Many organizations may have a great concept for a product or a solution or an important problem statement that need be addressed. But they may be faced with the lack of right resources or the right electronic design partner for successful implementation. One of the biggest challenges for many organizations is finding the right partner that can deliver their exceptional solution.
The global electronic contract manufacturing and design services market size is expected to reach USD 788.9 billion by 2027, registering a CAGR of 8.5% over the forecast period, according to a new study by Grand View Research, Inc. They further state that the electronics industry is highly competitive in nature owing to the increasing complexity of electronic products and rising pressure on OEMs for reducing costs.
Some may consider finding an electronic design services partner as a daunting task. However, with thorough homework and clearly defined requirements, you can find the right partner for delivering your next product.
To choose an electronic design service partner is not any less difficult than any other hard decisions people have to make. Nevertheless, the factors discussed here should help you filter your choices and make it a little easier to make the right choice.
Before you go ahead with finding the partner, ensure that you clearly define your requirements. Documenting your requirements in detail can also assist your search. Some other pre-requisites such as a realistic budget for your project, a rough time estimate, along with the expected quality can help you with beginning the search.
Let’s take a look at some factors that may help us further in choosing the right electronic design services partner.
Narrowing Down
As much as electronics design is a wide field, it is in your best interest that you go for one whose sub niche is aligned with what you need. To be able to make this decision, a list of criteria and priorities should be developed so that when the list of companies offering these services are shortlisted, the choice can be easily made. Therefore, its best to prepare a list of requirements before shortlisting the partner.
Experience
Just having your wanted criteria and requirements is not all there is to choosing an electronic service design partner. The experience of the company is just as important. It is best if the company has enough experience in their area of specialty. An experienced partner can quickly understand the requirements, know your pain points, possess ease of solving challenges and the ability to foresee them, thus delivering quality products.
Standards and Certifications
Apart from ample experience, you also require a partner that is certified according to regulatory standards. Regulatory standards are an important aspect of product development. Compliance to safety and security aspects of regulatory standards ensure better standards for product development. These standards also call for proper documentation of every step of development process that will be audited by internal and external bodies.
Company Size
The company size is another factor you should consider. A large and a small company has their strong points as well as their weaknesses. A larger company is best suited for bulky projects as there will be a continuation of the line even if one person is not available, their speed of delivery will also be fast. A small company is best suited for smaller project where there is less risk involved.
Interviewing the company according to requirements and skillsets
This is a step which mostly no one will miss, however, it is a very important one. Always do a thorough screening of their capabilities and ask them questions regarding skillsets, solving challenges, knowledge of the industry, company culture, among other things. It is best to visit them at their location to understand the infrastructure and see if they are capable to provide you with the expected deliverables.
Proven Project Management
Your project should be traceable at the hands of whatever company you will be contracting for the production. This is possible when the company has a great documentation system and a detailed schedule with all the planned activities and milestones. It is best to have a single point of contact who can deliver updates in a timely manner, gather feedback, and implement the same to improve the process.
Choose a one-stop shop
Hiring a one stop shop can yield its own benefits. Often you may not just want to build your product, but you also want to provide necessary support post the launch in the market. Depending on the device that is built, you may need your partner to also support your cloud infrastructure, push firmware updates at regular intervals, provide support, maintenance, and sustenance.
Customers Reviews & References
Just as a review is one of the first thing prospects reads that convinces them of a product, the same can be said for design services partners. An experienced house will have recurring customers. So, refer to reviews and testimonials that will help you in adjudging the skills of a company.
These are some of the key considerations that will set you on the right path to choose the right electronic design partner for your next product development engagement. eInfochips is a product and digital transformation partner with over 25 years of experience designing mission-critical and consumer-grade embedded designs. We are well poised to build products that are smaller, faster, reliable, efficient, intelligent, and economical. We have worked on developing complex embedded control systems for avionics and industrial solutions. Get in touch with us to know more.
