The adventures of developing and manufacturing products when you're a small, new company

Written by: João Valente

Developing a new product is a process with multiple stages. In every single one of them, the company is relying on suppliers and manufacturers. From the early stages of prototyping, until the market launch.

Startups that develop hardware, as Adapttech does, face multiple challenges that older, bigger companies have gone through in early stages of their existence. Given the requirements of our devices, most of the components are custom made. That made it harder to achieve. So, how have we done it?

EARLY PROTOTYPES

Once the initial requirements were defined, a first prototype had to be built. The expectations for a first prototype have to be realistic. Most likely it won’t be perfect, it might not even work.

It is nowadays possible to produce a working prototype with very reduced costs with 3D printing. 3D printers became affordable tools and with its use it is now possible to prototype fast and iterate very quickly. In the beginning, we used 3D printed parts as fully working parts. This way, we were able to validate or compare design choices. Printing parts when possible also gave us peace of mind when ordering machine parts or when closing designs for plastic injection molds. It allowed us to validate the design without worrying to end up with faulty and expensive machine parts on our hands.

For the electronics we followed a similar approach. PCB assemblies have considerable cost when dealing with small quantities, don’t be afraid to use the soldering iron indoors. Same thing goes for cable assemblies. While being time consuming, manufacturing indoors can be only option all things considered. Early prototypes are built in very limited quantities, so it is still possible to do so with limited resources and funds. Early versions of the electronics inside the Wearable and Scanner were tested ordering bare PCBs and soldering them in our office. The cabling connecting all the automation components inside the Scanner was also fabricated indoors, and then used as reference for production.

As the product keeps being evolved, three things must be kept in mind. Every single part of the product should be possible to produce in a larger volume. On the other hand, it is advisable to keep in mind the cost involved in certain technologies when they are targeted as a future production option. Finally, use off-the-shelf and standard components when possible.

CONTACT NETWORK

As the development cycle advances, the components used must step up towards their final form. Things that were not considered in the beginning started to gain weight: robustness, reliability and unit cost.

The biggest challenge is to create a network of contacts with suppliers and manufacturers. Gather as much information about every single company that meet your specific needs. The best way to find what you need isn’t always at webpage’s distance. Grab your phone and ask former colleagues and friends that work in the same or similar industries. Some of the companies that are already working with you can also help you in that matter. Their contact network can help you grow yours.

SCALE/VOLUME/QUANTITIES

When contacting a manufacturer to produce a custom component, there is a question that always arises: “how many are you going to make?”. The more the better, but that is not always possible.

We followed a simple rule: be realistic. Creating false expectations can lead to higher prices in the future and/or a bad relationship with the supplier. If a company is not willing to work with the volume that you are predicting to produce, find alternatives. Smaller companies will be happy not only to work with you, but to do so at a better cost without compromising quality. It is also common for smaller companies to be more open to tailor their manufacturing process for your needs.

As previously stated, we made sure that we developed our products in a way that involved technologies and lead times that met our goals and budget. This involved discarding methods that required producing quantities that we would never be able to meet or required lead times that were not compatible with our timeline.

PARTNERS

Suppliers for custom components should be treated as partners. They have expertise in their line of work, and therefore can be helpful to develop and improve your product. Build trust and share insights on goals and concerns. Both companies and individuals involved will benefit from it. Input given from individuals outside the company are precious. Being deeply involved in the development process can be blinding. Often improvements, design flaws or alternatives are presented by people that had contact with a product for the first time.

At Adapttech, we always try to simplify all the processes not only on our side but also for the supplier. Meeting processes that are already implemented can reduce cost and lead times, while minimizing stress and potential errors.

COMPANIES ARE AWARE OF HARDWARE STARTUPS

Hardware startups certainly have a lot of obstacles to overcome. One of the biggest manufacturing hurdles are the short lead times that haunt startups in general. Well established companies can parallelize development of new generations of products, with more time for each one of them.

That doesn’t mean it is not possible. In fact, we did it. Prototyping technologies were used indoors relying mostly on ourselves in the beginning. We then started introducing our ideas and objectives to potential partners, always keeping in mind plans in the long run. Relationships with suppliers became stronger over time, nourishing Adapttech’s growth and enhancing us as professionals.