Purpose
- To define the role of Optima Technology Associates, Inc. (OTA) in the successful
design and / or production of customer projects.
- To explain the necessary interaction between all parties in the design and manufacturing
process, including:
- The end-customer
- The designers (OTA)
- Purchasing
- Suppliers
- Compliance / testing
Process Overview
There are 4 major phases to consider with tasks required and ownership described
below
- Proof of Concept
- Prototype
- Design for Manufacture
- Volume Production / Test
Proof of Concept
The goal is to establish if successful completion of the project can meet customer
objectives and for OTA to provide an accurate price quote and project schedule.
This enables the customer to determine project viability. The major tasks to be
performed are:
Product Specification
- Generally collaborative
- Duration generally unknown so OTA’s involvement charged at hourly rate
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To enable all parties to agree on desired design results Define basic product functions
- Performance criteria
- Physical size
- Connectors
- Fault tolerance and protection
- Target cost
- Production quantity
- Compliance standards required
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Scope of Work
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Defines role of OTA in project and assigns task responsibility
- Component selection / procurement
- Prototype costs
- Responsibility for compliance testing
- Documentation requirements
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Test equipment/li>
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Design Project Costing
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Product specification and definition of work scope enable OTA to provide a written
quote / project plan
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Feasibility Study
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OTA examines the feasibility to achieve specification requirements
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Circuit Simulation & Design
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OTA devises circuit design to achieve desired functions and performance. Simulation
and / or breadboard prototypes may be required and a complete circuit diagram is
completed
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Initial Bill of Materials
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Once the circuit diagram is complete an approximate bill of materials can be generated
and projected production costs can be developed
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Prototype Phase
A small number of functional prototypes are built for evaluation. At the conclusion
the customer is supplied with:
- Bill of materials
- PCB source files
- Required test / measurement information on performance
- Assembled prototypes
- List of additional requirements or open issues, if required.
Design for Manufacture
OTA develops the product from prototype to readiness for mass production based on
the expected annual production quantity. A moderate number of pre-production units
should be built to debug / evaluate supply, assembly, handling, and logistic issues.
The pre-production units should be fabricated with the final PCB layout, enclosures/metalwork
and production tool equipment. These units should be subjected to full testing of
all critical parameters for inclusion in your product specifications / marketing
literature.
Volume Production / Test
Transfer via engineering controlled release to Manufacturing & implementation of
production test process which may consist of simple test jigs or fixtures or sophisticated
Automatic Test Equipment (ATE). A Scope of Work, similar in nature to the product
design brief, must be defined first. This should include PCBA testing, finished
system testing, requirements for incoming components, etc.
Summary
OTA’s objective is to produce a complete, accurate and timely design for your project.
It’s our hope that this outline provides our customer’s with a brief description
of the general tasks required and suggested approach to follow to reach this goal.
Please indicate by responding to the following to indicate the status / needs for
your project.
Design Project Checklist
This checklist can be used to define the range of tasks to be considered by Optima
for your project.
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Phase
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Task
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Yes / No
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Proof of Concept
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Product specification
Proof of Principle analysis
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Yes / No
Yes / No
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Prototype
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Component selection
Purchasing / materials analysis
PCB design
Assembly and test
Enclosure, housing
Test bed
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Yes / No
Yes / No
Yes / No
Yes / No
Yes / No
Yes / No
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Design for Manufacture
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Develop electronics for component sourcing
Sourcing
Involvement in pre-production build
Involvement in compliance testing
Technical documentation
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Yes / No
Yes / No
Yes / No
Yes / No
Yes / No
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Test Equipment
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Test parameter definition
Equipment design
Build of test equipment
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Yes / No
Yes / No
Yes / No
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Description / Project Summary (Alpha or Numeric Input)
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