Article

Design and Supply Adds Value to Electronics Design Services

Microwave Engineering Europe, January 2005

Electronics design consultancies have traditionally operated by performing design services for their clients on a subcontract basis. A client would have a requirement for a specific component, product or system and would subcontract the design activity and pay a fee for the design services provided. This approach has been used by a wide range of clients over the years, from Original Equipment Manufacturers (OEMs) seeking to extend their product range to system integrators wishing to source customer specified sub-systems.

Supply

In recent years the design phase of product developments has become increasingly undervalued. The effort required to design and develop a modern communications product, such as a multi-media handset or a custom telemetry transceiver, is substantial. Even more modest sub-system developments require a sustained team effort adopting concurrent engineering practises in order to realise a product that not only has the desired functionality and performance but can be manufactured, tested and supplied in the required volumes. It does not make good commercial sense to try to minimise the design costs without considering the long-term consequences of such a short term saving. Whilst this statement may seem obvious the reality is that the value placed on design is increasingly below the necessary cost.

The steady decline in the value placed on design by many product suppliers has led design consultancies to seek alternative means of adding to the perceived value of their offering. One way in which this has been successfully addressed by Plextek is by offering a "Design and Supply" service for clients that have a requirement for custom electronic products. Plextek is able to draft a detailed requirement specification, undertake the detailed design and development and look after the manufacture, test and supply of the end product. The necessary approvals required to meet appropriate national and international regulatory requirements, such as CE marking, E marking and FCC compliance, are also accommodated within the design and supply process.

For low production volumes, typically in the tens to hundreds, Plextek has a purpose built assembly and test lab. Higher volumes are accommodated through partnerships with approved Contract Electronics Manufacturers (CEMs). Strong supply chain relationships have been developed with a range of local, national and international contract manufacturers.

Vehicle Recovery System

The move to add value to the traditional subcontract design services by offering a "design and supply" service has worked very well. Indeed, Plextek has recently been awarded its largest contract in fifteen years of trading. The contract is with US company LoJack Corporation to design and supply its next generation of international stolen vehicle recovery technology. LoJack is the undisputed leader in global stolen vehicle recovery, operated in the UK by TRACKER Network (UK) Ltd. Plextek will design and supply a new version of Lojack's in-vehicle radio transceiver. This transceiver enables police forces to detect and track stolen vehicles directly. The transceiver will be scalable and flexible, supporting Global Positioning System (GPS) and cellular technologies, allowing these technologies to be combined with LoJack's RF-based stolen vehicle recovery technology. The new design will also be reduced in size, allowing it to be installed covertly in even more locations in the customer's vehicle than at present.

Design for Manufacture

There has always been a strong focus on Design For Manufacture (DFM) in all of Plextek's electronic product developments and this has made the provision of a design and supply service more straightforward than it might have otherwise been. It is vital that the manufacturing process is considered as an integral part of the design from the outset in order to ensure problem free production. Other examples of design and supply contracts that Plextek has previously undertaken include:

· VHF base station receivers and transceivers
· 2.4GHz PA modules
· Subsystems for avionics radar
· FPGA based radar DSP board
· WLL installation equipment
· Channel sounding equipment
· Bluetooth hands-free car kits
· Specialised 19" rack mounted manufacturing functional test systems

In all of these cases the supply of a stand-alone design service, without the supply element, would have been unlikely to win the contract. The availability of design and supply provided the added value required to win the business.

Written by Mr Liam Devlin, Director of RF Integration Group