From Prototype to Production: The Importance of Design for Manufacturing in the Product Development Cycle

The product development cycle is a complex process that involves several stages, from ideation and prototyping to manufacturing and distribution. At each stage, there are specific challenges that need to be addressed, and design for manufacturing (DFM) is one of them.

DFM is the process of designing a product with the goal of optimizing its manufacturability. The idea is to create a design that can be easily manufactured at scale while minimizing costs and maintaining quality.

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Applied Engineering
Basic Guidance for Performing a Contract Manufacturing Audit  

Routine audits are critical to ensure quality and compliance on products or systems across a network of suppliers and partners. No matter the audit type, it is important to understand the roles within the manufacturing supply chain and to drill down on processes used, especially in the use of contract manufacturing. Every audit is different, but the broader goal is to verify and evaluate what is in place and used by your contract manufacturer. Your audit should identify the strengths and weaknesses of your contract manufacturer. Below you’ll find basic guidance for performing a contract manufacturing audit that will help you achieve quality and compliant manufacturing outcomes. 

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Applied Engineering
Outsourcing Manufacturing Document Management to Streamline Processes

Imagine a world where your business can effectively scale its manufacturing. A world that doesn’t include heavy investment in developing your own infrastructure. Or, inconveniencing functional operations with time-driven activities such as document management. This is, in fact, a reality for businesses that outsource their manufacturing. In fact, since the early 1990s, businesses identified outsourcing as a form of business strategy with an aim to reduce costs. Businesses today still use outsourcing manufacturing to scale quickly and innovate smarter. Businesses outsource many components of manufacturing. Specifically, the areas of their business that cause unnecessary delays or encounter disorganized processes. One of these areas is outsourcing manufacturing document management. Outsourcing manufacturing document management streamlines business processes and results in cost reduction.

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Applied Engineering
Three Reasons Robotics Startups Fail to Scale

As a contract manufacturing company, we help many robotics startups who are struggling to scale their manufacturing. There is usually not one single reason why these startups fail but there are similar shared factors preventing scale and survival. Luckily, failure for robotics startups is not inevitable and is preventable. In this blog, we discuss three common reasons for robotics startups failing to scale.

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Applied Engineering
Supply Chain Solutions that Generate Profits and Increase Efficiency

From toilet paper to baby formula shortages, the importance of supply chain management is deeply felt following the COVID-19 pandemic. Everyday non-specialty items simply aren’t built to handle demand fluctuations. Generally speaking, supplies like these are restocked continuously and usually handled in the most cost-effective way. Therefore, an effective and efficient supply chain management system was not on the radar for most businesses during this time. Pandemics, epidemics, and even times of war reveal how fragile supply chains are. But it shouldn’t take serious events to trigger prioritizing effective and cost reduction strategies for your supply chain management of finished goods. The manufacturing of specialty supplies for energy, medical devices, robotics, semiconductor, and aerospace industries presents an opportunity now more than ever for more resilient supply chain solutions that generate profits and increase efficiency.

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Applied Engineering
3 Advanced Industries Using Electromechanical Contract Manufacturing

Advanced industries like aerospace and life sciences rely on a complex supply chain of sophisticated manufacturers. As technology quickly evolves, specialized fabricators, machine shops, raw material providers and others throughout the supply need to adapt and adjust to meet consumer or commercial demand. In many cases, new advances in technology also create new challenges for electromechanical integration as devices and components become smaller, more adaptable, and increasingly regulated.

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Applied Engineering
9 Benefits of Outsourcing to an International Contract Manufacturer

A major issue that companies face when doing business internationally is whether or not to outsource some of their manufacturing needs to a third party.

More and more businesses, including Apple, Adidas, Hewlett-Packard, and Shell, are outsourcing manufacturing to third-party companies. Moving operations overseas is an enormous undertaking, and outsourcing can remove the bulk of this burden from manufacturers. However, such a significant decision requires careful consideration of several important factors.

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Applied Engineering
6 Benefits of Robotic Systems Integration

Industrial robots were first invented in the 1960s, and the company General Motors used the first one. According to Mike Wilson, author of Implementation of Robot Systems, there were over 2 million robots installed in different industrial sectors in 2015. This number has increased as more and more manufacturers introduce robotic systems integration into their production lines. It’s one of the latest technologies, dubbed the future of manufacturing.

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Applied Engineering