The number of new products to be launched on Kickstarter or Indiegogo has grown very fast. It seems not a week passes without a start-up team contacting us for either developing a new product or for help on their production in China. Some projects are very successful and raise important amounts of funding on these platforms. Most projects raise more modest funds and don’t receive much publicity. However, some are worth studying. Not just because their products can be pretty innovative, but … [Read more...]

This is the last article in our series about what it takes to develop a complex electronic product in China. We'll look at ways to save on the costs of electronic components, and how to make assembly easier. Ideally, your Chinese contract manufacturer would help you on this topic. Especially with making assembly easier, since it translates into fewer quality issues and delays. In reality, it is up to the buyer & designer to come up with these types of improvements. 1. Cost Saving … [Read more...]

This is the next article in our series that aims at giving readers an idea of what it takes to develop a complex electronic product in China. So you have prototypes. Before you start to work toward mass production, you probably want to refine the design. It usually takes one of the following two forms: Optimizing the material selection Miniaturizing some elements (This is not exhaustive. Many other aspects can be optimized -- for example power consuption, performance of the product, … [Read more...]

This is the fifth article in our series about what it takes to develop an electronic product in China. Let's look at the prototyping stage. The imaginary example we thought of, the Drone Intruder Interception System, is a complex design. It would require many different prototype models which would require different prototyping methods. For each element, there needs to be functional prototypes that not only work and function on their own but also as a system. This allows for individual … [Read more...]

After the design of the PCBA schematics comes the time to choose a chip set and to start working on the firmware. (If you are not inclined to read technical how-to articles, this will be quite boring to you... But we are trying to give a complete picture of what it takes to develop an electronic product.) Let's look at these 2 steps one by one. 1. Chip set selection A microprocessor uses microelectronic fabrication techniques to shrink the Central Processing Unit (CPU) to a very small … [Read more...]

The board schematics and the choice of chip set are an important step when developing an electronic product. Let's look into this, in this third article in our series (part 1 is here, part 2 is here) In a complex product system like we are discussing with the drone intruder interceptor, there will be multiple printed circuit board assemblies (PCBA), each having a specific function within the system. Some of these PCBAs will be size sensitive, which may require dedicated miniature or micro … [Read more...]

Last week I posted part 1 of our series on What It Takes to Develop a New Electronic Product in China. In this second part we look at R&D and at the evaluation of power consumption. 1. R&D (both in-house & with a manufacturing partner) 1.1 Functional and System Development Research and development involves a lot of work that is typically split between your in-house capabilities (if you employ designers and engineers) and your supplier capabilities. One one extreme is a … [Read more...]

More and more companies work with a Chinese manufacturing partner to develop a new complex new product that includes electronic and mechanical components. We decided to start a new series of articles. It will be based on a fictitious new product. The product concept There are more and more drones, sometimes used for malevolent purposes (checking if an isolated villa can be broken into, etc.). This situation creates a need for a solution to "arrest" a drone without causing safety concerns … [Read more...]

A friend shared an interesting article from The Economist with me. It is entitled Shenzhen is a hothouse of innovation. What really allowed Shenzhen to become so economically successful? Because of the open policy that started there? Because it is close to Hong Kong? Yes but also for other reasons. The official story attributes Shenzhen’s success to brave party leaders and far-sighted policies. Deng Xiaoping is lauded for liberalising the region’s economy. Later political leaders receive … [Read more...]

If you want to work with a Chinese manufacturer to develop a new product, you need to evaluate their engineering capability. (If you only buy off-the-shelf products, this article won't be useful.) In addition to the questions a purchaser can ask prior to a visit, there are 5 key attributes you really need to check. Those 5 attributes will move your new product through the product development phases and into production more or less quickly. Typically, one of your designers/engineers … [Read more...]