract manufacturers might only focus on the PCB production tasks and not concern themselves with the intricacies of component placement, supply-chain planning, and dealing with component obsolescence.
Here are a few tips to aid the choice of selecting a contract manufacturer:
Location
It’s much easier to evaluate a potential manufacturing partner if you can visit them. This is particularly important if you’re unfamiliar with the production process. Meeting face-to-face helps you establish a working relationship more quickly and streamline problem identification and resolution. The faster you can build trust and confidence in your new partner, the faster you can get to scale and build a valuable long-term working relationship.
Engineering experience and resources
When you meet with a potential partner, probe deeply to find out what expertise they have available, and how you can access it. In particular, Design for Manufacturing (DFM) is a crucial discipline to build successful products. Reviewing the board layout is an essential first step in the DFM process, during which an experienced engineer might spot ways your design can be simplified and identify electronic components that may require special handling.
Ask the contract manufacturer if it has manufactured similar designs and, if so, what production volumes did they achieve. It also helps to find out how long the company has been in operation, and what its reputation is in the industry.
Production facilities
If your product catches on with consumers, how quickly can the organization ramp up production volumes without impacting quality? Also, what quality initiatives and systems does it understand and have in place? ISO 9001 is the baseline quality-management-system specification that’s an essential requirement, but there are others for particular applications. For example, ISO 13485 is vital for medical equipment, while UL508A is important for the safety of industrial equipment.
Turnaround times
The ability to quote and satisfy swift turnaround times will be another vital ingredient to your product's success. How does the manufacturer expedite projects? Does it proactively communicate status updates, rather than requiring you to keep chasing them? Again, building a trusted relationship and establishing effective communication with your manufacturing partner will help you avoid production delays and delivery-date slippage that threaten your competitive advantage in the market.
Component sourcing and planning
Sourcing quality electronic components is a specialized skill in its own right. Does the contract manufacturer have links with reputable component suppliers? If so, can you use its procurement and forecasting experience to ensure you have an agile approach to manufacturing? Have all components arrived and, if necessary, have they been tested before insertion to the PCB? As an entrepreneur, you should fully expect your manufacturing partner to be responsible for these requirements.
An Example for Fast-Tracking Your Design
To understand how to weigh all of these factors, consider some of the best-in-class practices of the experienced contract manufacturing company Valley Services Electronics (VSE). The VSE Rapid PCBA Manufacturing Process provides a clear example of how a prototype design can be fast-tracked through all certified production processes and delivered as an assembled and tested PCB within days.
The fast-track service commences with the VSE Engineering team conducting a DFM review to identify any potential manufacturing issues. The team identifies any component end-of-life concerns and board-layout and component-placement recommendations, while also highlighting opportunities to maximize production efficiency.
At the same time, the VSE Materials Planning team begins purchasing components and checking for likely supply shortages or for parts that might be on allocation. They investigate need for second source or component alternatives and, if necessary, recommend PCB layout changes to accommodate replacement components.
The rapid PCB assembly and manufacturing process continues with board fabrication, assembly, and testing, followed by dispatching the boards to you so you can commence your own testing.
Mouser Electronics Supporting Innovation
The latest Engineering Big Ideas episode, presented by Mouser Electronics, offers behind-the-scene tips from Valley Services Electronics. New product designers, entrepreneurs, and contract manufacturers can find the components, modules, and single-board computers they need at Mouser. The global distributor has a long history of supporting innovators and entrepreneurs of electronics-based designs with products and technical resources.
Mouser's Technical Resource Center provides engineers and innovators with helpful materials such as technical articles, how-to guides, engineering-focused eBooks, and a plethora of new product information. Also, the Bench Talk for Design Engineers blog hosts topical and informative articles on a wide range of subjects from a community of engineers, suppliers, and industry specialists.
Prior installments in the series include:
- Discovery: Nikola Motor Company demonstrates just how rewarding it can be to overcome creative uncertainty and take the "leap of faith" that is often required to succeed big.
- Design: In two episodes, Grant talks with leaders of Arduino and Crowd Supply to explore some of the ways creators are moving their ideas toward tangible products.
To see all of the inner workings of the innovation process, from start to finish, watch the Engineering Big Ideas series at https://www.mouser.com/empowering-innovation/engineering-big-ideas.