Tolerances directly influence the cost and performance of a product. Smaller tolerances can make a part more difficult to manufacture and therefore often more expensive. With this in mind, it is important to find a balance between the manufacturability of the part, its functionality, and its cost.

Cloud Manufacturing is the next great advance in lean production. In many of the same ways that cloud computing enabled software companies to be more agile, with lower fixed costs, and greater elasticity than ever before, Cloud Manufacturing will enable hardware OEMs to respond to changing market conditions faster, and with lower total costs than traditional contract manufacturing.

Prototypes for industrial automation projects, not to mention more critical applications, are routinely done in China. These same designs are then given to supply chain teams that place the manufacturing orders with the lowest bidders in factories all over the world with no regard for security or IP protection. Supply chain security - for the real, physical supply chain, is incredibly difficult. And we’re exposed.

In case you missed it, we co-hosted a webinar with Autodesk to discuss how adapting some overlooked design practices can help you design and produce manufacturable boards, eliminate the need for multiple board re-spins, and reduce the time spent on design revisions. 

In some cases, a single key component shortage can put the manufacturing of a system in a line-down situation. However, by designing for success early in the development process and establishing a supply risk mitigation plan with your manufacturing partners, the potential supply chain issues can be minimized or eliminated entirely.