(December 1, 2006) Media Interview by Ron Schneiderman
Judy Greenspon is the president of Costa Mesa, California-based NPI Services and is an expert in global semiconductor purchasing, rapid prototype development and improving electronic manufacturers’ bottom line by involving purchasing at the prototype level of new product introduction. eepn2's Ron Schneiderman spoke with her about how a company like NPI Services can help designers meet time-to-market goals by focusing on the critical prototype stage of development.

eepn2: Much of the work you do for your clients is focused on purchasing at the prototype level of a new product introduction. Why is this important?
Greenspon: It’s important to verify that the components that engineers are selecting are readily available, and that the part numbers are updated. With so many manufacturers changing their part number conventions due to RoHS [the European Union’s Restrictions on Hazardous Substances directive] implementation, some part numbers could be invalid at the prototype stage. So, we validate that. We also validate supply chains to ensure that the prototype will be there to meet the prototyping schedule. If there’s some reason it’s not going to be available, we raise a flag prior to the board being laid out so that, if they need to make any changes due to availability, they have time to implement the change without affecting the overall schedule.

eepn2: What kind of prototype services are you offering now?
Greenspon: Over the last eight years, we have expanded our signature prototyping services from the business-focused electronic industry to automotive, wired and wireless communications, consumer, industrial, aerospace, and personal computing hardware segments. We do everything from turnkey management to kitting for up to 500 pieces, special component procurement, bill of material component analysis, bill of material RoHS conversions, production quotation analysis, and cost reduction strategies.

eepn2: How can a service like yours help get a prototype done in time and under budget?
Greenspon: Our focus is strictly on prototyping. That’s what sets us apart. It’s the core of our business. All of our resources are dedicated to helping customers achieve time-to-market goals and budget goals. Prototyping is always a subset of any organization, whether you’re the contract manufacturer who is overwhelmed with a tremendous number of micromanagement details that need to be processed to build a prototype, or it’s your own internal resources that are battling revenue pressures to get products out the door. Prototyping is not the organization’s priority. With NPI, it is our true focus.

eepn2: What are the biggest pitfalls when developing new product prototypes?
Greenspon: I think the biggest problem is not getting purchasing involved. Working in a vacuum and then throwing the design specs over the wall to the production people, then all of a sudden, it’s ‘oh, well this had a huge minimum order quantity requirement and a 12-week lead time.’ That is what can really deter a program. By getting us involved, we omit that risk.
eepn2: What advice would you give anyone developing prototypes?

Greenspon: Clear communications is critical. You have so many people involved in this process— marketing, engineering, operations—and everyone is trying to protect their space until their work is completed and ready to release to someone else in the organization. So, we help them move the program forward smoothly. We’re quick to raise flags. A client recently asked us about any lead-time problems he might have on five projects. We identified sole-source devices and unique materials that had a huge minimum and a long lead-time. And we hadn’t even built the first prototype yet. So, their operations people had this insight, which will enable them to better plan their production. They’re now focused on critical components that could affect the whole program, but with this advance information, they now know where to focus and what to work on. The problem here, like with any organization, is ‘What is your customer’s forecast?’ That’s a production problem—trying to anticipate market share and your customer’s ultimate requirements—while we focus on prototypes.

eepn2: It seems that larger companies would be more sophisticated and would be thinking about some of the issues you’re discussing. Is this true?
Greenspon: It’s pretty much across the board. The bigger they are, the more political it gets, the more engineers will try to hold things close to their chest. Once an engineer releases a product into a supply chain management system, he has to drive any change via an ECO [engineering change order]. So, the cleaner his design is going into the system, the better off it is for the operations and production people.

eepn2: You seem to favor outsourcing low-volume prototypes in some of your literature. Why is that?
Greenspon: It depends on the client. We deal with start-ups, which have no internal resources. We work with very sophisticated OEMs with all the resources, and also with research labs. If you wanted to hire a program manager to manage your prototyping or production, you need to know that you have enough activity to keep that person busy. I have clients who spend a couple years developing an ASIC, and they haven’t even built a prototype. Now, they’re ready to go to a prototype, but having someone fully employed waiting for this product is not rational or very efficient.

eepn2: Have you found your client base flexing or changing in the last few years? For example, are you working with more small companies or start-ups?
Greenspon: Our clients are all over the map. The one thing I am seeing is more outsourcing to India and China with some of the simpler types of programs that can be outsourced.

eepn2: How are you involved in product redesign that would be impacted by the EU’s RoHS directive?
Greenspon: We have been doing this for two-and-a-half years now, and it’s a great service for our regular customers. In working with some of our aerospace accounts, it has really affected us because that industry sector is exempt from the RoHS directive and we have to continue to maintain the delivery of leaded—not lead-free [as required by the RoHS directive]—components. This has driven some of the pricing up and we have tried to order larger quantities. For other clients, it’s history for us. We’re doing [RoHS work] across the board now for most of our clients, except for aerospace and medical, which also is exempt.

eepn2: Your company literature mentions that you have undergraduate students on your staff. What do they bring to the program?
Greenspon: They bring outstanding computer skills. And we’re offering them networking opportunities, as well as practical bill of material analysis experience, which they don’t get in school. It’s really a win-win situation. They’re learning and we’re getting a lot of satisfaction in helping them learn, so when they come out of school they’re better prepared to actually jump right into product development. It also lets them see what the real world of R&D is all about. They’re getting exposure to a wide variety of products and components, as well as companies.