Tips to Choose A Reliable Electronic Design Services Partner

The Global Electronic Contract Manufacturing & Design Services Market size is expected to reach USD 2,415.94 million in 2022. It is projected to reach USD 4,050.14 million by 2027 at a CAGR of 10.83%. There is a trend that more and more companies prefer to outsource electronic design services, especially for those startups that lack expertise and resources in the electronic design field. Working with a reliable electronic design services partner can bring a lot of benefits, on the one hand, they provide you access to all resources and knowledge required including cutting-edge equipment and competent electronic design engineers. On the other hand, they help you shorten design time and speed up the time-to-market of your products at lower costs.

But there are so many electronic design service providers in the market, do you know how to choose a good one? Well, it can be tricky if you are a newbie in this area, as there are a number of aspects that you should consider when choosing the right partner. In this blog, we list the top considerations meaning to help you filter your options and find the most reliable electronic design services partner. Let’s explore them one by one:

1. Expertise and Capabilities

When choosing an electronic design partner, their expertise and capabilities are one of the most important considerations. So how do you know if they are capable of handling your electronics design project? First, you need to find out if their design team is professional, if the engineers are certified, if they are proficient in computer-aided design (CAD) software, PCB design and layout tools, and more. Second, you can ask about the equipment and design tools they used. Advanced design tools have more functions and can help engineers better handle various types of electronic design projects. Finally, before delivering the design to the customer, the professional electronic design company will carry out multiple verifications, and test including multiple internal reviews of the schematic and PCB layout.

2. Experience with Similar Projects

Although the scope of services provided by electronic design companies is roughly the same, their expertise and project experience are still different. For example, some companies are good at designing household electronic products, and some are good at designing medical electronic equipment. Therefore, when choosing electronic design partners, you should give preference to companies that have experience in similar projects or have experience designing electronic equipment in the same industry as yours. Having relevant experience can speed up the entire design process, because they know the standards and regulations in the relevant industry and which electronic components are commonly used in this type of product, so they can better meet your requirements.

3. Project Management

An excellent electronic design company has a sound project management system, they have efficient internal collaboration, and good communication skills. The key people of a project include project managers, technical leaders, account managers, and engineers. It is crucial to have experienced project managers, who are mainly responsible for the communication and collaboration between the two parties, confirming the detailed schedule of the project and controlling the budget of the entire project. In addition, it is also necessary to confirm that these key people speak the same language, so as to ensure smooth communication and pleasant cooperation between the two parties.

4. Intellectual Property Rights

One of the most important things in outsourcing electronic design services is intellectual property, and it is important to choose a partner who respects intellectual property and helps you protect it. MOKO Technology itself also owns dozens of patents, so we attach great importance to the protection of customers’ intellectual property rights. We will sign NDAs with customers and a contract that specifies the owner of the intellectual property and a list of the intellectual property owned and all penalties involved in the contract. All project-related documents including PCB and schematic design files, assembly drawings, and Gerbers will be sorted out and handed over to customers. We do not claim ownership of project deliverables.

5. Efficient Workflow

The electronic design process consists of different stages. If there is no efficient and organized workflow within the company, it will affect the implementation of the entire project. You will find that working with such a company will often get stuck at certain points, and it is difficult to ensure that they can deliver the design within the time frame you specify. Conversely, a streamlined workflow can reduce design time, and more importantly, when a problem is identified at a certain stage, such as when testing a design, the streamlined workflow allows you to easily return to the stage where the problem occurred so the problem can be solved quickly.

6. Company Reputation

When choosing an electronic design partner, you should collect some information such as customer reviews of the company, or you can directly ask the candidate company for relevant information so that you can make a better judgment. A good electronic design company often has many repeat customers and a good reputation. Usually, such a company has professional design capabilities and high-level services.

Cooperation with such a company increases the possibility of a project’s success largely, they can not only provide you with excellent design but also enhance your market competitiveness. Lastly, if you’re still not sure if this company is the best choice for you, work with them on a small project before moving on to a larger one.

Conclusion

There are many factors to consider when choosing a reliable electronics design services partner, not just the key factors listed above. But if you can follow these suggestions during the selection process, you can also find a partner that satisfies you. You can also contact us for consulting our electronic design services. As a leading electronic design & manufacturing service provider in China, MOKO has provided customers with satisfactory electronic design services for 16 years, we are confident to provide you with production-ready electronic design.