Means Engineering, Inc.

Product development engineering in medical, industrial, semiconductor equipment & military with a standard of excellence in form, function and design.

(760) 931-9452 | info@meanseng.com
5927 Geiger Court, Carlsbad, CA 92008-7305

Ensuring a Successful Relationship With Your Contract Manufacturer

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Companies considering moving part or all of their production to a contract manufacturer need to take the time to learn all they can about the contract manufacturing process. This is important if you wish to develop a long-lasing, mutually beneficial business relationship with your contract manufacturer.

Design Considerations

The quality of a finished product depends on the quality of its design. Although utilizing the help of a contract manufacturer allows companies to shift some of the responsibilities to the CM, it’s extremely important that the OEM takes the time to clearly define the requirements and specifications of each project.

Parts created during the design phase should not be cost-prohibitive and they should function as intended once completed. This is crucial to the success of the finished product. During the design process, it is up to the OEM to define the manufacturability and functionality of each part. This involves numerous factors including material composition, product life cycle, and any required standards during manufacture and use of the product. It’s important to figure out the answers to these questions before transitioning to the manufacturing stage.

Choosing a Contract Manufacturer

Companies should take care when choosing a contract manufacturer to work with. Make sure you fully understand the strengths, weaknesses, and relevant experience the contract manufacturer has with similar products. Make sure the CM has experience working with the specific industry you plan to create products for. This is especially true for companies looking to create products for the medical and defense industries. An experienced contract manufacturer will understand the unique requirements and ensure the creation of high quality dependable devices.

Development Process

Once you’ve located a contract manufacturer, you’ll need to develop the manufacturing process for the product. Make sure that everyone fully understands the needs, expectations, and requirements of the project. All meetings should include not only engineers and operations managers, but also the production and assembly workers that will be working on the project. This allows you to collect knowledge and wisdom from as many sources as possible.

A little knowledge can go a long way towards a successful relationship with your contract manufacturer. This is why it’s so important to learn all you can before beginning the CM process.

Medical Device Companies Can Benefit From Partnering With a Contract Manufacturer

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Most people think of contract manufacturing as a way to reduce the costs of production.  While it is definitely true that outsourcing can significantly reduce production costs, what you might not realize is it also provides the unique opportunity for companies to gain access to the knowledge and experience of existing manufacturers.

Utilizing a CM helps companies improve product quality and avoid large capital expenditures on the machinery and people needed to create new products. Although contract manufacturing provides numerous benefits for companies in almost every industry, it provides unique benefits for those responsible for the creation of devices for the medical industry.

Do You Have the Specialized Equipment and Highly-Skilled Staff Needed to Produce High Quality Medical Devices?

Medical device creation requires special machinery with the capabilities to create precision-dependent products. It also requires a well-trained and highly skilled workforce. These requirements often act as a barrier for companies looking to enter the medical device industry. The right contract manufacturer can help these companies bridge the gap and ensure the creation of high quality, dependable medical devices.

Using a contract manufacturer allows companies to tap into valuable resources including people, machinery, materials, and more. Outsourcing is much more cost-efficient than acquiring these resources in-house. Outsourcing eliminates the need to purchase, store, and maintain specialized equipment. It also eliminates the need to locate and train qualified staff.

An experienced contract manufacturer maintains the appropriate staff, equipment, and technology needed to produce a wide range of products. They understand the unique requirements of the medical industry and have quality management systems in place to ensure the creation of high quality devices.

Choose an Experienced Contract Manufacturer

Creating medical devices takes specialized equipment and experienced staff that understands the unique requirements of the medical industry. When looking for a contract manufacturer to work with, it’s important to find a company with experience working with the medical industry.

Gather as much information as you can prior to your selection. This helps ensure you’re well prepared to make an educated and informed decision.

 

Benefits of Reverse Engineering

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Companies today are under a lot of pressure to create new products. While the design process requires a certain level of creativity and innovation, many new ideas come from older, existing products. Through reverse engineering, manufacturers can find new ways to utilize old ideas.

What is Reverse Engineering?

Reverse engineering involves taking a product apart and analyzing each individual component and the way it works. Manufacturers then use this knowledge to create new products.

In the electronics industry, electronics manufacturers often use reverse engineering to make improvements or upgrades to existing products. While some similarities between the new and existing product may exist, the two are never exactly the same. Reverse engineering isn’t about recreating an exact match, it’s about figuring out how to produce a better and more efficient product.

Benefits of Reverse Engineering

Reverse engineering makes it possible for manufacturers to incorporate older inventions into new products. This improves time to market and enables product enhancements and improvements. Simply put, the reverse engineering process expands the knowledge and capabilities of electronics manufacturers.

There are numerous reasons why contract manufacturers utilize reverse engineering:

  • Incorporate old ideas into new products
    Reverse engineering allows contract manufacturers to take existing parts, processes, and structures and re-purpose them for other uses.
  • Product improvements
    Reverse engineering involves a detailed analysis of the various components of a product. This helps locate areas that could benefit from improvement. This is one of the most common reasons electronic manufacturers utilize reverse engineering.
  • Locate vulnerabilities in an existing product
    An important part of product improvement, reverse engineering helps locate any faults in existing products that could affect the safety and well-being of the people that use them.
  • Bring less expensive products to market
    Reverse engineering helps lower manufacturing costs and helps electronic manufacturers improve the overall quality and consistency of products produced.
  • Inspire innovation
    Perhaps one of the greatest benefits of reverse engineering is that it inspires innovative design. Electronics manufacturers often find systems and processes during reverse engineering that could benefit a completely different product or industry.

Means Engineering offers a variety of contract manufacturing services. Please contact us for information about our services.

 

How Can a Contract Manufacturer Help Your Business?

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Contract manufacturers provide a wide range of services. While some companies utilize the help of CMs to fulfill periods of high demand, others enlist their help for all parts of production. Contract manufacturers provide numerous benefits regardless of when or how a company uses their services.

Choosing to Work With a CM

Deciding when to use a contract manufacturer depends on several factors. Start with a thorough evaluation of your business needs and requirements. For example, your company might not have the time or resources needed to produce the products your consumers demand. Maybe you’d like to launch a new product but aren’t sure where to start. These are both excellent reasons to consider enlisting the help of a CM.

Contract Design and Manufacturing Services

Quality contract manufacturers provide assistance with all parts of production. When used during the design process, the right contract manufacturer can help locate ways to improve the quality of finished products and/or reduce the costs of production.

Experienced Contract Manufacturer

When you work with an experienced contract manufacturer, you gain access to a wealth of knowledge and experience. Contract manufacturers often work with several different industries. This puts them in the best possible position to assist with numerous projects. Many companies use contract manufacturers to help them grow and expand into new markets.

Manufacturing Services

Manufacturing requires a lot of equipment, machinery, people, and space. Many businesses simply do not have what it takes to produce products in house. This is especially true for new businesses just starting to consider the possibility of production. These companies are often surprised by the amount of space and resources required to produce even simple products.

Using a contract manufacturer for production eliminates the need to purchase and maintain expensive equipment and technology. It also reduces the amount of staff and space required by your business.

Product Testing

Contract manufacturers often have processes and procedures in place to help ensure the quality and consistency of every product produced. They thoroughly test all components throughout the entire production process. This helps catch issues sooner, when they are cheaper and easier to fix.

Mean Engineering provides turnkey contract manufacturing solutions to businesses across a wide range of industries. Please contact us to learn how we can help your business succeed.

How a Contract Manufacturer Saves You Money

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Working with a contract manufacturer takes a certain level of trust. After all, these companies are responsible for the creation of your products. It’s important to learn all you can before hiring a CM.

In addition to finding a CM with the tools necessary to handle the unique demands of your project, it’s also important to find a contract manufacturing company that can save you money as well. The right CM can provide you with the long term savings you require, while increasing the overall profitability and reputation of your business. This is crucial to success.

Choosing a Quality CM

Considering the basic elements during the proposal process can tell you a lot about the contract manufacturer you’re considering. This is especially true if you wish to reduce the number of suppliers your business requires.

The basic elements for consideration include:

  • Production Costs
  • Lead Times
  • Warranties and Support
  • Validation of Business Processes

While the right CM can help you save money through product and process improvements, you need to consider the potential long term value of using a CM as well. Although elements beyond the basics are harder to quantify, these elements represent the greatest value to your business.

Consider the Entire Manufacturing Team

It’s critical to ensure the capabilities, procedures, and business practices of the outsourced manufacturing partner you choose. However, the most valuable long term gains will come from the entire manufacturing team.

When considering a CM, look at the company as a whole. Factors such as ethics, tenure length, and employee satisfaction can say a lot about the firm. The manufacturing team should consist of engaged, empowered, long term employees. You need to know that the people responsible for the creation of your project have the drive and experience needed to continually examine both the product and process to discover ways to improve them.

Instead of simply auditing the processes, make sure you take the time to actually talk to the manufacturing team. This typically provides all the insight you require.

Please contact us for information about our contract manufacturing services.

 

 

 

ABOUT US

MEI features depth of experience in medical, industrial, semiconductor equipment and military products. All product development efforts start with a unique set of requirements, yet we deliver results that share a common standard of excellence in form, function and design.

Our turn-key capabilities provide smart, simple solutions to cumbersome outsourcing issues, and provide our clients with an intelligent route from concept to market.

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