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Five Key Benefits to Rapid Prototyping

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In electronic manufacturing, rapid prototyping is the quickest and most seamless way to reduce the speed to ramp. Electronic products need to be thoroughly tried and tested before they can be launched to market. We provide customers with a working version of their Printed Circuit Board Assembly (PCBA) so that they can check functionality and meet the design specification. Our prototyping, however, goes beyond PCBs; we produce entire complex multi-level system products for our customers, including racks and cabinets.

Key benefits to rapid prototyping include:

 1. Maximise efficiency

When we produce rapid prototypes, we support our customers by engaging early on in their design process with our New Product Introduction (NPI) team. We take time to determine their exact product requirements and we never cut corners in terms of quality, measurement or process. This approach means our customers’ products are made with long-term efficiency, life and cost-reduction in mind, at the point where the design is still fluid and changes can easily be made.

2. Built-in contingency

Wherever possible, we build-in attrition and contingency plans. This means that if anything goes wrong, we can monitor progress and still deliver the full amount of product requested. However, our strict governance protocols and processes are designed to eliminate the risk of problems or failings at every stage, using automation to eliminate human error and increase efficiency.

3. Smooth transition to large scale production

The equipment we use for prototyping is the same we use for volume production. Prototypes are initially created in optimal batch sizes according to each customer’s requirements, which avoid any wastage. When the product is ready, we ensure a smooth transition to large scale manufacturing.

4. Generate accurate labour costing

We have developed sophisticated labour estimate algorithms which allow us to generate accurate and rapid labour costing based on the construction of specific items. Actual process times are measured with set KPIs against these estimates, meaning we can stay on top of progress and ensure everything is realistic and sustainable. 

5. Establish baseline costs with smart software

 We have a custom-developed programme which compares a customer’s bill of materials against our in-house stock base, before filtering this out via APIs to various distributor networks. This is a rapid and effective way to establish baseline costs and sets us apart from many of our competitors, who approach this process manually.

benefits to rapid prototyping

When a technology start-up from the US came to us for help in manufacturing its cutting-edge AR helmet, we relished the challenge. The product design was still at an early stage so we were able to quickly implement robust processes and deliver the product from concept to ramp in the shortest of timeframes.

Simply irresistible: Brexit and the UK electronic manufacturing sector

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Making it easy for others to do business with you is vital, especially in the current political climate

There is no escaping the current headlines around Brexit, from scaremongering over the repercussions of a hard deal or the unknown consequences of no deal at all. For UK manufacturers, indeed for all UK businesses, the most frustrating aspect of this situation is exactly that: the unknown. Knowing the likely outcome and what will happen, won’t happen, or needs to happen is vital: without this knowledge, it’s like walking into a meeting with no agenda or starting a project with no strategy. Business works well within parameters and when it’s driven by facts, plans and targets; this current situation leaves no room to make any such plans, let alone embark upon them.

However, Brexit is not the first defining moment in British business and certainly won’t be the last. The priority now is for ‘UK PLC’, from the political stage down to each and every boardroom, to collectively work to make themselves an attractive business proposition. Whether Brexit is hard, soft or deal-less, the fact remains that we are a nation with goods to give and services to offer. The same goes for businesses: no matter what the specific circumstances or market conditions are, if we shout loudly about what we do, how we do it better and the results we can deliver, the rest is largely inconsequential.

In business, opportunity is everything. Turning every challenge into a door to be opened and a new prospect to be explored is the best way forward. In terms of Brexit, despite inevitable challenges, leaving the EU will present new opportunities and the chance to try new avenues and strategies. This can be translated into business: every challenge encountered is and should be an opportunity to try a different method, whether it’s trying a new supplier, switching to automated processes or opening a new location.

With any business negotiation, it’s crucial to establish what factors you can emphasise or accentuate in order to sell your best strengths and make it difficult for the other side to disagree to your terms. Now is the not the time to be modest: shout about your achievements and showcase your results. That said, it’s also vital to convey a positive attitude and sense of collaboration. No one is going to want to do business with any individual or organisation that seems as if it will be a tricky customer.

Whatever happens with the Brexit negotiations, it’s essential that the UK is perceived as an attractive prospect and an exciting partner: a lesson that can be taken and repeated in every business. Together, if we play our cards right, we could be a force to be reckoned with.

The realities of manufacturing augmented reality tech

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Augmented Reality (AR) is often touted – alongside the IoT – as the next big thing for manufacturing. It’s set to revolutionise industrial processes, improve efficiency, open new opportunities, cut costs and reduce errors.

However, there is a distinct difference between the application of AR techniques to aid the manufacturing process itself and the challenges involved in manufacturing AR-enabled products and devices.

For all the solutions and opportunities that AR may be set to gift manufacturing, it can also in many cases present OEMS with a logistical headache.

Here’s the thing:

AR devices present manufacturers with very complex process requirements and a series of challenges that start at the supply chain and continue through to the assembly line.

Here are just some of the ways that AR presents a challenge to manufacturers producing cuting edge electronic devices.

  • Expert supply chain management is needed to juggle the multiple components and processes involved.
  • The use of exotic or hard to find materials calls for assembly conditions that have been rigorously prepared.
  • The necessary form factor miniaturisation complicates the level of accuracy required in product construction.
  • Heat dissipation is a major concern and precision optics need calibrating with great attention to detail.
  • The latest cutting-edge technology needs to be applied yet every solution must lend itself to scalability in the event of increased product demand.
  • And, of course, the expense of all the parts and processes involved leaves absolutely no margin for error.

Let’s expand on just one of these challenges a little further:

Form factor miniaturisation is never simply a process of making everything smaller. Miniaturisation of one phase of a product usually reveals limitations and obstacles in other parts of the overall design and manufacturing process. Advances in a specific technology—semiconductor fab, pc board, power, manufacturing or packaging—tend to leapfrog other technologies. And the assembly line is not the place to be trying to play catch up.

Thermal management is also closely related to miniaturisation, especially as device speeds and packaging densities rise. Heat loads are really putting cooling techniques to the test, calling for innovative solutions for direct, spot refrigeration of high heat-flux regions on IC dies.

We love the AR challenge: it plays to all of our strengths.

But to counterbalance all the ‘AR is the saving grace of manufacturers’ hyperbole we’d like to add our own take on the relationship between AR and manufacturing.

From the shop floor, as it were.

Not the ivory tower.

The reality of AR manufacturing

Daqri is a US technology start-up. Having already wowed the market with its wearable tech the team were hyper-keen to launch their cutting-edge AR helmet.

Daqri helmet

The helmet has a futuristic pilot-style ‘heads up display’ that uses advanced short-range optical projector technology to overlay the user’s vision with advanced data feeds based on real-time information.

Whilst Daqri had exceptional design and development capabilities, it had little experience of the controlled manufacturing systems needed to deliver its finished product at scale.

When the team reached out to us their most pressing concern was co-ordinating a highly complex supply chain of suppliers – and that’s exactly what we excel at.

They asked us to manage the supply chain so that they could scale up their existing prototype to produce 400 developer systems.

It wasn’t easy: where AR is concerned it never is. But we micro-managed the global supply network and introduced a flawless production processes that allowed Daqri to meet its tight delivery targets.

In fact, they made the leap from concept to product in the fastest possible time.

Daqri construction

The future of AR manufacturing

According to CCS Insight many companies are going to be needing EMS partners with expertise in meeting the AR manufacturing challenge.

It predicts that augmented reality device sales are set to hit $11.9 billion in 2021. In volume terms this represents 99 million devices – each of which will carry the same manufacturing challenges that we outlined before.

2021 is not a date in the distant future: it’s barely more than two years away.

Looking to capture some of this market are the big names in tech: Microsoft, Google, Sony and Apple have all invested in some high-profile initiatives.

You can be certain, however, that there are also many labs out there with a killer prototype seeking funding to enter production.

And we’re happy to help turn an AR prototype into an AR product.

It won’t be easy, but with our attention to detail, focus on precision and dedication to strictly governed processes, anything is possible!