If you are a startup and will need to choose someone to manufacture and assemble your electronic circuit board design, read on. In this brief article you’ll learn of our experience in working with startups and our desire to do so.
High tech workers in a high tech city
It seems like every year we read of a news article about the most high tech cities in America, or the best cities to launch a startup in. Without fail, Huntsville, Alabama appears highly ranked in both. The Huntsville area has technically skilled people from production line workers to rocket scientists. It is from this talent pool that Futaba derives its skilled workforce from.
ABC’s Shark Tank
We here at Futaba EMS have had the pleasure of helping startups take their electronics product from CAD files to prototype samples to ultimately large mass production runs. We have had the pleasure of cheering on one of our customers as they appeared on ABC’s popular Shark Tank (https://abc.com/shows/shark-tank)!
Why Futaba EMS?
There are several reasons why startups like to work with Futaba EMS for electronic contract manufacturing and assembly. First off, we are not a massive EMS. Your massive PCB assembly companies are obviously going to assign priority to their huge customers. Such companies typically don’t work with startups and small companies that just need to build a few prototype units or small production runs. Even if they do work with you, your product is going to be low priority for them. They’ll get around to building your circuit boards after they deal with their much larger customers.
Time is of the essence for startups. Startups need to get their product into the marketplace before competitors start springing up. So, startups can’t afford to wait and have their circuit boards built with delay. Therefore, startups should avoid working with large EMS companies.
The second reason startups like to work with Futaba EMS is for our free DFM (Design for Manufacturability) services. Our Process Engineers have seen thousands of circuit boards. They also are intimately familiar with production equipment and processes. So, they know how certain component choices or positioning of components negatively affect the manufacturing cost. We succeed with our customers succeed. We want to help our customers keep manufacturing costs to a minimum. If our customers cannot compete in the marketplace due to having an expensive product due to excessive manufacturing costs, they won’t last long as a customer for us. Therefore, we have a vested interest in making sure our customers have the lowest possible manufacturing cost. From the perspective of manufacturability, our Process Engineers will give constructive criticism regarding the design that the startup can then take to make changes that will reduce their costs of manufacturing.
Our Process Engineers, along with our Purchasing department, can give advice on component changes that could help lower the component cost as well.
Educational Resources
If you are a startup and have an upcoming need to work with an electronics contract manufacturer, you should familiarize yourself with the various terms/acronyms that are used in the circuit board assembly industry. We have a series of articles that your can read on that: https://futabaems.com/pcb-assembly-glossary-of-terms/
Conclusion
Working with startups fit well within our business model. We have a lot of experience helping startups get off the ground and growing. If you are a startup looking to team up with an EMS, consider Futaba EMS. Tell us about your project here and we’ll get in touch within a business day.