Real Time Knowledge, Bottom Line Results
"The way to go about winning today is to obsolete the current advantages of the leader." -- Richard D'Aveni, professor of business strategy at the Amos Tuck School at Dartmouth College.
Introduction
In today’s “hyper-competitive” business world, getting and keeping an edge on the competition is nearly impossible. The old model that seeks to avoid competition and is tolerant of long development cycles is dead. This new world is characterized by a quick-strike mentality on the part of companies aimed specifically at disrupting the competitive advantage of market leaders.
The primary force driving this new era of hyper-competition is rapid technological change. New technology is not only increasing the pace of new product introductions, it is also enabling entirely new business models (e.g. globalization) that can often significantly lower development and manufacturing cost.
In this new environment, companies that work with “cutting edge” technology must stay lean, keeping their staff focused on high value add activities. These forward-looking companies are always seeking ways to streamline the development of their next generation products.
NPI Services is a company whose business model fits neatly into this paradigm. NPI provides support for engineering designers with quick turn prototype solutions. NPI can also provide a bridge to production manufacturing by ensuring that all DFM (Design for Manufacturability) requirements are accurately completed and communicated. NPI will also work directly with the supply chain to source the lowest cost/highest quality components.
Quick Turn Prototyping
Prototyping is a very important step in new product development. Inefficiency at this critical stage can add weeks or even months to a development cycle significantly extending time-to-market (TTM). NPI can work directly with your company’s engineering team to build and deliver prototypes often in as little as 48 hours while maintaining the highest level of quality. Services provided at this stage include:
- PCB CAD Design services
- BOM change management
- Printed circuit board (PCB) fabrication
- Device programming and socket development
- Kitting
- Circuit card assemblies (CCA)
- Conformal coating
- Functional test per customer supplied HW and SW specifications
- Sheet metal fabrication
- Source system cables
NPI will optimize these activities by working with the local contract manufacturer best suited to your project and if necessary will hand deliver the prototypes to your door to shorten transportation time and eliminate the risk that your valuable prototype(s) will be damaged due to improper handling.
The NPI advantage also includes dedicated program management. By outsourcing to NPI, your project is not only managed by individuals who specialize in prototype development, you offload critical staff, keeping them focused on high value-add tasks. This results in lowered overhead and increased productivity, both essential to surviving in today’s global economy.
If required, NPI will also provide a staff test engineer to execute system/functional tests to your specifications. This eliminates unnecessary delays, ensures the expected level of quality the first time, and again offloads critical staff.
Manufacturing Readiness
Production manufacturing organizations almost always need to have completed documentation and often require “golden” units before the manufacturing process begins. While some contract manufacturers will perform these tasks, it can often be an expensive and tedious process especially when working with manufacturers in other states or countries. NPI, located in Costa Mesa, California, can be onsite to work directly with your engineering team, and, can completely offload your team from working with the manufacturers. Additionally, NPI can provide the following:
- Cost reduction strategies
- Innovative assembly solutions to new manufacturing processes
- Verified (“Scrubbed”) Documentation for Manufacturing
Conclusion
As noted above, in today’s hyper-competitive business world, companies are always looking to gain an edge on their competition. Working with NPI yields lower costs and faster TTM while maintaining the highest quality.
About NPI Services
NPI Services is a leader in the prototype turnkey contract manufacturing services industry, focusing on quality PCBAs, on-time delivery and cost effective solutions. NPI Services is located at 3554 Business Park Drive, Suite G, Costa Mesa, CA 92626. Phone: 714-850-0550 Fax: 714-850-1513. Internet: www.npiservices.com
NPI Services and the NPI Services logo are trademarks or registered trademarks of NPI Services, Inc. in the United States and other countries. All other third party marks mentioned herein may be trademarks of their respective owners. Copyright © 2008 NPI Services, Inc. All Rights Reserved.