meiadmin, Author at Means Engineering, Inc.

Creating a Continuity Plan for Your Manufacturing Business

December 15, 2017 By meiadmin

Creating a Continuity Plan for Your Manufacturing Business

We’ve all heard of the fires causing destruction through much of California. Recent fires have damaged multiple homes and businesses in San Diego, Los Angeles, Santa Barbara and Ventura Counties. These fires have destroyed more than 1,000 structures since they begun. This has raised a lot of questions for homeowners and businesses about their future.

Business Continuity Planning

It’s more important than ever before for manufacturing business owners to consider the effects of an uncontrollable circumstance on their business. The best way to survive a natural disaster, accident, emergency or other incident is to have a clear, well-planned, effective Business Continuity Plan in place.

Many business owners do not believe they need a Business Continuity Plan. Sometimes, they just aren’t sure how to create one, or how it will benefit their business. Manufacturing business owners have multiple responsibilities, and the task of creating a Business Continuity Plan might seem too great. However, businesses faced with a disaster rarely stay afloat without one.

Business Continuity Planning involves identifying potential risks, defining how those risks could affect your business, developing and testing safeguards and reviewing processes regularly to keep the plan up-to-date.

Benefits of a Well-Planned Business Continuity Plan

A Business Continuity Plan has a number of benefits for manufacturing businesses of all shapes and sizes. It can help reduce downtime, minimize damage and keep everyone on the same page.

When an incident occurs, both you are your employees will know exactly what to do. If operations are shut down, you’ll have a back-up plan to ensure business can continue as usual. When potential risks are considered and planned for in advance, your business remains in the best possible position for success.

Preparing for the Unexpected

In the unfortunate event of an accident or disaster, you need people you can trust to help you continue your business operations. A contract manufacturer can help you produce products while you make necessary repairs or move your business.

The right contract manufacturer is crucial to avoiding downtime in the event of a disaster. Make sure you choose a respected contract manufacturer to work with.

Producing Electronics for the Defense Industry

December 8, 2017 By meiadmin

Producing Electronics for the Defense Industry

Electronics are becoming more important for every industry. In the defense industry, electronic devices are used for communication, navigation and the collection of important data. Reliability and quality are crucial when developing electronics for this important industry.

Electronics technology is constantly evolving. Military devices are getting smaller and more functional. The design and manufacture of electronics is focused on improving quality while reducing costs and power consumption.

Military Electronics

Military electronics are often used for long periods of time. They must be able to withstand extreme conditions. Any defect or failure could have serious consequences. Manufacturers producing electronic devices for the defense industry must keep up-to-date with the latest technologies and techniques.

Many military and defense professionals want the same electronic devices they use in their personal lives to be available in their professional lives as well. As a result, wearable electronics are being used more frequently by the defense industry.

Defense Industry Electronics

The defense industry has been leaning towards a purely digital mindset for years. Portable technologies enable military professionals to access critical information and become more efficient. New technologies can be used to enhance workflows and create new opportunities for the industry. These technologies reduce the chance of error and completely eliminate the need for travel.

Electronic products must be smaller, cheaper and faster if military companies wish to remain competitive. Most electronics manufacturers strive to create smaller, lighter products with increased flexibility and portability.

Protection of information is a top concern to military and defense professionals. Electronic systems should be able to reduce cross-channel interference.

Testing Military Products

Military products require sophisticated testing equipment. All devices and electronic components must be thoroughly tested to ensure quality and reliability. Due to limited defense budgets, the cost of electronics must be kept to a minimum as well. Strict budget and testing requirements create a number of challenges for electronics manufacturers. It’s important that the company chosen to produce electronic devices has prior experience with the defense industry.

Means Engineering, Inc. provides design, manufacture and testing of electronic devices for the defense industry. We are an AS9100 certified contract manufacturer.

Industries That Can Benefit From A Contract Manufacturer

December 1, 2017 By meiadmin

Industries That Can Benefit From A Contract Manufacturer

Businesses across a wide range of industries can benefit from hiring a contract manufacturer. Contract manufacturers help businesses produce more products, increase their product line and reduce costs and time to market.

A contract manufacturer can be used for all parts of production including design, manufacture and testing. Using a contract manufacturer can help increase the quality and consistency of products produced. A contract manufacturer can help businesses find ways to make production more efficient.

The following industries can benefit from working with a quality contract manufacturer.

Medical Industry

Products produced for the medical industry need to be high quality and reliable. Many medical devices are responsible for keeping patients alive. Any defect or error in design can be catastrophic.

The contract manufacturer you work with should be experienced with medical devices. They should have strict quality control measures in place, with testing occurring throughout the manufacturing process. The company you choose should be ISO 13485 certified.

Aerospace Industry

Aerospace products must be reliable, high quality and thoroughly tested for safety. Products used by the aerospace industry must withstand extreme conditions. Any failure in operation can have serious consequences.

A contract manufacturer can help companies in the aerospace industry design, manufacture and test a variety of products. To ensure the quality of products produced, always work with an AS9100 certified contract manufacturer.

Defense Industry

Contract manufacturers producing products for the defense industry must maintain extremely high standards to prevent mistakes that could lead to product failure.

The contract manufacturer you choose to work with to produce these products should be up-to-date with the latest technologies and techniques. They should have experience working with the defense industry. They should be able to help keep costs low while increasing the efficiency and reliability of products produced.

Means Engineering, Inc. provides contract manufacturing services to a wide range of industries. We have experience working with the medical, aerospace and defense industries. Our team members are committed to providing high quality service to our valued clients. We are a proud to be an AS9100 and ISO 13485 certified company.

New Product Development

November 24, 2017 By meiadmin

New Product Development

New product development is a complex process involving multiple steps. Developing new electronic products requires a lot of time, experience, equipment, knowledge and technology. As such, it is often difficult for small businesses and start-ups to create new products. The following tips can help simplify the process.

Schematic Circuit Design

In order to create a printed circuit board (PCB), you must first produce a schematic circuit design. This provides the blueprint for your PCB. Designing a schematic circuit requires extensive knowledge of electronic devices.

It can helpful to have a second set of eyes look over the plans to see if there are any ways to improve the design or reduce the cost of development.

Printed Circuit Board Design

The next step involves the creation of a PCB layout. It is extremely easy to make errors during this process. Any mistakes made with power or RF circuits can negatively affect the performance of the finished product. Before beginning the PCB layout process, you will need to find out the specifications required by your PCB manufacturer.

Although a portion of the board might be automatically routed, most boards will still require some amount of manual routing. The software used to design the PCB should tell you whether or not your design matches the schematic.

Testing the Prototype

After receiving the first prototype, it will need to be tested and debugged. Issues are extremely common, yet difficult to predict. It’s impossible to know how long it will take to debug the prototype until it has been created and tested for defects.

Programming the Microcontroller

Most modern day electronics are equipped with a microcontroller. The microcontroller is crucial to the operation of these electronic devices. After debugging the PCB prototype, the microcontroller must be programmed. Someone with knowledge of computer language should be in charge of this step.

3D Modeling

3D modeling helps your product stand out from the competition. A 3D modeling expert can help make your product look good. Make sure that you work with someone that has experience with injection technology.

Creating new products is a complex process. A qualified contract manufacturer can help. Contract manufacturers provide a second set of eyes for your project. They can help with all aspects of new product creation from design and manufacture to testing.

Avoiding Problems Associated With Outsourcing

November 10, 2017 By meiadmin

Avoiding Problems Associated With Outsourcing

Most electronics manufacturers simply would not survive without the help of a contract manufacturer (CM). Outsourcing allows electronics companies to create more products, improve quality, save money and reduce time-to-market. Despite the numerous benefits, many OEMs have problems with outsourcing. It’s important to avoid the following pitfalls if you want your CM partnership to be a success.

Choosing the wrong contract manufacturer to work with

Whenever you outsource, you give up control of the manufacturing process. The biggest issues with outsourcing occur when you choose the wrong contract manufacturer. Working with the wrong CM can lead to a number of problems for your business. It’s extremely important that you hire a company you can trust. The right contract manufacturer will become a reliable partner that you can work with for years to come.

Before hiring a company, you need to find out as much as you can about their business. Consider all factors that could affect your relationship with them such as geographic location, technical capabilities, experience, quality control practices as well as strategic and financial fit.

Make sure that the company you choose is able to handle your needs. They should be up-to-date with the latest technologies and techniques. They should be able to handle a wide variety of projects. Experience with multiple industries ensures diverse capabilities.

Spend some time developing a clear set of criteria for your contract manufacturer. A well-developed plan and a methodical process can go a long way towards a successful relationship with your CM.

Inadequate NPI Product Management

New product introductions (NPI) are a crucial part of the OEM/CM relationship. NPI is a complex process, involving multiple steps. In order to successfully create and launch new products, you need the right contract manufacturer on your side.

A CM can help design, produce and test new products. They provide a second set of eyes for your project. They are well positioned to catch flaws in design that could affect performance. The right contract manufacturer will point out ways to reduce costs and time of production.

The right contract manufacturer can help you produce high quality, reliable electronics. This increases public trust in your brand.