Electronics Engineering Archives - Page 8 of 8

Developing an Effective Process for New Product Development

March 3, 2018 By meiadmin

Developing an Effective Process for New Product Development

New product development is crucial to success in an ever-changing marketplace. New products help businesses reach new clients, expand into new markets and increase trust in their brand. Unfortunately, many companies have difficulty with new product development. These companies are either too optimistic or too aggressive.

With technology constantly evolving, the advantages of new electronic devices are often short lived. Companies wishing to stay afloat must constantly develop new ideas and innovations.

In order to create an effective process for new product development, you need to consider your people, products and process. These factors are crucial to success, even if you outsource your new product development to a contract manufacturer.

Team Members

When it comes to your team, it’s important to determine exactly which team members will be responsible for making important decisions. In order to figure out your team members’ roles, you need to thoroughly evaluate the skills and attitudes of each team member.

Every successful team includes people that are willing to attempt new things and make tough decisions. Each person on your team should have a specific job to do based on his or her individual strengths.

New Product

When deciding whether to add to your existing product line or to take a new direction, you’ll need to take a close look at what works and what does not. Evaluate your portfolio for patterns relating to member satisfaction and ROI.

The Process

You’ll need to develop an efficient process for product approval. It’s also crucial to determine exactly how you’ll measure the success of new products.

Outsourcing New Product Development

Many small businesses have a difficult time with new product development. These companies often do not have the space, people, technology or equipment necessary to produce new products. Small businesses can enlist the help of a contract manufacturer.

An experienced contract manufacturer is able to help with the design, production and testing of new products. They provide valuable expertise to help you locate areas to cut costs and make production more efficient. This helps small businesses keep up with ever-changing technologies.

Creating High Quality Medical Devices

February 2, 2018 By meiadmin

Creating High Quality Medical Devices

The medical industry is constantly changing. New medical devices are created at an alarming rate. It’s crucial that the companies creating these devices are able to keep up with the latest technology. Medical devices perform a wide variety of extremely important jobs. Any malfunction or failure can be disastrous.

Medical devices are hardware or software used to treat human beings or diagnose disease. This also includes devices that have a profound effect on patient safety and risk management. Means Engineering, Inc. designs, creates and tests electronic devices for the medical industry. We strive to produce only the highest quality products. We are an ISO 13485-certified contract manufacturer. This ensures the durability and reliability of every product we produce.

Medical Device Regulations

It can be extremely difficult for companies to bring new products to market. This is especially true for medical devices, which must meet a wide range of regulatory standards. These standards are put in place to ensure that medical devices are safe and effective.

A thorough understanding of medical device regulations is crucial if companies wish to succeed in the medical industry. Most of these regulations revolve around Quality Management System (QMS) and risk management principles.

Regulations change rapidly. It’s up to the manufacturer to understand and implement all necessary changes. Using a contract manufacturer to handle the design and production of medical devices can help reduce costs and ensure compliance.

Contract manufacturers keep up with the latest technologies and techniques. They understand the various medical device regulations. They have the equipment, people and space necessary to consistently produce high quality products.

ISO 13485 Certified CM

ISO 13485 is the international standard for medical device manufacturers. Compliance with ISO 13485 helps minimize risk, reduce costs, increase customer satisfaction, increase sales and improve control over processes and internal systems. Certification also allows companies to access new markets and attract new clients.

Means Engineering offers contract manufacturing for a wide range of industries. We work directly with our clients to design, manufacture and test a variety of products. Please contact us for more information about medical device contract manufacturing services.

Importance of Quality Control in Electronics Manufacturing

September 22, 2017 By meiadmin

Importance of Quality Control in Electronics Manufacturing

Outsourced manufacturing is one of the fastest growing trends in the electronics industry today. Many businesses throughout the world use contract manufacturing as a way to cut costs and reduce time to market. This widely accepted business strategy helps businesses of all shapes and sizes remain competitive in an ever-changing marketplace. As a result, many contract manufacturers are strengthening their position by upgrading their facilities and improving their practices.

Using a Contract Manufacturer to Produce Electronic Parts

While contract manufacturers used to only provide assembly of electronics components, many now offer design and full production of products. This often includes testing for quality. Contract manufacturers that offer testing must be extremely careful to follow good manufacturing practices, especially when producing products for demanding fields.

Outsourcing your manufacturing and testing of products has a number of benefits including capital risk reductions, increased asset productivity and access to the latest technologies. When you use a contract manufacturer, they handle everything for you, allowing you to focus your attention on other aspects of your business. Using a contract manufacturer also allows you to catch production issues early, when they can be addressed more effectively.

ISO 9001 Certified Contract Manufacturer

The quality of parts produced is extremely important. Effective quality control measures must be in place to ensure overall quality and reliability of electronic parts produced. In addition to quality, other requirements must also be met such as product yields and time to market.

When selecting a contract manufacturer to work with, you will need to ensure they have the proper certifications and standards in place. Compliance with nationally recognized standards such as ISO 9001 ensures consistent, high quality production.

Final Thoughts

As electronic assemblies become more complex, more and more emphasis is being placed on standardizing quality measurement. However, this can be difficult across multiple assemblies and components.

The contract manufacturer you use should have multiple capabilities and certifications. Means Engineering, Inc. is ISO 9001, AS 9100 and IOS 13485 certified to ensure consistent quality of all parts produced. We are committed to meeting and exceeding our customer’s ever-changing quality requirements. We work directly with you throughout the entire manufacturing process.

Benefits of Residual Gas Analysis

August 25, 2017 By meiadmin

Benefits of Residual Gas Analysis

Residual Gas Analysis (RGA) is used to analyze and document gasses in a vacuum environment. Residual Gas Analyzers have been used in vacuum applications for over 25 years.

Outgassing of materials can negatively affect the assembly and performance of electronic components. RGA is an extremely effective way to monitor a vacuum system for contamination, outgassing and leaks. It also allows for the thorough analysis of gas species inside the vacuum system.

Parts of A Residual Gas Analyzer

An RGA contains an ion source, a mass analyzer and a detector. The ion source converts gas samples into ions. The mass analyzer then sorts the ions by their masses. Next, the detector measures the rate of flow of the charged particles. This process is extremely useful for the detection and quantification of contamination inside a vacuum system.

How A Vacuum System Works

A vacuum pump is used to remove air and other gasses from the vacuum chamber. This creates a low-pressure environment to conduct experiments or test mechanical devices that will be used in outer space. Vacuum chambers have multiple ports to allow for the installation of windows or instruments. These ports are covered with vacuum flanges.

A vacuum system effectively removes microscopic contaminants that might interfere with a process or equipment. A number of applications are commonly applied in a vacuum environment.

RGA As A Production Tool

When used as a production tool, an RGA can effectively increase productivity, throughput and product yield, while reducing costs. RGA is commonly used in research laboratories and manufacturing facilities all over the world.

An RGA is often used to locate contaminants in semiconductor processing systems, search for gasses desorbing off the walls of vacuum chambers and to check for possible leaks in vacuum furnaces.

Improving The Reliability of Electronics

The reliability of electronics is important for a number of industries including medical, aerospace and defense. It’s extremely important that electronic components operate for long periods of time. Unfortunately, these components often fail before they should. The best way to address this issue is with stringent quality control during the manufacturing process.

How Do Printed Circuit Boards Work?

July 21, 2017 By meiadmin

How Do Printed Circuit Boards Work?

Printed Circuit Boards (PCBs) are used to support and wire the components in many electronic devices. In fact, almost every electronic device available today contains at least one PCB. While many simple electronic devices use single layer PCBs, the PCBs in complex devices may have as many as twelve layers. PCBs provide electricity and connectivity to the parts of an electronic device.

How PCBs Are Made

PCBs are made by mounting components on a non-conductive board. These components are connected by small pathways called traces. In addition to the traces, PCBs have several small holes. These holes allow components to sit flush with the surface of the board.

When creating PCBs, electronic engineers must fit several components on a very small space. Components added to printed circuit boards may include microchips, diodes, registers and switches. The traces connect each of the components and provide them with electricity. These connections are crucial to the proper operation of electronic devices. This is why printed circuit boards are so important to electronic engineering.

The bottom layer of a PCB is non-conductive. The top layer is made from a sheet of metal. The metal layer is printed with etch-resistant ink. It is then etched with special chemicals that remove all but the printed design. The components are then connected through soldering. Thousands of printed circuit boards can be printed at one time.

PCB Design

PCBs are typically designed on a computer. This allows electronic engineers to thoroughly test the PCB before it is produced. It also allows for the ideal arrangement of the parts. After design, the printed circuit board can be printed. PCBs are typically designed with a Computer Aided Design or CAD program. CAD software has replaced the need for manual drafting, which is often inefficient.