There are fewer and fewer electronic manufacturing companies that actually produce their own hardware, tying up internal resources in managing contract manufacturers – CMs (for printed circuit boards – PCA, mechanical parts, plastic parts etc). The only “manufacturing asset” the electronic company owns is its Manufacturing Engineering Documentation. The completeness and usability of these documents (in practice a collection of electronic files) determines the quality, manufacturability, and cost of the final product.
Alex Herman Engineering offers cost effective extension or outsourcing of the entire manufacturing engineering management process (regardless of where the CMs are located), and leaves the business to concentrate on its core added value. Extending the client’s manufacturing engineering to Alex Herman Engineering can include: documentation development and maintenance, Design-for: Mfg., testability, cost, quality etc. – DFx, production testing development.
The following is a summary of manufacturing engineering services:
- Translation of corporate business targets into manufacturing engineering planning, bidding, scheduling and implementation. Establishing a Manufacturing engineering management system including:
- Planning, design, and implementation of Product Life Cycle Management (PLM)
- Selection or Optimization of contract manufacturers (CM).
- CM bidding and negotiations
- Supply chain management including logistic management and coordination between the supply chain components.
- Documentation development and maintenance
- Develop and maintain manufacturing engineering documentation
- The planning, management and rapid implementation of production expansion or retraction as per corporate needs
- Functional test system development for board level and assembled product level products. The functional testing of printed Circuit Assemblies – PCAs, and/or the finished product (final assembly) could be required by regulatory or for cost reduction or both
