QualityInspection.org

Quality Assurance, Product Development, and Purchasing Strategies in China

Technology Readiness Levels: A Better Product Development Framework?

Does the Technology Readiness Levels framework (TRL) developed by NASA make sense for your product development situation? Let's compare it to other development frameworks, including medical devices and consumer electronics, to see how the TRLs are related and helpful as milestones to focus on during the development process. … [Read more...]

Why Reliability Testing Is So Important [Podcast]

In this episode… Products failing in the field is a huge problem for manufacturers, especially if they could lead to accidents or injury. With this in mind, Renaud is joined by Andrew Amirnovin, Sofeast's head of New Product Development and product reliability expert with decades of experience, to go through why product reliability testing is so important when designing, developing, and manufacturing a product. They explore what product reliability is compared with quality, what a reliability … [Read more...]

How the right to repair movement & laws may affect manufacturers in future [Podcast]

In this episode... Sofeast's CEO Renaud Anjoran talks about the 'Right To Repair' movement that is gathering pace today. Consumers are calling for it and governments are starting to bring in legislation in order to steer the electronics industry in a more sustainable direction and reduce the huge amount of e-waste being created each year. But if you're manufacturing electronic products, how might it affect you? Having to design for repairability certainly adds new challenges, but … [Read more...]

Manufacture in China, Get Your Product Copied? Not That Simple.

There are many examples out there of companies that got in big trouble because of their suppliers in China. In many cases, a supplier got very tempted to start selling the same product on their customer’s market.  As a result, people who are designing and developing a new product are often reluctant to plan for manufacturing in China, even when the difference in cost will obviously be massive. … [Read more...]

Is It Beneficial To Be First To Market With Your New Product Idea? [Podcast]

In this episode... A recent China Law Blog article questions the wisdom of rushing out your innovative new made-in-China product in order to 'beat the copycats' to market. While there are some situations where this may have some merit, sacrificing IP protection for speed seldom makes sense as you'll find out in this episode. What are the benefits and are they outweighed by the risks? What should you do to protect IP? When is the 'right time' to go public with your exciting new product and … [Read more...]

New Product Launch: Taking Shortcuts vs. Preventing Risks

You are developing a new product. There is currently nothing like your product on the market. You have high confidence that it will be successful (otherwise, why are you working on this project?). You need to make a choice. Do you want to do things fast? That's tempting, because who knows what the market will look like in 12 months. Or do you want to do things right? That means investing money and time in de-risking your project. Let's look at what these 2 approaches mean, in … [Read more...]

Navigating The Product Design and NPI Maze For New Products [Podcast]

In this episode… You've got an idea for a unique new product! Amazing! Now you need to develop that product concept, design it, test and validate it, and much more before finally going into mass production and bringing it to market. You may think that this is a linear process, but in fact, it's more like a complex maze and you may take many twists and turns. Renaud Anjoran is joined by experienced British product designer Andy Bartlett to explore this NPI process and the best practices … [Read more...]

Deliverables Buyers Should Get When Developing A New Product [Podcast]

In this episode... When you develop a new product what deliverables should you be getting during the new product development process in order to assure that your product will make it mass production with the minimum of risks and at the required quality and safety standards? Renaud Anjoran explains the various deliverables, such as your BOM, control plan, validation testing, and more, that you can expect to gain that represent milestones during the NPD process.   Just hit the play … [Read more...]

Developing a New Product? Think of Information Security Management.

More and more prototyping companies who routinely work for large companies have gotten certified to ISO 27001:2013 (*). If you have been scratching your head about what this standard about information security management entails and what it means for you, let me try and help clarify this topic. Here are three aspects that you probably want to check: … [Read more...]

Why New Product Development of Electronics Takes So Long

Over the years, we have been talking to people who are planning to or are in the process of, developing a new product. And there is a very serious mismatch between expectations and reality during the new product development process. So serious that people who are just starting on that path often cannot accept a realistic plan. Unrealistic expectations In their minds, there are only a few steps and a few success milestones. It looks a bit like this:   Harsh reality However, … [Read more...]