​WHY IS IT PRIMORDIAL TO WORK WITH YOUR MANUFACTURER IN THE EARLY STAGES OF YOUR NPI?

From the choice of the components to the optimization of the supply chain management through manufacturing processes and inspection, here are the different reasons why you should absolutely work together with the R&D center and your industrial partner from the early stage of your new product introduction.

​

The industrial development and introduction phases remain key steps that should not be neglected before launching the production of a new product. Indeed, if these stages are well understood and monitored, they ensure the product’s entrance on the market in the best conditions and guarantee an optimization of all the processes: manufacturability at the right price, best quality, best lead times, MRO (Maintenance, Repair and Operations), choice and localization of the industrial partner…

​

It is common that the prototype phase is concentrated in an external R&D center, which seeks to deliver a functional product that perfectly meets your requirements, often to the detriment of real market performance. Always in search of innovation and envious of satisfying their customers, the R&D center however do not always have a real vision and often exceed the feasibility of the project. Including the industrial partner who will be in charge of the industrialization and assembly of your product is a considerable asset because it will be able to work together with the engineering unit to help it anticipate and precisely cost the following points :

​

Components

If the choice of the function and the reference of a component is the responsibility of the research unit, your industrial partner can bring its expertise on the choice of the component and its specificities (format, housing, size, technological performance…). Thanks to its knowledge of the market and its partners, the industrial can also provide recommendations on the choice of supplier(s) related to key performances that are important during the life of the product (price, lead time, quality, flexibility, network, location, pro-activity, support, after-sales communication, etc.).

​

At AMW, we are able to give you visibility on the life cycle of your products thanks to specific tools (obsolescence, lifetime), as well as relevant recommendations on second sources of supply and this as early as the development phases. We generally group all these services in a “Design For Procurement” offer, which can be completed and enriched further according to your needs.

​

Assembly and manufacturing processes

As for the choice of components, your industrial partner will always seek to optimize the Cost/Quality binomial thanks to “Design For Manufacturing” and “Design For Assembly” tools. These tools intervene on the assembly technology and components (CMS, PTH, PIP), the choice of materials and the assembly steps (automatic, robotized, selective, manual…) according to the volumes and budgets planned by the customer. These recommendations or modifications must be studied during the product design phases in collaboration with the research unit because the consequences of a fixed and insufficiently optimized design can penalize the cost and final quality of the product.

​

Click here to discover our Design & Engineering offers

​

Inspection and Test

In order to deliver products that meet the customer’s expectations and needs, it is necessary to supervise quality throughout the manufacturing process of an electronic board or system. The earlier a non-conformity is identified, the less costly it is to correct. During the design phases, the means of control must be anticipated and taken into account according to the level of requirement, the technologies of the components in play, the environment of the product… Often these observations raise improvements to be made to the design for the test phases.

That’s why at AMW, we are very cautious about new product introductions and recommend that a Design For Test analysis be conducted to optimize test coverage and anticipate changes. Throughout the manufacturing process, we have a multitude of equipment and tools dedicated to inspection and testing, from the re-entry inspection of a component to the functional and endurance testing of a complete system. The DFT also allows us to identify the optimal, least-cost process to ensure the requested customer quality levels.

​

Supply Chain management

In order to optimize the complete logistics and minimize the transport costs and the carbon footprint of your project, AMW offers you its expertise in Design For Supply Chain from the purchase of the raw material to the marketing of the product. This very important subject has direct consequences on the choice of materials, components, sources of components, partners, distribution channels, transport, packaging optimization, logistic flow…. We have invested and implemented intelligent tools to improve both time to cost and time to market.

​

Click here to discover our Supply Chain Management offer