Some companies find themselves in a difficult position when they don’t own the intellectual property of their products’ electronics. The inevitable day comes when they need to make a change—perhaps to add a feature, fix a bug, or worse, deal with a supplier that suddenly stops production—and realize they are stuck. That’s precisely the situation one of our recent customers faced, and they turned to Henway PCB Design and Manufacturing for a solution.
This customer, who sells a battery-operated cosmetic device with a built-in wireless charger similar to those used in electric toothbrushes, was caught off guard when their supplier of the wireless transmitter suddenly stopped fulfilling orders. The transmitter was a critical component, and they had thousands of units already produced and waiting for this part. With only a limited stock left, they needed a new transmitter design that would fit into their current system—and they needed it fast.
The customer chose Henway because of our ability to handle the design and production of electronics both domestically in the USA and offshore. Since their final product was assembled offshore, they preferred to keep everything on that side of the globe, which made perfect sense from a logistical standpoint. We assured them that we could manage the entire process smoothly but emphasized the importance of following a specific order of operations to get the job done quickly and efficiently:
Step One: First, we need to ensure that we can supply them with the new electronics for the per-piece price they need. We informed the customer that our expert design and manufacturing team can make accurate cost predictions early in development. Let’s leverage this capability. Additionally, let’s consider if there are any opportunities for improvements, such as adding new features or addressing any existing issues.
Second Step: Make a prototype of the device and validate it. We’d take care of that and assemble the prototypes using our in-house PCB assembly services to squash the timeline.
Third Step: Conduct a pilot production of at least 500 units in-house at our design and manufacturing headquarters in Ohio. We want to see this product in a production setting from start to finish, including testing procedures to create step-by-step guides and quality assurance checklists.
Fourth Step: Transition to offshore manufacturing. Once confident, we shipped the production files, detailed how-to guides, samples, pictures, and the test setup hardware to our offshore contract manufacturer. We assisted them in procuring the supplies, answered all their questions, and instructed them to ship us the first article samples for our approval.
Fifth Step: Approve the start of mass production.
By following these steps, we were able to replace the discontinued transmitter with a custom-designed one that fit perfectly into their existing product line with minimal customer involvement. Not only did the customer regain control over the IP of their electronics, but they also gained the ability to add features that were previously impossible with the last supplier—such as LED feedback on the base of the charger to indicate charging status and illuminate their logo.
This project is an excellent example of how Henway PCB Design and Manufacturing helps companies regain control of their product designs and future-proof their businesses. If your company is at risk because you don’t own the IP of your product, reach out to us. We’ll help you navigate the process, manage production logistics, and add that extra flair you’ve always wanted.