ADVERTISEMENT FEATURE COVER STORY FINDING THE RIGHT DESIGN ENGINEERING PARTNER


Speaking with a highly experienced UK electronics design consultancy could save you considerable time and money says Heber, with over 30 years in the consultancy industry serving many global industries


W


ith so many global business challenges, it can be hard for


companies to ensure they have the right mix of design and engineering resources in place to meet with market demands, let alone with future new product developments. Investing in ever larger engineering teams to cover the rapidly growing list of technical disciplines is not always viable or sensible for many companies. Traditionally the skill gaps are covered by specialist contractors, but that’s not always enough if you are looking to explore new markets, with new technologies or additional product lines. There are rarely any easy answers when


trying to second guess the future, but a great way to mitigate risk and still allow your business to take advantage of new growth opportunities is to find an experienced design engineering partner to fill in your resource gaps and bring cost- effective new technologies into your development process, and product range. Partnering with a well established and growing electronics consultancy, such as Heber, gives you a sense of what’s achievable with outsourcing engineering tasks. The right partner can also provide a complete product development service and give support through the full manufacturing cycle. Of course, not all out-sourced


engineering companies are created equal, so how do you know what to look for, and get the most out of your chosen partner?


EARLY ENGAGEMENT Many fundamental product failures can be traced back to a lack of early engagement with a technology partner during the concept stage of an idea. That’s where most of the big challenges and hurdles tend to first emerge. A good design partner will spot these and work with you to stop them becoming a future weakness or failure in the project. Once you have the joint understanding, goals, and problems worked out, it’ll make all the difference to a successful development and the commercial viability of a new product. Look for a partner that relishes the


challenge of new innovation, but is also focussed on realistic commercial goals, market needs and ultimate project success. Inventors and small businesses often


face difficult challenges with product development. Often going to the lowest


12 SEPTEMBER 2018 | ELECTRONICS


generating an agreed target specification and the creation of a professionally written proposal for the tasks involved. Discuss the various product development stages, ensure that they all have costs, and that they are separated, so that a ‘stage-gate’ step-by-step process can be followed, allowing time for review and agreement of each stage. Perhaps more important than anything else, find a partner with whom you have shared values and culture. So much of the success of any project ultimately rests upon the ability of the people involved to work together, to share ideas and engender trust.


cost supplier can seem like a good idea. The reality is that every single stage of a bespoke product development needs to be managed and planned for the end goal of manufacturing so choosing a partner who can help at each or every stage is essential. There are many challenges to overcome, from an ability to produce a known and solid real-world design that will operate in the intended environment, a design which is easy to use and operates as expected, to a host of approvals, safety compliance and associated documentation. Other areas that are easily overlooked


can be the production tooling, production testing and quality control, and life cycle management of a product. Producing a working prototype is only the first step in a successful project.


FINDING THE RIGHT PARTNER You do not need a lot of money to get started on a project. Design partners can assist with finding project funding, such as licensing of technology, amortisation of product developments and even entering into joint partnerships. It’s really all about a good idea and making contact and meeting with people that can partner with you to make it a success. For a complete project brief, it requires a


good mix of engineering skills and specific relevant technical knowledge of the product and its functionality. A freelancer or project contractor might have the latter, but engaging with a company with a multi-disciplinary approach, especially across a broad range of market sectors, brings so much more to the task. Look for attention to detail when


Figure 1:


The success of any project ultimately rests upon the ability of the people involved to work together, to share ideas and engender trust


COST EFFECTIVE ISN'T JUST LOW COST The cost of any technical implementation is a complex trade-off of what is possible and what is commercially viable for the client. Whether matching existing manufacturing processes, or creating entire new product lines, the key factor is to consider all of the costs, not only with the product, but its entire life- cycle. This will include logistics, field support, customer service, product refinements and other potential cost savings from a ‘smarter design’. Off shore pricing can seem very attractive. If you have a variety of wildly differing quotations in for your project, how can you evaluate which represents the best value for money? Les Ashton-Smith, Heber MD says:


“More and more organisations are coming to the conclusion that low cost offshoring simply adds cost to the business in other places - support, testing or reduced product lifecycle. UK engineering, and even manufacturing in some sectors, is having an overdue renaissance. “In fact, we often provide our skills to


companies across Asia and throughout Eastern Europe as they seek smarter design and innovative products for both domestic and worldwide markets. “We're always completely upfront about project costs and give a detailed breakdown of how long elements are going to take and the expected milestones and outcomes,” Heber adds.


T: 01453 886000 e: sales@heber.co.uk


/ ELECTRONICS


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