Providing that bit extra
26 April 2010
‘We have to be sure that we always have that little something extra – that extra bit of support, design intelligence, innovation or manufacturing expertise’.
The above was a comment from Gene Holmes, MD of contract manufacturer HCD (Holmes Circuit Designs), when asked how the UK was going to be able to compete in the global electronics industry. Gene started his company as a design consultancy but gradually grew as customers asked for their manufacturing requirements to be met as well. Although still a small company, there are only just over 20 employees, HCD has built up a fair portfolio of services that go beyond those expected from such a small company.
There is one area, particularly relevant to Electronic Product Design readers, that Gene believes provides ‘a difference between us and the rest of the pack’. That difference is simply in design expertise. Many EMS/CEM companies provide design services, but these can be ambiguous. One company’s design service could be a retrospective complaint on a design for test issue, whereas others work with the designer on original product from concept onwards. The difference in skill set required is enormous. Having set out as electronics designers, Gene obviously believes that this difference gives both HCD and its customers an advantage. “We used to only build things we had designed but this is not so true anymore. None-the-less, we spend a lot of time on the data when it comes in before we go on to production. We can give lots of advice, from cost reduction in the BOM to obsolescence advice.”
Gene gave one example of a TV company in South Wales who did their own prototypes but then came to HCD to do the pre-production run of 60 or so, before taking on full production themselves again. They essentially used HCD’s blend of design and production experience to verify and optimise the manufacturability of the design.
This brings me round to a rather obvious addition to the printed copy of EPD that has prompted mostly favourable, and a few puzzled, comments since the April issue appeared. The magazine was split into two sections - EPD and our sister title Electronics Manufacture & Test. People like Gene could see the significance and advantages of doing this. The days of the designer in the ivory towers are long since over. ‘Time to market’, ‘first time right’ and ‘cost down’ are the new paradigms and those designers who understand the manufacturing process and the manufacturers who understand the design are going to be the ones set to prosper.
I go back to Gene’s opening comment, for Britain to remain Great we need to be finding that little bit extra. Hopefully by sharing the knowledge across the entire electronics community we are helping to achieve that. Anybody who wishes to ensure they get their regular copy can register (for free) here.
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