A racecar shock systems company turned to Henway Engineering for help when their electronics supplier, the sole provider of the circuitry within their product, started repeatedly extending lead times. When the company inquired about the delays, the vendor candidly admitted they were discontinuing the product and were no longer interested in producing the electronics. The vendor advised them to start looking for a different solution.
The situation was complex for this client—the electronics system was a project of a former employee, and no one at the company knew how it worked. They only knew how to integrate off-the-shelf components. Designing a new custom solution seemed overwhelming, and they didn’t know where to start.
That’s when they approached Henway. We assured them that we could create the electronics they needed to keep their product alive.
Our approach is simple: At Henway PCB Design and Manufacturing, we specialize in assisting companies in gaining control over their electronics and providing customized manufacturing solutions that best suit their needs.
To assist companies like the racecar shock manufacturer in reclaiming control over their electronics designs and ensuring consistent quality and supply chain stability, we offered our 4-step process:
1. Assess the feasibility of maintaining cost and quality after changing suppliers.
2. Develop a prototype to validate the new design and ensure it performs as well as or better than the existing solution.
3. Conduct small-scale in-house production under the supervision of a PCB designer to identify process improvements.
4. Provide comprehensive documentation necessary to reproduce the electronics worldwide.
Henway did an early analysis and determined that meeting their production cost targets and incorporating additional features was feasible. We then created a prototype to fit their unique shape better than before. We managed to reduce the size of their enclosure by nearly 50%, which was advantageous as it made installation less cumbersome. 15 prototypes were made so that we could develop the custom firmware for the microprocessor. The code involved sampling and time stamping various analog signals, buffering them in a large onboard memory, and transmitting the data to a smartphone via Bluetooth LE. Ultimately, we delivered the full manufacturing package to the customer, including engineering files, schematics and PCB layers in PDF format, PCB Gerber files, BOM, P&P data, source code, hex files, block diagrams, project specifications documentation, and more. We compiled everything in a neat and organized file/folder structure compatible with industry standards worldwide.
In the end, the customer transitioned from relying on a reluctant supplier to having complete control over their product’s electronics. Together, we developed a more superior electronics solution that is less costly, more compact, and easier to install.
If you are uncertain about the contents of your electronics design and manufacturing records and want to regain control over your product designs, Henway PCB Design and Manufacturing is here to help. With our expertise in design and manufacturing, we can sometimes perceive opportunities that others can’t and will guide you through every step to ensure the security and control of your product’s future.