Means Engineering, Inc.

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


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

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.

 

Testing Materials

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Consumers today expect high quality products that perform as expected time and time again. Unfortunately, companies often struggle to meet consumer demand.

Testing finished products helps catch potential problems that consumers might experience after purchase. However, testing shouldn’t only take place at the end of production. Testing each component throughout production helps catch issues sooner when they are easier to fix.

Regular testing provides important information about materials, prototypes, and product samples. This information can help engineers, designers, and production managers meet the requirements of regulatory agencies, evaluate product design, and verify a production process.

Proving Compliance

Products used in critical applications such as those used by the medical, aerospace, and defense industries must meet extremely strict requirements for both quality and reliability. This is because failure of these products could cause harm or affect the livelihood of the people that use them.

In order to prevent problems, government agencies set compliance guidelines that manufacturers must meet prior to sale. Companies responsible for the creation of certain products must adhere to these guidelines which include test procedures used to prove compliance.

Material Testing

The quality of materials used is as, if not more important, than the processes used to produce new products. With so many different types of materials available, it can be extremely difficult to know which type is best for each application or use. Testing materials helps manufacturers determine whether a specific material is appropriate for its intended application. This can have a significant impact on the quality and reliability of finished products.

Design Improvements

Regular testing helps locate areas that could benefit from improvement. This might include a simple change of material type, or it could mean changing the design completely. It’s much better to make these changes before or during production than waiting until you’re faced with a defective product or prototype.

There are several different ways to test products and materials. The method used depends on the intended use of the finished product.

Working with a quality contract manufacturer ensures testing takes places and potential issues are resolved quickly and efficiently. This helps prevent defective products which can lead to costly returns and/or recalls. Please contact us to learn about our testing policies.

 

 

Best Practices for New Product Introductions

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Companies today must continually release new products to keep up with consumer demand. This can be difficult when you have distributed teams working with external suppliers. Slip ups are common. Unfortunately, one mistake can create numerous problems for your business. It’s important to ensure that everyone is on the same page when it comes to new product introductions.

What is NPI?

New Product Introduction (NPI) includes all of the processes and activities involved with the design, development, and launch of a new or improved product.

New product introduction (NPI) processes affect every part of production from concept through competition. It’s crucial that companies review and refine these processes to ensure smooth and efficient product development and introduction.

Importance of NPI Best Practices

Around 80% of new products fail. This is an unsettling statistic for any company responsible for the design and creation of new products. Fortunately, there are some NPI best practices that can improve your chances of success. These processes revolve around understanding the consumer, clear communication, and ensuring high quality design and development.

Customer-Focused Approach

The creation of every product begins with design and innovation. During the design process, companies should consider the needs of the consumer. For best results, figure out how your product can solve a problem or relieve a pain point for the customer.

Taking a customer-focused approach to the design process improves the odds of success exponentially. Talking to existing and potential customers provides a unique opportunity to learn what’s needed and what’s important. Performing market research helps define product requirements.

Communication is Key

Clear communication is key to the successful design and creation of new products. This is especially true when working with an external partner. Everyone should know what is expected and what’s going on.

Quality and Consistency

It doesn’t matter how well a company knows the needs of their consumers or how well they communicate these needs with their suppliers if they don’t have the processes in place to ensure the quality and consistency of each product produced.

Utilizing the help of an experienced contract manufacturer ensures the production of high quality products. Partnering with a CM early in the process helps improve design. The right contract manufacturer tests every component throughout the production process. This helps catch issues early, when they’re easier to fix.

Means Engineering provides a wide range of contract manufacturing services. Please contact us to learn how we can assist with New Product Introductions.

 

 

 

How Organizations Utilize Contract Manufacturing

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Businesses around the world utilize contract manufacturing. These businesses understand the benefits of partnering with a quality CM. For new businesses or businesses just starting to look into the opportunity of outsourcing, the concept of contract manufacturing can be hard one to grasp. While most people understand the general idea behind contract manufacturing, many don’t understand how or when to utilize these services.

What is a Contract Manufacturer?

A contract manufacturer helps with the production of products and components. Businesses utilize contract manufacturers during various stages of production. Some businesses use CMs to handle all parts of production from design to manufacturing.

Although other services exist, the following are the most common ways in which organizations utilize contract manufacturing.

Design Services

When utilized in the design process, a quality contract manufacturer provides a second set of eyes for design plans. The right CM will work with you to help locate areas of the design that could benefit from improvement. This is usually minor changes that improve quality and/or reduce the cost of production.

Many contract manufacturers provide a variety of design services. However, not all companies provide the same level of service. Make sure you choose a CM with experience working with the type of product you wish to offer. This is especially important when designing complex electronics products.

Production Services

Contract manufacturers produce parts or products under the name of the company that hires them. This helps reduce costs, improve time to market, and increase the overall quality of the finished product. An experienced contract manufacturer provides a variety of production services including complex box builds, precision machining, high purity welding, clean room assembly, and more.

When choosing a CM to work with, make sure you locate a respected company with robust NPI processes in place.

Product Testing

Testing helps ensure the quality and consistency of parts and products. An experienced CM will test parts and components several times throughout production. This makes it possible to catch potential issues long before they are able to cause a problem.

Means Engineering, Inc. provides a wide range of contract manufacturing services to businesses both large and small. Please contact us for more information about our design, production, and testing services.

 

Wastes of Lean Manufacturing

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In the manufacturing industry, waste refers to any action or step that does not add value to the customer. These are all of the little extras within a process that the customer does not want to pay for. The goal of lean manufacturing is to remove waste from the manufacturing process.

Taiichi Ohno, father of the Toyota Production System (TPS) identified the original seven wastes of manufacturing. An eighth waste was added in the 1990s when TPS was adopted by the western world. The 8 wastes of lean manufacturing include:

  • Transportation
  • Inventory
  • Motion
  • Waiting
  • Over-production
  • Over-processing
  • Defects
  • Skills

It’s important that manufacturers learn all they can about wastes in the manufacturing process.

Transportation

Waste in transportation occurs when people, tools, inventory, equipment, or products must be moved further than reasonably necessary. Manufacturers can eliminate transportation waste by ensuring workers have everything they need to complete each project close at hand. This includes, but is not limited to, all necessary people, equipment, tools, and materials.

Inventory

Excessive inventory can cause problems for manufacturers. Having too much inventory can lead to damaged materials, greater lead times, and inefficient allocation of capital. Problems such as over-purchasing and over-production often result in extra inventory. In order to combat waste, manufacturers should purchase raw materials only when they need them, reduce buffers between production steps, and create a queue system to prevent over-production.

Motion

Waste in motion includes any extra movement required to complete a task. This includes having to walk to fetch tools or materials and spending excessive amounts of time searching through inventory. Keeping work spaces organized, materials close at hand, and reducing inventory can help eliminate waste caused by motion.

Waiting

Waste occurs when staff must wait for materials or equipment, email responses, and computer programs to load. Using standardized work instructions and utilizing multi-skilled workers who are better equipped to adjust to changing demands is the best way to eliminate waste caused by waiting.

Over-Production

Producing more products than required can create a lot of waste. Manufacturers should take care to only produce as many products as required.

Over-Processing

Over-processing occurs when staff performs more steps or adds more components than required to complete the project. Before starting any project, its important staff fully understands what the customer wants. This sets the standard for what needs to be done.

Defects

An obvious cause of waste, defects require scrapping and reworking of products. The best way to prevent waste caused by defects is to fully test all components throughout production.

Skills

Although not part of the original seven wastes, most manufacturers recognize the waste caused by not utilizing employee skills and talents. Manufacturers can prevent waste by allowing staff members to provide input and throughout the manufacturing process.

 

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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